Assessment of musical knowledge from a life-world- phenomenological perspective – challenges of conceptualising and communication

Abstract

The article functions as a contribution to the current discussion about assessment that takes place in several educational settings, at several levels. In those contexts the idea of how different qualities of musical knowledge are expressed, is constituted and re-created through the sharing of experience. Still concepts and descriptions of the qualities, which should be possible to use as a base for discussion and reflection upon musical knowledge, are most often missing. The contribution in the discussion is based on a view of knowledge and learning takes a life-world- phenomenological way of thinking as a point of departure, based on Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger and Dufrenne. The philosophy offers a base for a further discussion of the possibilities of, and challenges to how musical knowledge can be assessed, and how assessment can become a part of musical learning. This article will take into account the multi-dimensional phenomenon of music, and how it influences the concepts of musical knowledge and learning. It will address the conceptualisation of such knowledge, the weight of style and earlier experiences, the aspect of response in connection to language, and how musical knowledge can be expressed and assessed in the spirit of inter-subjectivity.