A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China

Feiqun Shu; Panya Roongruang; Sakchai Hirunrak

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17

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A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China

Feiqun Shu, Panya Roongruang, Sakchai Hirunrak

Published in International Journal of Education, Culture and Society (Volume 7, Issue 1)

Received: 16 January 2022 Accepted: 27 January 2022 Published: 16 February 2022

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Abstract

It has been an appealing topic in the academic and practical fields pertaining music education that music learning should obey a proper sequence in regard of contents and skills so that children will be allowed to learn music in the way suitable to their mental and physical growth without abrupt encounters causing frustration and extra difficulty. This means that sequential learning in music involves two facets, requiring music educators to be careful when dealing with curriculum and textbooks. One is to pay attention to the general logic of music to be learned as a school subject – from the easy to the difficult, from the near to the remote, from the surface to the inner sophisticated, from the sensational experiences to the intellectual understanding or abstract thinking, etc. Since early ages of human endeavors, educators have been expressing opinions about this issue; some were concerned with general orientations while others provided specific strategies which might be applied to the learning of school subjects. Among these giant people, Confucius expressed his conclusions about the former, and with latter pertaining to music, the learning sequence seemed to be cared in two lines. One was practical exploration in real setting doing curriculum design for schooling, while the theoretical construction was carried out systematically by a few scholars among whom Edwin Gordon stood out as the most eminent. This article touched these two lines of work by tracing back from ancient Chinese classics to the “Great Didactic” established by Comenius, the founder of modern theory for school teaching. All these men contributed significantly to the ideas and conceptions for a proper order or sequence for learning, including learning in music to certain extend. In addition to the early ideas and modern theories on this topic, this article found that from late Qing dynasty (1904) to early Reform time (1979) in China, a practical endeavor pursuing sequential learning in music was consistently carried out and written by generations of music educators in more than a dozen of official education documents in the forms of national standards or syllabus for school music. Because sequential learning is a strong factor which inevitably influences the logical layout of music textbooks and the way of teaching and learning thereafter, a historical review seems necessary to run through these education documents to depict some experiences and lessons for the national curriculum design and textbook development of today.

Published in	International Journal of Education, Culture and Society (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17
Page(s)	42-51
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Sequential Learning, Music, Curriculum Standards or Syllabus, Textbooks, China

References

[1]	Confucius (2008). The Analects. trans. D. C. Lau. Zhong Hua Book Company, 15. ISBN: 978-7-101-06228-1.
[2]	Yuezheng Ke (2016). Xue Ki. in Dai Sheng. The book of rites. trans. Legge, James. Zhong Zhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 221. ISBN: 978-7-5348-6419-3.
[3]	Comenius, J. A. (1967). The Great didactic. trans. M. W. Keatinge. Reprinted from 2^nd revised edition. Russell & Russell, A Division of Autheneum House. https://monoskop.org/File:Comenius_John_Amos_The_Great_Didactic_1967.
[4]	Gordon, E. E. (1991). Sequencing music skills and content. American Music Teacher, 41 (2), 22–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43538820
[5]	Birge, E. B. (1984). History of public school music in the United States, new and augmented edition. MENC (originally published by Oliver Ditson Company in 1928), 38-39. ISBN: 0-940796-40-6.
[6]	Gordon, E. E. (1965). The musical aptitude profile: A new and unique musical aptitude test battery. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 6, 12–16. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40316898
[7]	Gordon, E. E. (1971). The psychology of music teaching. Prentice Hall. ISBN: ‎978-0-137-36207-3.
[8]	Gordon, E. E. (2012). Learning sequences in music: A contemporary music learning theory. GIA publications, 385. ISBN: 978-1-57999-890-5.
[9]	Gordon, E. E. (2000). Jump right in: The music curriculum - Teacher's edition. GIA Publications. ISBN: ‎978-1579990657.
[10]	Reynolds, A. M., Bolton, B. M., Taggart, C. C., Gordon E. E. (1998). Music play: The early childhood music curriculum guide for parents, teachers & caregivers (Jump right in preschool). GIA Publications. ISBN: ‎ 978-1579990275.
[11]	Grunow, R. F., Gordon, E. E., Azzara, C. D. (2003. Jump right in: The instrumental series, revised edition. GIA Publications. ISBN:‎ 978-1579992842.
[12]	Grunow, R. F., Gordon, E. E., Azzara, C. D. (1998). Jump right in: Soprano recorder. GIA Publications. ASIN: B001CZMN9I.
[13]	Zhang Baixi (1904). Constitution of the school: Presented to and authorized by Emperor Guangxu). Fan Shu Publisher.
[14]	The Research Institute of Curriculum and Textbooks (1999). Collection of curriculum standards and syllabus of primary and secondary schools in China during 20th century: Volume of music, visual arts and labor-tech. People’s Education Press. ISBN 7-107-13040-4.
[15]	Ministry of Education, China (1950). Provisional standards for primary school music curriculum. Issued by the Ministry as official document.
[16]	Ministry of Education, China (1956). Singing syllabus for primary schools: A draft. Issued by the Ministry as official document.
[17]	Ministry of Education, China (1956). Music syllabus for lower secondary schools: A draft. Issued by the Ministry as official document.
[18]	Ministry of Education, China (1979). Syllabus of music for primary and secondary schools: A draft. Issued by the Ministry as official document.
[19]	Ministry of Education, China (2001). Compulsory education music curriculum standard (experimental edition). Beijing Normal University Press.
[20]	Ministry of Education, China (2003). General high school music curriculum standard (experimental edition). People’s Education Press.
[21]	Ministry of Education, China (2011). Compulsory education music curriculum standard (revised edition). Beijing Normal University Press.
[22]	Ministry of Education, China (2017). General high school music curriculum standard (revised edition). People’s Education Press.
[23]	Ministry of Education, China (2020). General high school music curriculum standard (second revised edition). People’s Education Press.
[24]	Ministry of Education, China (2021). Compulsory Education Arts Curriculum Standards (the draft edition for inspection and to be printed by Beijing Normal University Press soon).

