WIEGAND INQUIRY PROJECT 1

QUESTIONS 

How do approaches to General Music vary across countries and continents (specifically Taiwan and 

East Asia)? How are they similar? 

How does the cultural value placed on musicians affect the way General Music is taught in schools? 

What effect has globalization of music had on General Music classrooms outside the US? 

What effect has Western Imperialism had on General Music classrooms outside the US? 

PROPOSAL 

How do approaches to general music vary across countries and continents (specifically Taiwan and East 

Asia)? How are they similar? How does culture and history play a role in general music education?  

With this research endeavor, I attempted to model for myself how I will go about researching the general 

music practices of my students’ various cultures in my future classrooms. As a starting point, I will 

explore the general music classrooms of Taiwan, including how these classrooms have changed over the 

course of the country’s tumultuous recent history. Throughout the centuries, it has been under the thumb 

of larger nations with their own interests. The influences on Taiwan‘s music education system are 

overbearing and occasionally counterproductive, making the country a particularly challenging case study 

in how general music practices are formed and changed over time.  

   
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ONE 

Early Childhood Music Education in Taiwan: An Ecological Systems Perspective (Chau-Ying Leu, 2008) 

APA Citation information​:  

Leu, J. C. Y. (2008). Early childhood music education in Taiwan: An ecological systems perspective. ​Arts 

Education Policy Review​, ​109​(3), 17-26. 

Purpose of the Study: 

“To study children’s musical development, we must look not only at the children and their immediate 

environment, but also at interaction with the larger environment.” 

In recent decades, general music education in Taiwan has become an integral part of early childhood 

education as a whole. This study examines early childhood music education in Taiwan on individual, 

relational, familial, and cultural levels.  

Methods and Participants: 

Bronfenbrenner‘s ecological systems theory (1979) is used as a lens through which to analyze the state 

of general music education in Taiwan. This study takes a broad view of the average Taiwanese life in 

music education, through a combination of outside researched sources, government policy documents, 

and historical studies.  

Key Findings: 
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Microsystem: 

1. Early childcare responsibility has shifted from parents or grandparents to other settings such as 

kindergartens and preschools. 

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2. In extremely low-income school districts, music is taught as an aside, mostly by classroom 

teachers who are not necessarily well-trained. For the most part, children can play freely when 

they finish their worksheets. 

3. Parental expectation is that childhood musicianship culminates in performances at the end of 

every semester (mastery over enjoyment) 

4. Taiwanese teacher education is currently trending toward child-centered educational 

philosophies such as Kodaly and Dalcroze. This is creating cultural conflict, upsetting the link 

between caregivers and educators in a child’s life. 

Exosystem: 

1. Teacher training specific to early childhood only began to flourish in Taiwan in the 1990s 

2. Music is considered an obviously important part of kindergarten education, and in-service 

kindergarten teachers are expected to develop musical activities 

3. Most community-based music programs in Taiwan are expensive for parents  

Macrosystem: (Legal System and Impact) 

1. New kindergarten curriculum standards have been planned by lawmakers, and the Nine-Year 

integration program for these standards and for Taiwanese cultural education classes began in 

1990 and has taken a few decades to complete 

2. Curricula are focused on integration, with music as a tool to meet these ends as set by the 

national government.  

Discussion Points: 

1. Parents need the confidence and empowerment to develop their children musically, starting in 

infancy  

2. Kindergartens might do well to welcome parent volunteers  

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3. Some teachers do not apply curriculum standards because of understanding of cultural and 

academic demand, others because they lack the strategies and training 

My Comments/Questions: 

Can the cultural conflict over education be overcome? Can we expect Taiwan’s trends in educational 

philosophy to continue mimic the ones we’ve experienced in America? What is the moral consequence of 

the effects of globalization on Taiwanese music education? How can a government enforce curriculum 

standards? What is the morality of enforcing curriculum standards?  

