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A decade has passed since Eisner (1981; 1982) introduced the notion that an understanding of educational problems in the Fine Arts might be adversely affected by an overly-zealous adherence by researchers to the assumptions and techniques of natural science. One of the most problematic assumptions noted by Eisner was the positivistic position that considerations of fact alone are worthy of empirical inquiry. The dichotomy between facts and values, a hallmark of logical positivism, has dominated natural and social sciences during much of the 20th Century ( see,e.g.,Garrison 1986:16,17; Schwandt 1990). Nordoes the split enter as a stranger within the history of thought; since the time of Plato, people have distinguished rational thinking and its product "true knowledge" from the irrational and its products of confusion, superficial plausibility, and opinion (Egan 1987:445). Other polarized concepts, such as mind-body, adult-child, and civilized-savage, have arisen around this dichotomy. Within educational thought, this inheritance may be seen in the conceptual division between cognitive and affective learning. The position, reflecting a split between thinking and feeling, has limited understanding of the very meanings held by people about music and about their own purposeful actions; it has, as well, contributed significantly to the downgrading of the Fine Arts within school curricula and award-granting agencies (Eisner 1981: 8, 9). There are no tight boundaries around the concept of positivism for, as Garrison (1986) and Phillips (1983) note, there exist various branches of positivistic thought and considerable disagreement among proponents of each. Nevertheless, the term "positivism" is used widely to indicate the philosophy underlying the application of assumptions and methods of the physical and natural sciences to the realm of human affairs. I maintain that a philosophic stance underlies all research undertakings whether or not this stance is articulated. Moreover, I do not use the term "post-positivistic" as an indicator of positivism's demise; positivistically-driven premises dominate educational research in North America today. I focus here upon a philosophic position of modified relativism, variations of which have affected the course of educational research for 20 years in Europe and are now gaining credibility on this continent. While many important advances have occurred in our understanding of music teaching and learning though experimental studies designed on a positivistic model, I argue in this paper that considerations of the meanings, beliefs, and attitudes that people attribute to school music programming also add significantly to our understanding of student learning. Furthermore, I hold that a Weltanschauung that perceives human activity as infinitely complex and variable, not governed by immutable and discoverable laws, is more closely attuned to the meaning of music than is its more positivistic counterpart. To exemplify this position, I describe the methods followed during my own recent study (Harris 1991a; 199Ib) which examines the supports and barriers surrounding school music programming in three Canadian school districts. This multi-case study focuses on the gap between curriculum planning and implementation and the particular role of technological rationality in creating and maintaining this gap. Through an examination of evidence gathered from those involved at the grass-roots of program planning and implementation, quite different assumptions about school music are revealed. These assumptions, in turn, affect the quality and even the provision of music education. In this paper, I refer to the conceptual and theoretical foundations of my study and the methods that emerged both from this framework and from observations in the field. From the findings, I extract a single theme to illustrate methodological points - the significance of early musical experience as this affects students within one school district. …

Post-Positivistic Educational Thought: Implications for Naturalistic Research Methods in School Music