FOUNDATIONS OF MUSIC LITERACY: JEROME BRUNER’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHORAL MUSIC EDUCATION

An individual who is a fluent music reader is able to hear, take dictation, read, improvise, and audiate. It is not enough to merely prepare students to stand up and sing three songs on a stage if they are unable to transfer their skills to new pieces. For Bruner, the purpose of education is not merely to impart knowledge but to further each student's ability to think and solve problems, which can then be applied in the future. According to a 1970 issue of Music Educators Journal, "Bruner could have written The Process of Education just about music." The aim of education is to create autonomous learners (i.e., students who know how to learn). The aim of choral music education, then, is to create independent musicians.