   
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TWO 

Music education in Taiwan: the dynamics and dilemmas of globalization, localization and 

sinophilia (Wai-Chung Ho, Wing-Wah Law, 2002) 

APA Citation information​:  

Ho, W. C., & Law, W. W. (2002). Music education in Taiwan: The dynamics and dilemmas of globalization, 

localization and sinophilia. Curriculum Journal, ​13​(3), 339-360. 

Purpose of the Study: 

Students in Taiwan are expected to be trilingual and tricultural, with understanding of Western 

(globalization), Chinese (sinophilia), and local cultures (localization), including indigenous cultures. All 

three of these cultures have an impact on local music education standards and curricula. This study 

sheds light on the resulting tensions and dilemmas.  

Methods and Participants: 

The survey, which was conducted among 2596 primary and secondary school students (1309 from 

Tainan and 1287 from Taipei) between May and November 2000, shows that schools are less inclined 

than the Tai- wanese government to promote local music. The article can be read as a case study of 

modern Asia.  

The questionnaires were given out between May and November 2000 to nearly 2600 8–16 year olds in the 

fourth and ninth years of their nine-year compulsory schooling” They included questions regarding each 

of the three areas discussed above and below. 1637 (1362 dizi) students were learning Chinese 

instruments, 1112 students learning western instruments (primarily piano). However, when asked about 

their preferences, most children stated that they preferred western music.  

 
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Key Findings: 

Globalization 

1. The Taiwanese government encourages those educational practices that have received the most 

global attention (ex. Orff, Dalcroze, Kodaly) 

2. Secondary university training is based on western music theory and practices- four credits or one 

course on indigenous styles, one course on Chinese music (see: Sinophilia) 

3. The national school curriculum specifically states that the number of foreign songs learned must 

be proportional to the number of national songs learned (30-70 in favor of the nation)  

Localization 

1. Each school district must provide a teacher of an indigenous language if even one student of that 

tribe attends the school. Reinstatement of local cultures brought to you by democracy 

(Taiwanese martial law was lifted in 1987 source: every single person I met in Taiwan) 

2. This is a fight back against centuries or decades (depending on how you see it) of suppression of 

indigenous people (by the Chinese, Japanese governments) 

3. Teachers are required to introduce native songs into curricula 

4. National songs include the anthem of the ROC, and the writings of Sun Yat-Sen, one of the most 

revered figures in Taiwanese history. Taiwan is struggling to form a national identity, and the arts 

have been one of the most successful methods by which unity is achieved  

Sinophilia 

1. When we talk about a national identity for Taiwan, we are talking specifically about being distinct 

from the PRC. This is arguably the single most divisive issue in Taiwan today. National Cheng-chi 

University (hey I’ve been a student there) study says 40+% of people say they’re Taiwanese, 38+% 

say they’re both, 13+% say they’re Chinese.  

2. Chinese music consists of traditional Chinese folk music and opera vs. Chinese orchestras, 

which resemble western orchestras 

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3. The Taiwanese MoE subsidizes Chinese music education programs involving songs, instruments, 

craft, opera, etc. at the primary and secondary level. ONLY MUSIC PRIOR TO 1949 

4. THERE IS NO COMMUNISM IN TAIWAN. THAT INCLUDES MUSIC. 

Discussion Points: 

1. Based on the study, we can conclude that the globalization of music education (led by 

information technology) in Taiwan has led to Western-centric music education, not world music 

2. Teaching Chinese music does not necessarily encourage students to think of themselves as 

Chinese 

3. Students do not have preference for the music of indigenous cultures outside their own  

4. Mandarin pop songs are the most popular type of music among survey respondents  

Your Comments/Questions: 

1. The state can do its very best to foster a national identity in their own terms, but it’s not going to 

work. People are going to like what they like and dislike what they don’t, and trying to influence 

that through the law doesn’t work they way they think it will. 

2. Music is political because everything is political because politics isn’t an isolated field, it’s 

people’s lives and livelihoods.  

