“On the basis of Dewey's principles, Woodford explores the social foundation of current music education practices in the context of democratic values of freedom, creativity, and contribution to society. He critiques the means by which this ideal is learned by teachers and taught to students.”

“Certainly one of the best items published in our field in a while. Whether one reads Lee Shulman's The Wisdom of Practice (2004)Nel Noddings' Happiness and Education (2003), John Goodlad's Romances with Schools (2004) or Carl Bereiter's Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age (2002) one learns that the fundamental principle in education is that schooling must be compatible with the best democratic ideals. Only Paul Woodford has seized upon this requisite and applied it to the structure of music education.”
 — Richard Colwell, Editor, The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning