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An interesting debate is whether teachers of music and art in general should focus on just the technical aspects of whatever medium they are teaching, or give their students lessons on the larger philosophy that should be behind art. In other words, whether the teachers should try to influence the subjects that their students take up, rather than just their craft in addressing those subjects.

People who support the hands off and objective method of focusing on technique have their allies and adversaries, including the people from this site on modern art critique. The benefit of their method is that the student gets to develop their own thoughts on what to portray in their art.

Many people think it would be wrong for a teacher to try and imprint their ideas on what is valuable enough to be featured in art and what is not. But the problem is that, especially for younger students, students may not have the knowledge to pick good subject matter and may need some assistance in discovering what is valuable for them.

Someone who is older and has more experience will not have as much trouble finding what their art should focus on, but even they can have the wrong philosophy. Should a teacher try to correct them with what they think is right?

The best solution may be to let everyone make a case for the general philosophy behind art and just let students and others choose what they think is right. This way, no one is forced to make art that they don’t agree with or identify with, and the ones who lay out the best case will have the most converts.