Critical Thinking: A Missing Piece in School Music Education

Music, as a special form of non-verbal communication, has played –and still plays– a unique role in the development of mankind. It influences all aspects of humans: physical, cultural, intellectual, emotional, social, moral, and aesthetic. Music lessons provide students with opportunities to develop decision-making and critical thinking skills. Most authors tend to agree that critical thinking can be applied in resolving problems, estimating probabilities, and taking decisions in social everyday context. Critical thinkers can detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning, following the view that understanding is enriched by the perspectives of others. This article aims to bring the importance of critical thinking in music education into focus. The main purpose of the study is to give an overview on whether and how music education and curricula promote critical thinking skills, by focusing particularly on the case of the national music curriculum of Cyprus. The results of our research indicate that although the music curriculum assigns importance to the necessity of the development of critical thinking skills, it needs explicit changes as to support any successful implementation to improve students’ ability. This study serves as an extension of previous research on the role of critical thinking in music curricula while it aspires to renew interest in many educational systems.