3. Taiwanese children see themselves represented in their education, no matter what they think of it, 

so perhaps there are benefits to this state-led initiative  

4. What does the Taiwanese government owe to the indigenous population? How does the attempt 

to make amends carry over into other fields of study (i.e. economics)? 

5. Why has the cultural shift towards a Taiwanese national identity not led to a lessening in the 

popularity of Chinese music (such as mandarin pop songs)? 

   
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THREE 

Implementing character education program through music and integrated activities in early childhood 

settings in Taiwan (Lee, 2014) 

APA Citation information​:  

Lee, A. (2016). Implementing character education program through music and integrated activities in 

early childhood settings in Taiwan. ​International Journal of Music Education​, ​34​(3), 340–351. doi: 

10.1177/0255761414563195 

Purpose of the Study: 

„This study explores the efficacy of using musical activities to enhance the character aspect of education 

of preschoolers in a Taiwanese school setting“ and explores the benefits of integrative music and early 

childhood curricula.  

Methods and Participants: 

In-depth interviews were conducted with qualified early childhood educators (5 teachers and 92 children 

involved), revealing the six essential themes of Caring for Others, Cooperation, Respect, Valuing Courage, 

Responsibility, and Honesty. This study utilizes action research, emphasizing the direct study of teaching 

practices. The research was limited in scale by what the researcher could hope to achieve given the 

scope of the project. The interviews were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis.  
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Key Findings: 

Background:  

1. Character development is traditionally explicitly baked into early childhood education in the 

Mandarin-speaking world. Character education has been found to improve academic 

performance.  

2. The Ministry of Education began to implement a specific character education plan into their 

standards of education in the early 2000s.  

Caring for Others 

1. Each child brings their own experiences into song analysis, which are then enhanced by songs 

with drama and lyrics about the importance of caring 

2. All responders noted a positive effect on caring development 

Valuing Courage 

1. Singing popular theme tunes from cartoons about superheroes was helpful in bolstering 

children‘s understanding of courage  

2. Acting these and other songs out emboldens children to take on a powerful role 

Cooperation 
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1. Children worked together to create a musical score that described a farm 

2. Children take an interest in sounds and rhythms of songs, and have a vested interest in working 

together to achieve those sounds 

Respect 

1. Children learn to respect and understand each other‘s differences and react appropriately  

2. This is accomplished through expressing preferences and acknowledging differing preferences in 

instruments, melodies, roles, and characters 

Responsibility  

1. Treating Orff instruments carefully increases the likelihood that children will treat other learning 

instruments carefully 

2. Personalizing, naming, and recognizing the sound of the instruments stimulates that attachment 

to the tool. Children take care of it as they would a person or animal. 

Honesty 

1. Children enjoy musical drama and role-play, which can be used to reinforce the idea that cheating 

is wrong 

2. Indirect role-play is more effective than speaking to a student directly about a moral principle, and 

music education is uniquely suited to provide a role-playing environment 

Discussion Points 

1. Character development can and should be integrated into musical curricula for young children, 

particularly in places such as Taiwan where there exists an established set of values  

2. A complete interdisciplinary approach to character education is most effective  

3. Lesson planning should be child centered, in keeping with the emphasis on character 

development in literature education 

My Comments/Questions: 
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What are the potential consequences of baking morality into early childhood education? How might a 

government use this system to its own ends, with positive or negative results? How are differences in 

morality discussed among colleagues? Among teachers and parents?  

   
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FOUR 

Music teaching for young children at a developmentally appropriate practice classroom in Taiwan 

(Pyng-Na Lee & Sheng-Hsi Lin, 2013) 

APA Citation information​:  

Pyng-Na Lee & Sheng-Hsi Lin (2013) Music teaching for young children at a developmentally appropriate 

practice classroom in Taiwan, Music Education Research, 15:1, 107-122, DOI: 

10.1080/14613808.2012.759549 

Purpose of the Study: 

“This study attempts to enhance the understanding of a music curriculum that represents holistic and 

meaningful learning for young children at a developmen- tally appropriate practice (DAP) classroom in 

Taiwan.”  

