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Christmas concerts on Chanukah and considering issues of cultural sensitivity. . .

Around this time of year, the Music Teachers Facebook Group is full of posts about Christmas concerts, religion and music education, sacred music in schools, and associated issues. The majority of the posts often position Christmas as the default holiday during wintertime and focus of concerts that occur this time of year. Some posts or comments even dismiss perspectives that question this focus or admonish students who are uncomfortable with foci on Christmas and related music. I’m left wondering how well music education is doing at addressing issues of understanding, cultural sensitivity, and meaning making in relation to these types of conversations.Read More »Christmas concerts on Chanukah and considering issues of cultural sensitivity. . .

Music Education Policy & Department of Education’s Proposed Teacher Preparation Regulation Overhaul

The U.S. Department of Education recently proposed new regulations on teacher education preparation programs that largely mirror the “value added measures” approach focusing on teacher accountability in K-12 schools. For some perspective from experts in music teacher education, you can read the Society for Music Teacher Education’s updated post Public Comment on Proposed Rules for Teacher Preparation Program Reporting. For a sense of the general perspective on the proposed regulations among experts in teacher education you might be interested in… Read More »Music Education Policy & Department of Education’s Proposed Teacher Preparation Regulation Overhaul

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

Music Education In 2030: Technology, Education Reform, Future Challenges And Opportunities

I am very much looking forward to joining former NAFME president Scott Shuler and Prof. of Music Ed at University of Hawaii in Honolulu, Barbara McLain, for our presentation “Music Education In 2030: Technology, Education Reform, Future Challenges And Opportunities” at the upcoming 2014 NAfME National In-Service Conference. Our session is an outgrowth of a set of articles we wrote in Arts Education Policy Review in which we reflected on Shuler’s prior predictions for music education and projected our own… Read More »Music Education In 2030: Technology, Education Reform, Future Challenges And Opportunities

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”