2001 Volume 31 Issue 2-3 Pages 12-21
Today, Japanese school education faces various problems. In 1999, the Ministry of Education (currently the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) released a new curriculum for school education. This curriculum focuses on the importance of facilitating children's ability to “live” for example, abilities to think and learn independently ; it is still unclear how such school education can be accomplished. This paper explores educational ideas practiced in nineteenth century America that may inspire current school music teachers in Japan. More specifically, this paper reveals the nature of music education offered to visually challenged juveniles at the Perkins Institution Kindergarten for the Blind in the nineteenth century. The findings are as follows : First, in the Perkins Institution Kindergarten, music education emphasized children's learning of musical knowledge and skills by means of instrumental performance and music theory instruction rather than merely its therapeutic purpose. This music instruction was targeted only to selected children. Second, the instruction for singing, offered to all children, was considered to be a mean to develop musical appreciation in children and a balanced growth of body and spirit. Finally, music education in the Perkins Institution Kindergarten for the Blind facilitated children's self-motivation, self-expression, cooperation, and friendship.
