Irina Petrova

In different countries, the music curricula for primary/ elementary school children has been influenced by many diverse factors including a number of progressive educational practices and a variety of psychological theories. This research gives a detailed analysis of a number of primary/ elementary school programs for general music in Australia (New South Wales, i.e. NSW), in the UK (England), in the Russian Federation and in the United States of America. The research aims to find out to what extent music education in different countries is based on or follows psychological theories of child development and progressive educational practices. Firstly, to acquire an adequate understanding of child education this research examines the philosophical roots of primary/ elementary education and a set of psychological ideas of Piaget and Vigotsky about the nature of children and the nature of knowledge. This provides insight of how children learn (the nature of learning) and the role of the teacher in learning music. Secondly, the research examines the musical content of the syllabae (the nature of subject). It critically compares the following components of curricula and syllabae: philosophy, objectives and contents including musical concepts, activities and music repertoire. This is then subjected to further analysis examining these contents in relation to theories of child development (Piaget and Vigotsky) and traditional and progressive educational practices (where it is applicable). Finally, a questionnaire is aimed at primary school teachers in NSW. These teachers are generalist teachers, there are no specialist music teachers employed as such in public primary schools in NSW. Music is taught in the NSW primary schools by class teachers. The problem is that NSW university faculties of education do not train music teachers as specialists at primary level. They only train generalist teachers. In other countries the situation is different. There are music specialists in the USA, UK and Russia teaching in primary schools. There are also such teachers in primary schools in Queensland, SA, Victoria, and WA and there are some in NSW. The questionnaire was, therefore, designed to enquire into the specific situation in NSW. Finally, issues of further investigation and research of curricula and syllabae in the primary/ elementary school are outlined

The term "spirituality" now has several interpretations, and the part acquires an excellent, even opposite, meaning in both religious and philosophical doctrines. At the same time, each under the indicated phenomenon understands something of its own. Some authors have in mind historical consciousness, others - the integrity of mental activity, others relate spirituality, first of all with the world of emotions. Undoubtedly, every interpretation of spirituality covers a certain part of the truth. It is worth noting that speaking about spiritual, spirituality and its significance in human being can only be achieved by overcoming the existing bias in the scientific circles and ideological distrust of the very concept of "spirit" and "spiritual." It is not a secret that the spirituality problem was underestimated in the domestic science for a long period, which negatively affected, in particular, the understanding of its content and essence, the treatment of this phenomenon only from the point of view of materialism. From this perspective, the study of S.Prolev, who states that the spiritual exists and manifests itself in various subject forms, whose range is wide - from processes and phenomena of the human psyche to social institutions that provide spiritual production, worthy of attention. Spiritual is understood as a special reality, the "spiritual sphere" of human life

In religious studies, the issue of Christian spirituality is not sufficiently developed. In this regard, an interesting analysis of Christian spirituality in its connection with isihastic anthropology in the study of S. Khoruzhogo. However, the definition of Christian spirituality in this work is absent, although the term itself is used in the form of a synonym of isichasm, which is understood as its tradition and current. The philosopher asserts that the basis of Christian spirituality is the idea of ​​the deification of man, the acquisition of human nature by God. Therefore, Christian spirituality is the deification of man. This statement is an important methodological basis for the study of this phenomenon. The operational aspect of the spiritual experience of asceticism is emphasized, the latter is understood as the continuous work of self-transformation, autotransformation, mystical experience of transcendental and transcendental communication