Methods and Participants: 

The site is a kindergarten classroom in a southern Taiwanese public school. Teaching was focused on 

group activities and free music play, with curricular emphasis on pitch and duration. The group activities 

influenced the free play, which in turn influenced the development of and content included in the free play. 

The study participant implementing DAP was selected through purposive sampling by the Classroom 

Practice Inventory and pilot study. “The study participant implementing DAP was selected through 

purposive sampling by the Classroom Practice Inventory and pilot study. A qualitative case study method 

was employed to understand the phenomenon and context.” DAP has elements of progressivism and 

pragmatism, in that it is student-centered and requires reaction to each student’s individual needs. There 

is no such thing as a completely appropriate or perfect classroom, because teaching is “Unforgivingly 

complex” (Goldstein 2007). 

 
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Key Findings: 

1. Children learned pitch and duration through song, dance, instruments, and drama. They also 

learned concepts of beat and tone row. 

2. Classes started with group activities and gave way to 30-40 minutes of free play 

Pulse and Tempo 

1. The concept of beat and tempo is introduced with drums played by students who preferred 

drums during their free play (what do they like? I should guide them in those interests).  

2. During free play, additional instruments related to group discussion are added to the environment 

so the children can explore timbre  

Rhythm 

1. Use of call and response / mimicking activities common in the US  

2. Use of rhythms to subsidize/encourage/“improve” music the children are already playing, creates 

a creative element and extension 

3. Drama is used to enhance body percussion activities (story + dance together) 

High vs. Low and Tone Row 

1. Children make their own instruments as well as exploring their favorite instruments to reveal 

correlation between length of instrument and pitch 

2. Children set the instruments in an order, then use their various pitches to hear and create tone 

rows 

Melody 

1. Songs are taught by rote for the most part 

2. Songs are enhanced by dramatic roles and acting out of stories 

3. Characters are assigned to specific melody and music themes 

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Notations 

Magnets = taps per beat, circles = beat 

1. Children created their own notation along these lines, then learn to read the notations of their 

peers when they are shared with the classroom (creates a sense of community and safety within 

that community) 

2. From there, children give their own spin to traditional western music notation. 

Discussion Points: 
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1. The teacher had firm teaching goals that were adapted and developed based on the children’s 

interests and creative ideas.  

2. Rigidly fixed curricular goals with whole group lecture instruction are incompatible with the DAP’s 

methodology and philosophy, but are absolutely crucial to educational standards in Taiwanese 

culture 

3. Group teaching and learning is absolutely crucial to students who don’t engage in musical 

activities at home 

4. “Inappropriate” and appropriate practices coexist in the music classroom 

Your Comments/Questions: 

1. Reading this filled me with so much joy it’s hard to quantify 

2. How can we apply SMART goals? VA Standards? Experience designs? I want to make many many 

experience designs for this  

3. How can language barriers be overcome in this type of classroom? 

4. What is the best way to evaluate your personal approach to the balance of student freedom and 

teacher control? 

   
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FIVE 

Introducing Southeast Asian Group Music to General Music Classrooms (Kuo-Huang 2002) 

APA Citation information​:  

Kuo-Huang, H. (2002). Introducing Southeast Asian Group Music to General Music Classrooms. General 

Music Today, 16(1), 9–12. doi: 10.1177/10483713020160010401 

Purpose of the Study: 

Single-tone Southeast Asian small ensembles engage students in movement and music. This article 

presents methods of integrating small ensembles into the general music classrooms US schools.  

Methods and Participants: 

This research gathers evidence of the cultural value of single tone small ensembles from a variety of text 

sources and consolidates that information for the use of general music teachers. The researcher then 

evaluates how this information might be hypothetically valuable in the culture of a music classroom in the 

USA. 

Key Findings: 

1. “​Gong-chime culture” refers to a type of small ensemble mostly specific to east Asia in which a 

brass instrument capable of emitting a single tone is used as a staple of the performance. 

Examples include Indonesian gamelan, Thai Piphat (my favorite name for anything, ever), and 

Cambodian Pinpeat.  

