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discussions

CBDNA Report on Preparing the 21st Century Artist–Teacher

The College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) report on Preparing the 21st Century Artist-‐Teacher is now available. The report is the result of two panel presentations at the 2014 Ithaca College Conference on Instrumental Music Education: Preparing the 21st Century Artist-‐Teacher. I was privileged to be invited to take part in this initiative and engage in dialogue with a wonderful group of people at the conference. The panelists, whose answers to a series of questions make up the report, included:… Read More »CBDNA Report on Preparing the 21st Century Artist–Teacher

Contribute to the dialogue on music education at the Wall Street Journal: Joanne Lipman’s “A musical fix for American Schools”

The Wall Street Journal recently published Joanne Lipman’s essay “A Musical Fix for American Schools: Research shows that music training boosts IQ, focus and persistence.” Lipman (co-author of the book Strings Attached) focuses primarily on issues of students’ IQ, ability to process sounds, cognitive abilities, links to reading abilities, and brain expansion. She ends the article citing an economic analysis from the Journal of Economic [sic] Finance [I believe it is possibly the Journal of Education Finance] to demonstrate the… Read More »Contribute to the dialogue on music education at the Wall Street Journal: Joanne Lipman’s “A musical fix for American Schools”

Flipping the misogynist script: Gender, agency, Hip Hop, and music education

Tobias, E. S. (2014). Flipping the misogynist script: Gender, agency, Hip Hop, and music education. Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, 13(2), 49-84. In my article Flipping the misogynist script: Gender, agency, Hip Hop, and music education I make a case for including Hip Hop in music programs through a critical media literacy framework and providing students diverse opportunities to address socio-cultural and musical issues through related musical engagement. In particular I address issues of gender and agency as… Read More »Flipping the misogynist script: Gender, agency, Hip Hop, and music education

Journalism and the perpetuation of the “declining Music Education” trope

A recent article by Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times, Tested Out Upstate: Classical’s Future: Orchestras in Albany, Rochester and Buffalo Stay Nimble, is not about music education but perpetuates the myth that music education is on the decline or is “decimated.” This trope has a long tradition in a range of journalism even though it is rarely backed up by evidence or the voices of certified music educators. The article Apparently, We Disappeared by Lauren Kapalka Richerme traces… Read More »Journalism and the perpetuation of the “declining Music Education” trope

Music Education + New Music + NewMusicBox = NewMusicBox Education Week!

As a longtime reader of the online multimedia publication NewMusicBox (from New Music USA), I’m thrilled to contribute to their special focus on Education:  How We Learn Now: Education Week (Sept 23- 27). My article, Inviting Possibilities for New Music and Music Education addresses three key themes: Contemporary pedagogy: shifting from a lecture, direct instruction, teacher-centered approach to one that is more project-based and student-centered Participatory culture: drawing on some of the themes I addressed in my MEJ article Toward… Read More »Music Education + New Music + NewMusicBox = NewMusicBox Education Week!