Instituting music in the Boston public school curriculum: A classic example of the diffusion of innovation

Music came into American public schools via stages now identified as typical in the diffusion process. Pioneer educator Lowell Mason won acceptance for curricular music in Boston in 1838. His experience exemplifies steps characteristic in the diffusing of educational innovation. American music education owes its acceptance to his skillful handling of factors and processes identified by modern diffusion research. Carol A. Pemberton is the author ofLowell Mason: His Life and Work (1985),Lowell Mason: A Bio-Bibliography (1988), and many articles on music, music education, interdisciplinary studies, and English. Dr. Pemberton teaches English composition at Normandale Community College, Bloomington, Minnesota. Her composition textbook,Practical English, will be published in 1989 by Scott, Foresman/Little, Brown.