2. Single-tone group music reflects the working conditions in tribal society in which everyone 

pitches in to support the collective  

3. Music of this category is performed in endless ostinatos and extremely conducive to canon, 

which largely considered to be the best introduction to children’s harmony 

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4. Southeast Asian Angklung Music  

a. Two or more bamboo tubes mounted on a bamboo frame, performed by shaking the 

instrument 

b. Many individual instruments make a complete melody  

c. Most popular in West Java  

d. Students can perform ostinatos accompanied by an action, or play western songs in 

cannon on this instrument 

5. Thai Long Drum Dance  

a. The average long drum is twenty-nine inches tall, covered by a single membrane. It has 

several different names in several different southeast Asian countries.  

b. The Thai long drum dance features one or two long drums, a pair of hand bells (that’s 

called ching, which is amazing), two pairs of cymbals, a pair of woodblocks (called krap, 

which is even better), and a small knobbed gong. Sometimes a melodic mouth organ is 

included. 

c. The dance is incredibly simple and easily performed, allowing and encouraging members 

of the audience to dance along.  

d. Appropriate substitute instruments are often found in elementary music classrooms, and 

children can easily perform and play this dance in groups or at the same time 

6. Taiwan Bunun Pestle Music  

a. Crushing millets in a mortar with a pestle is a common practice in ancient Southeast 

Asian societies. The impact of the pestle on the mortar makes a rhythmic and often 

melodic ostinato. Two tribes in Taiwan performed this during food making activities. 

Today, this is a part of Taiwanese tourism and entertainment. It makes me unbelievably 

happy.  

b. Women hit bamboo sticks on the ground as an accompaniment for pestles, pestles are 

tuned to pentatonic scale. This is easily mimicked by students 

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c. Any place can be the end, allowing for lots of repetition to increase comfort with the song 

Discussion Points: 

1. Southeast Asian group music is of high cultural value 

2. Presenting the historical background of the music contributes to cultural and global 

understanding 

3. Large groups of students can perform and practice this music together, building community 

Your Comments/Questions: 

1. In the implementation of this practice, how can we approach the subject of cultural 

appropriation? Basically, how do we do this with respect and sensitivity? 

2. What are some extensions of these lessons? How can we connect this to larger units on 

movement, rhythm, and notation? Is it appropriate to connect this to notation? 

   
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SIX 

The Role of North American Music Educators in the Introduction of the Kodaly Method in Taiwan 

(Ying-Shu Liu, Jere T. Humphreys and Albert Kai-Wai Wong, 2013) 

APA Citation information​:  

Liu, Y.-S., Humphreys, J. T., & Wong, A. K.-W. (2013). The Role of North American Music Educators in the 

Introduction of the Kodály Method in Taiwan. Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, 

35(1), 35–49. doi: 10.1177/153660061303500104 

  

Purpose of the Study: 

In the 1980s, Taiwan experienced a social and political shift that encouraged freedom of expression and 

thought. During this time, a group of North American educators collaborated with Taiwanese educators to 

integrate and launch the Kodaly method in Taiwan. This article explores their influence and the effect this 

period had on music education in Taiwan as a whole.  

Methods and Participants: 

Information on Taiwanese and American music teacher gathered through a series of public interviews, 

handbooks, and articles. Information has been consolidated to provide a detailed timeline and analysis.  

Key Findings: 

Initial American Connection 

1. Started with a Taiwanese teacher whose students loved to sing but did not want to learn to read 

music 

2. That same teacher organized the first music camp for aboriginal children in Taiwan, with 

collaboration from San Francisco institutions to turn it into a steady, stable program 
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3. The aboriginal music teachers who attended the camp disseminated the certification throughout 

