PROCESSES IN THE MUSIC EDUCATION OF GERMAN-LANGUAGE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ESTONIA FROM 1860 TO 1914.

This paper deals with the processes in music education of German-language secondary schools in Estonia during the period 1860-1914. Many researchers have pointed out that in order to get an understanding of the school textbooks, we need to consider the social context they are stemming from. The approach to the domain from the Baltic German perspective - by way of exploring the processes in schools where the language of instruction was German - will enrich the history of music education throughout Estonia and thus the respective cultural history. The textbooks used in these schools formed the developmental environment for all students in the student body and shaped their education. The presentation focuses on the following research questions: (1) what kind of processes can be observed in music education in German-language secondary schools during the chosen period; and (2) how the social and socio-cultural reality specific to the period influenced the selection of songs and the teaching of singing in German-language schools from 1860 to 1914. The present research relies mainly on source material collected from archives and libraries in Estonia and Germany between 2008-2013. Due to Baltic privileged legal order the educational system of Baltic provinces was distinct from the one dominating in Inner Russia. Therefore, the content of education was shaped by a Western-European, particularly Prussian educational culture. The period after 1887 marked a big socio-cultural change. Research revealed that the modernisation process characteristic of the 19th century caused tensions that were reflected in the subject matter of the teaching of singing and in music education literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]