Paul Woodford Head Shot
Professor, Department of Music Education

Ph.D. (Northwestern University, 1994)

woodford@uwo.ca

A prolific researcher and writer on philosophical, historical, and other topics, Paul Woodford is a frequent music festival adjudicator (band), clinician, and motivational speaker. Before coming to the University of Western Ontario, he taught instrumental, choral and general music in the Newfoundland school system and then music teacher education courses at Mount Allison University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton. Since his appointment to the Faculty of Music in 1994, Dr. Woodford has hosted several international symposia, organized many school and community band clinics, and co-founded the popular UWO New Horizons Adult Band Program.

Dr. Woodford's research is regularly featured in prominent national and international journals and he has contributed a chapter to The New Handbook Research on Music Teaching and Learning (2002). His fifth and most recent book, Democracy and Music Education: Liberalism, Ethics, and the Politics of Practice (2005), has been described by one reviewer as “the most clear and cogent assessment of current music education practice I have read.” Dr. Woodford is a member of the International Advisory Boards for the British Journal of Music Education, the Philosophy of Music Education Review, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. Other important professional work includes service as Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education (2004-7) and as keynote speaker for the 2005 Sociology of Music Education conference held at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This coming March (2009) he will be the special invited guest speaker at the Music Education Leadership Institute (MELI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Dr. Woodford is currently researching and writing a sixth book.

Teaching Areas

Philosophy, sociology, and history of music education (undergraduate and graduate), wind conducting (undergraduate), research methods (graduate), and graduate advising (Masters and doctoral students).

Current Courses Taught (see course syllabi)

M4811 and M9581 Philosophy of Music Education (undergraduate and graduate), M9505 History of Music Education, M9539 Philosophical and Historical Inquiry in Music Education, Graduate thesis and dissertation advising.

Research Interests

Philosophy of Music and Music Education, Educational Philosophy, Political Theory, History of Music and Music Education in Canada, Wind Conducting.

Representative Publications

Books

  • (2005). Democracy and music education: Liberalism, ethics, and the politics of practice. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • (1988). We love the place, O Lord: A history of the written musical tradition of Newfoundland and Labrador to 1949. St. John's, NF: Creative Publishers.
  • (1987). A Newfoundland songbook: A collection of music by historic Newfoundland composers 1820-1942 . St. John's, NF: Creative Publishers.

Editorship of Symposia Proceedings

  • (1998). Critical thinking in music: Theory & practice. Studies in Music from the University of Western Ontario , 17. Special issue of papers from the Critical Thinking in Music: Theory and Practice symposium held at the Faculty of Music, The University of Western Ontario, 18-19 October 1996.
  • (2004). Music and Lifelong Learning. International Journal of Community Music, 2 (refereed e-journal hosted by New York University). Selected papers from the Music and Lifelong Learning Symposium held at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, 7-8 May 2003.

Refereed Articles, Chapters

  • (2008). Fear and loathing in music education: Beyond democracy and music education, Action, Criticism & Theory for Music education, 7 (1), 105-138.
  • (2002). The social construction of music teacher identity in undergraduate music education majors. In R. Colwell and C. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook of research in music teaching and learning. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • (2001). Music, reason, democracy and the construction of gender. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 35 (3), 73-86.
  • (2000). Is Kodaly obsolete? Alla Breve, 24 (1 & 2), 10-18. Special research edition of the newsletter of the Kodaly Society of Canada.
  • (1998). A critique of fundamentalism in singing: Musical authenticity, authority, and practice. In B. A. Roberts (Ed.), Sharing the voices: The phenomenon of singing (pp. 269-279). St. John's, NF: Memorial University of Newfoundland.
  • Woodford, P., & Dunn, R. (1998). Beyond objectivism and relativism in music: Critical thinking as a foundation for musical democracy. Studies in Music from the University of Western Ontario, 17, 45-62.
  • (1998). An analysis of Antonin Dvorak's Serenade in D Minor, Op. 44. Journal of Band Research, 34 (1), 38-58.
  • (1996). Evaluating Edwin Gordon's music learning theory from a critical thinking perspective. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 4 (2), 83-95.
  • (1996). Developing critical thinkers in music. Music Educators Journal, 82, 27-32.

Encyclopedia Entries

  • (1992). St. John's. In H. Kallmann & G. Potvin (Eds.), Encyclopedia of music in Canada (2d ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • (1991). Music. In C. Poole (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's, NF: Cuff Publications.

Related Professional Activities

Dr. Woodford has served as juror for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC), the Ontario Ministry of Education
and Training (for the Ontario Graduate Scholarships program), and the Canadian Music Educators Association (for an undergraduate essay competition). He also regularly reviews papers for leading professional journals, such as the Philosophy of Music Education Review, the British Journal of Music Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and the Journal of Aesthetic Education. A member of the UWO Senate, Dr. Woodford is also a faculty advisor to the Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity/sorority and to the University of Western Ontario Music Education Students’ Association (UWOMESA). He is a member of the Canadian Music Educators Association (CMEA) and of the Ontario Music Education Association.

Honours and Awards

  • Named Faculty Scholar (2006-8) in recognition of excellence in teaching and research.
  • Named to the University Students Council Teaching Honour Roll,1999.
  • Nominated for Teaching Excellence Awards to the University Students Council in 1998 and 1999.
  • Guest speaker at the Faculty of Music Students Council Spring Formal, 1997, 1999, and 2004.

 

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