In this paper, I will describe how the Miessner Piano contributed to musical education. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of W. M. Vories’ view that music should have a place in education. In 1924, Vories imported the Miessner Piano to Japan, and Japanese families began to introduce these small upright pianos to their living spaces. In the USA, music educators pursued the goal of teaching music universally, which included listening to instrumental music in the early 20^th century. Previously, music education in schools had been limited to the study of vocal music. As a music supervisor, Otto Miessner had presented Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC) in 1918, the year in which he devised the Miessner Piano, a smaller piano specially designed for use in schools. In 1921, MSNC presented a standard course in music for elementary students. In 1924, as MSNC’s president, Miessner devised the slogan “Music for Every Child,” and published a method for piano instruction called The Melody Way to Play the Piano. Miessner introduced practical measures to train educators to teach universal musical education. Miessner’s approaches to music had something in common with Vories’s thought.

  This paper aims to elucidate the concept of social justice in Culturally Relevant Teaching, and the abilities children acquire through such learning. In the United States, Culturally Relevant Teaching has been recognized as a suitable educational theory to teach African American or Hispanic students who belong to low-income families. In Culturally Relevant Teaching, teachers often use hip hop as teaching material. As part of examining this research question, this paper discusses the theories of Culturally Relevant Teaching such as those by Ladson-Billings, and some studies on hip hop-based education. The analysis of the concept of social justice in Culturally Relevant Teaching and the connotation of hip hop showed that : (1) Social Justice means developing the abilities of social reform by considering certain problems pertaining to race, ethnicity, and social class ; and (2) Hip hop describes the culture of the African-American and Hispanic population who live in urban areas. Consequently, it is an appropriate educational material to consider and criticize the society that they live in.

  This paper has described in detail a music education project in North Rhein-Westfalia, Germany. It gives organizational and continuous musical experiences in a large area for approximately 80,000 little children in 1,000 primary schools. The project called “JeKits (An Instrument, Dancing or Singing for Every Child)” has already been running for about 15 years since the beginning of the 21st century and has expanded its scale widely. It has offered enormous musical opportunities all over the state, where all little children can take part in active musical activities with lower cost and without attending music school after primary school. This project is supported by the state government, primary schools, public music schools and JeKits foundation as a connecting role. These social organizations and institutions are put into practice with political context and financial and educational resources. Moreover it should be more observed as a movement for social innovation and an activity in special collaboration as “music education as a team”.