Noted music educator Bennett Reimer has selected 24 of his previously published articles from a variety of professional journals spanning the past 50 years. During that time, he's tackled: -generating core values for the field of music education; -the core in larger societal and educational contexts; -what to teach and how to teach it effectively; -how we need to educate our teachers; -the role of research in our profession; and -how to improve our future status. Reimer precedes each essay with background reflections and his position, both professional and personal, on effectively addressing the issue at hand. The opening "Letter to the Reader" presents a valuable overview based on his deeply grounded viewpoint. The entire music education profession will benefit from Reimer's perspective on past, present, and future concerns central to the functioning of music education in Seeking the Significance of Music Education: Essays and Reflections.

"The entire music education profession will benefit from Reimer's perspective on past, present, and future concerns central to the functioning of music education in Seeking the Significance of Music Education: Essays and Reflections ." - National Association for Music Education, September 25, 2009

"Bennett Reimer has secured a unique place in music education history. His close association with the aesthetic education movement and his respected texts devoted to the philosophy of music education have provided professors, public school teachers, and music students the opportunity to think and re-think their position on the validity of music education. From answering the question of 'is music for everyone?' to the role of diversity and cultural education in the music classroom, Reimer has woven an intricate web of thought and historical context to convince even the non-musician of the importance and validity of music education in our schools. His most recent book, Seeking the Significance of Music Education, provides a unique prospective that only Reimer can provide through twenty-four essays from his long and distinguished career. Reimer's first edition of his book A Philosophy of Music Education became closely associated with the term 'aesthetic education.' Much later in 2003, Reimer revised this text considerably in his third edition A Philosophy of Music Education. In this recently revised version, Reimer distances himself from the historically rigid views of the aesthetic education movement. 'A phrase can become a signal of a person's identity. That happens to me with "aesthetic education." The term is in its infancy when I am introduced to it in the mid-1950s, as I begin my serious study of the philosophy of music. It will serve as a powerful organizer for my growing understandings. As its meanings expand and deepen for me and for many others across the field of the arts in education, the idea of aesthetic education becomes so influential as to make it a catchphrase for the entire field's aspirations. My many writings about music education as aesthetic education...lead to my being strongly identified with the term. In one sense, that's fine with me. In another, the identification associates me with a view that eventually deteriorates for some into a narrow, rigid conception of" - Teachers College Record

"This profound and thought-provoking book is composed of 24 carefully chosen essays representing the best of Bennett Reimer's publications in music education. This book should be required reading for every student seeking a music education degree. Its major strength lies in the multitude of diverse topics that are crucial to the field." - American Music Teacher, (Magazine)