the rest of Taiwan 

4. Efforts are continuously made to find a more distinctly Taiwanese method of music education 

based on Kodaly, to diminish the western influence 

Canadian Connection 

1. Shu-Zi (Connie) Wang, educated in Calgary, wrote the first book on basic Kodaly practices 

distinctly for a Taiwanese audience 

2. Wang formed a national society for Kodaly in Taiwan with the permission of the International 

Kodaly Society  

3. Her attention has since been focused on integrating Taiwanese folk songs and analyzing them 

through the Kodaly method 

4. Chinese folk songs are not well known among aboriginal, Hakka, Holo, and even mainland 

Chinese children 

Holy Names College  

1. Fang-Jing Zheng brought her masters degree in music education with Kodaly general music 

practices home with her to Taiwan 

2. Published a book on Kodaly theory and practical examples for a Taiwanese audience  

3. Organized the first Kodaly Music Camp on a nationwide scale with cooperation from the council 

for cultural affairs, brought in Hungarian specialists  

4. All of the things I‘ve mentioned so far in these key points, including the Canadian points, were 

very difficult due to the absolute lack of a diplomatic relationship between Hungary and Taiwan 

Discussion Points: 
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1. Music education was first brought to Taiwan by Dutch Christian missionaries, in an imperialist 

context 

2. Kodaly went from Hungary to North America, then from North America to Taiwan through foreign 

exchange students and international student programs 

3. Taiwanese students and teachers used North American music educators to disseminate 

information about Kodaly across Taiwan, requiring the help of translators 

4. The Kodaly method‘s translation into Taiwanese culture and society is being used as a tool in the 

search for a national identity in Taiwan 

Your Comments/Questions: 

How does the legacy of imperialism affect how Taiwanese educators view Western influences on music 

education? What, if anything, has been lost in translation during this process of cultural diffusion? Are 

aboriginal Taiwanese music educators more receptive to Kodaly than educators who are mainland 

Chinese? Is Kodaly the best educational method for Taiwan? What other methods have been brought 

over? How have they been adapted or received? 

   
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SEE ALSO: 

Music Education in Taiwan: The Pursuit for 'Local' and 'National' Identity (Published by the Indian 

Musicological Society) 

Ho, W.-C. (2011). Chapter Four Music Education in Taiwan. School Music Education and Social Change 

in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. doi: 10.1163/9789004191471_005 

Ho, W.-C. (2016). National Identity in the Taiwanese System of Music Education. Patriotism and 

Nationalism in Music Education, 59–76. doi: 10.4324/9781315599731-5 

Lee, A. H.-C. (2006). The influence of governmental control and early Christian missionaries on music 

education of Aborigines in Taiwan. British Journal of Music Education, 23(2), 205–216. doi: 

10.1017/s0265051706006930 

Themes in the Literature​: 

● Music and Music Education in Taiwan is continually evolving, thanks in part to influences from 

standards of western music education and a shift in perspective regarding the role of music in 

Taiwanese culture and child development. 

○ (​Ying-Shu Liu, Jere T. Humphreys and Albert Kai-Wai Wong, 2013​) -North America and 

Kodaly 

○ (​Wai-Chung Ho, Wing-Wah Law, 2002​) -globalization  

○ (​Pyng-Na Lee & Sheng-Hsi Lin, 2013) -​developmentally appropriate 

○ (Chau-Ying Leu, 2008) -​ ecological systems 

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● Music education is used by the Taiwanese government as a tool to change the hearts and minds 

of its citizenry, and is thus integrated into politics and other educational areas 

○ (​Wai-Chung Ho, Wing-Wah Law, 2002​)  

○ (​Lee, 2014) ​-character and education 

● The exchange of information and educational practices between Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and 

North America is complex and fluid, with all cultures gaining perspectives and educational tools 

from each other. 

○ (​Ying-Shu Liu, Jere T. Humphreys and Albert Kai-Wai Wong, 2013​) 

○ (​Kuo-Huang 2002​) -Southeast Asian ensembles  

● Taiwanese music education varies wildly depending on region, culture, public v. Private schools, 

etc.  

○ (​Ying-Shu Liu, JHumphreys & Kai-Wai Wong, 2013​) 

○ (​Chau-Ying Leu, 2008​)