Rethinking Patriotism: National Anthems in Music Education more

The first international panel on patriotism in music education convened at the Fifth Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research (Seattle, 2005), with representatives from the U.S., Japan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and China. Patriotic music education is found to exemplify an intriguing gap between music education theory and practice. While the notion that patriotism would serve as an objective for music education is determined to be antithetical to contemporary music education philosophies, signs of a recent increase in patriotic content are noted within school music education programs of both Japan and the U.S. The development, lyric content, and educational use of national anthems are examined and compared. Characteristics of Gimn Rossijskoj Federatsii (Russian Federation) and God defend New Zealand are contrasted with Kimi ga yo (Japan) and The star-spangled banner (U.S.). Explanations are sought for increases in patriotic content, which are attributed to such factors as corporate partnerships and an 'anything goes' approach to advocacy among music organizations, as well as Taylorization of teacher education programs. The paper concludes by proposing discussion questions for the panel.