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Feiqun Shu, Panya Roongruang, Sakchai Hirunrak. (2022). A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 7(1), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17

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Feiqun Shu; Panya Roongruang; Sakchai Hirunrak. A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China. Int. J. Educ. Cult. Soc. 2022, 7(1), 42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17

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AMA Style

Feiqun Shu, Panya Roongruang, Sakchai Hirunrak. A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China. Int J Educ Cult Soc. 2022;7(1):42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17,
  author = {Feiqun Shu and Panya Roongruang and Sakchai Hirunrak},
  title = {A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China},
  journal = {International Journal of Education, Culture and Society},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {42-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijecs.20220701.17},
  abstract = {It has been an appealing topic in the academic and practical fields pertaining music education that music learning should obey a proper sequence in regard of contents and skills so that children will be allowed to learn music in the way suitable to their mental and physical growth without abrupt encounters causing frustration and extra difficulty. This means that sequential learning in music involves two facets, requiring music educators to be careful when dealing with curriculum and textbooks. One is to pay attention to the general logic of music to be learned as a school subject – from the easy to the difficult, from the near to the remote, from the surface to the inner sophisticated, from the sensational experiences to the intellectual understanding or abstract thinking, etc. Since early ages of human endeavors, educators have been expressing opinions about this issue; some were concerned with general orientations while others provided specific strategies which might be applied to the learning of school subjects. Among these giant people, Confucius expressed his conclusions about the former, and with latter pertaining to music, the learning sequence seemed to be cared in two lines. One was practical exploration in real setting doing curriculum design for schooling, while the theoretical construction was carried out systematically by a few scholars among whom Edwin Gordon stood out as the most eminent. This article touched these two lines of work by tracing back from ancient Chinese classics to the “Great Didactic” established by Comenius, the founder of modern theory for school teaching. All these men contributed significantly to the ideas and conceptions for a proper order or sequence for learning, including learning in music to certain extend. In addition to the early ideas and modern theories on this topic, this article found that from late Qing dynasty (1904) to early Reform time (1979) in China, a practical endeavor pursuing sequential learning in music was consistently carried out and written by generations of music educators in more than a dozen of official education documents in the forms of national standards or syllabus for school music. Because sequential learning is a strong factor which inevitably influences the logical layout of music textbooks and the way of teaching and learning thereafter, a historical review seems necessary to run through these education documents to depict some experiences and lessons for the national curriculum design and textbook development of today.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China
AU  - Feiqun Shu
AU  - Panya Roongruang
AU  - Sakchai Hirunrak
Y1  - 2022/02/16
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17
T2  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JF  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JO  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
SP  - 42
EP  - 51
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-3363
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17
AB  - It has been an appealing topic in the academic and practical fields pertaining music education that music learning should obey a proper sequence in regard of contents and skills so that children will be allowed to learn music in the way suitable to their mental and physical growth without abrupt encounters causing frustration and extra difficulty. This means that sequential learning in music involves two facets, requiring music educators to be careful when dealing with curriculum and textbooks. One is to pay attention to the general logic of music to be learned as a school subject – from the easy to the difficult, from the near to the remote, from the surface to the inner sophisticated, from the sensational experiences to the intellectual understanding or abstract thinking, etc. Since early ages of human endeavors, educators have been expressing opinions about this issue; some were concerned with general orientations while others provided specific strategies which might be applied to the learning of school subjects. Among these giant people, Confucius expressed his conclusions about the former, and with latter pertaining to music, the learning sequence seemed to be cared in two lines. One was practical exploration in real setting doing curriculum design for schooling, while the theoretical construction was carried out systematically by a few scholars among whom Edwin Gordon stood out as the most eminent. This article touched these two lines of work by tracing back from ancient Chinese classics to the “Great Didactic” established by Comenius, the founder of modern theory for school teaching. All these men contributed significantly to the ideas and conceptions for a proper order or sequence for learning, including learning in music to certain extend. In addition to the early ideas and modern theories on this topic, this article found that from late Qing dynasty (1904) to early Reform time (1979) in China, a practical endeavor pursuing sequential learning in music was consistently carried out and written by generations of music educators in more than a dozen of official education documents in the forms of national standards or syllabus for school music. Because sequential learning is a strong factor which inevitably influences the logical layout of music textbooks and the way of teaching and learning thereafter, a historical review seems necessary to run through these education documents to depict some experiences and lessons for the national curriculum design and textbook development of today.
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Feiqun Shu

