General expo&NEW TRENDS
IN MUSIC EDUCATION
by
Vanett LAWLER
Associate Executive Secretary, Music Educators National Conference, U. S. A.This paper will deal with developments and new trends in masic etlzcation in
the United States of America
Any presentation of this important subject is necessarily determined
by the audience to which it is directed as well as the place where it is
given. An audience in one part of one country would want to know
details concerning trends in music education. An audience limited to
the nationals of one country, or an audience made up of nationals of
several countries in one region of the world, such as the Americas, or
Canada and the Americas, would want to know the background of the
trends in music education, as well as facts underlying these develop-
ments such as trends in general education, and the organization of
different systems of education.
The over-all purpose of this session is to present to you, an audience
made up of nationals from many countries, new trends in music edu-
cation in certain parts of the world. My contribution could be made
most ideally by including facts and supporting data concerning new
trends in music education in the western hemisphere, including Canada,
the United States of America and Latin American countries.
There is much in common among the countries of the western
hemisphere in their philosophy and in their objectives of music edu-
cation. There is considerable professional compatibility among music
educators from Canada in the north to Argentina and Chile in thc south.
Yet there are some basic differences in the framework of the society
and in the organization of systems and patterns of education in these
countries which, at least it seems to this speaker, would make over-
ambitious any attempt to include all of the New World countries in
this presentation. Therefore, assuming that many of these develop-
ments described can be seen in many countries of the western hemi-
sphere, I feel I should ask you to regard this presentation concerning
new trends as applying particularly to the United States of America.