The Place for Creativity in the Cracow Concept of Music Education

Abstract

This article will present the achievements of the Cracow academics involved in the search for effective methods of teaching music in general education schools. The Cracow center was established on the initiative of professor Zofia Burowska in the mid-seventies of the 20th century. The researchers from the Higher Music Education Institutionand Pedagogical University at that time became members of the staff. The programme and methodological assumptions which were adopted are based on relational solmization method, derived from the English Tonic-Solfa method by John Curwen and the concept by Zoltán Kodály. an important role in the Cracow concept of Musical education is creativity, which, along with other forms of musical activity, supports the general and musical development of a child. The subject of the authors’ deliberating is also the issues concerning verification of the effectiveness of the concept, which occurred as a result of empirical research in primary schools. The collected research material provided many important insights relevant to the modification of the educational process. In summary, the problems which appear during the implementation of the concept in contemporary school will also be presented.