Faculty of Music, Bangkok Thonburi University, Bangkok, Thailand
Panya Roongruang

Faculty of Music, Bangkok Thonburi University, Bangkok, Thailand
Sakchai Hirunrak

Faculty of Music, Bangkok Thonburi University, Bangkok, Thailand

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Feiqun Shu, Panya Roongruang, Sakchai Hirunrak. (2022). A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 7(1), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17

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ACS Style

Feiqun Shu; Panya Roongruang; Sakchai Hirunrak. A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China. Int. J. Educ. Cult. Soc. 2022, 7(1), 42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17

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AMA Style

Feiqun Shu, Panya Roongruang, Sakchai Hirunrak. A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China. Int J Educ Cult Soc. 2022;7(1):42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17,
  author = {Feiqun Shu and Panya Roongruang and Sakchai Hirunrak},
  title = {A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China},
  journal = {International Journal of Education, Culture and Society},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {42-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijecs.20220701.17},
  abstract = {It has been an appealing topic in the academic and practical fields pertaining music education that music learning should obey a proper sequence in regard of contents and skills so that children will be allowed to learn music in the way suitable to their mental and physical growth without abrupt encounters causing frustration and extra difficulty. This means that sequential learning in music involves two facets, requiring music educators to be careful when dealing with curriculum and textbooks. One is to pay attention to the general logic of music to be learned as a school subject – from the easy to the difficult, from the near to the remote, from the surface to the inner sophisticated, from the sensational experiences to the intellectual understanding or abstract thinking, etc. Since early ages of human endeavors, educators have been expressing opinions about this issue; some were concerned with general orientations while others provided specific strategies which might be applied to the learning of school subjects. Among these giant people, Confucius expressed his conclusions about the former, and with latter pertaining to music, the learning sequence seemed to be cared in two lines. One was practical exploration in real setting doing curriculum design for schooling, while the theoretical construction was carried out systematically by a few scholars among whom Edwin Gordon stood out as the most eminent. This article touched these two lines of work by tracing back from ancient Chinese classics to the “Great Didactic” established by Comenius, the founder of modern theory for school teaching. All these men contributed significantly to the ideas and conceptions for a proper order or sequence for learning, including learning in music to certain extend. In addition to the early ideas and modern theories on this topic, this article found that from late Qing dynasty (1904) to early Reform time (1979) in China, a practical endeavor pursuing sequential learning in music was consistently carried out and written by generations of music educators in more than a dozen of official education documents in the forms of national standards or syllabus for school music. Because sequential learning is a strong factor which inevitably influences the logical layout of music textbooks and the way of teaching and learning thereafter, a historical review seems necessary to run through these education documents to depict some experiences and lessons for the national curriculum design and textbook development of today.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Historical Review on Theories of Sequential Learning in Music and Related Documents for Textbooks from Late Qing Dynasty to 1970’s Reform in China
AU  - Feiqun Shu
AU  - Panya Roongruang
AU  - Sakchai Hirunrak
Y1  - 2022/02/16
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17
T2  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JF  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
JO  - International Journal of Education, Culture and Society
SP  - 42
EP  - 51
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-3363
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20220701.17
AB  - It has been an appealing topic in the academic and practical fields pertaining music education that music learning should obey a proper sequence in regard of contents and skills so that children will be allowed to learn music in the way suitable to their mental and physical growth without abrupt encounters causing frustration and extra difficulty. This means that sequential learning in music involves two facets, requiring music educators to be careful when dealing with curriculum and textbooks. One is to pay attention to the general logic of music to be learned as a school subject – from the easy to the difficult, from the near to the remote, from the surface to the inner sophisticated, from the sensational experiences to the intellectual understanding or abstract thinking, etc. Since early ages of human endeavors, educators have been expressing opinions about this issue; some were concerned with general orientations while others provided specific strategies which might be applied to the learning of school subjects. Among these giant people, Confucius expressed his conclusions about the former, and with latter pertaining to music, the learning sequence seemed to be cared in two lines. One was practical exploration in real setting doing curriculum design for schooling, while the theoretical construction was carried out systematically by a few scholars among whom Edwin Gordon stood out as the most eminent. This article touched these two lines of work by tracing back from ancient Chinese classics to the “Great Didactic” established by Comenius, the founder of modern theory for school teaching. All these men contributed significantly to the ideas and conceptions for a proper order or sequence for learning, including learning in music to certain extend. In addition to the early ideas and modern theories on this topic, this article found that from late Qing dynasty (1904) to early Reform time (1979) in China, a practical endeavor pursuing sequential learning in music was consistently carried out and written by generations of music educators in more than a dozen of official education documents in the forms of national standards or syllabus for school music. Because sequential learning is a strong factor which inevitably influences the logical layout of music textbooks and the way of teaching and learning thereafter, a historical review seems necessary to run through these education documents to depict some experiences and lessons for the national curriculum design and textbook development of today.
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  -

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