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Blog: Catalysts & Connections

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”

Promising practices in 21st-century music teacher education and 21st-century musicianship through digital media and participatory culture

Tobias, E. S. (2014). 21st century musicianship through digital media and participatory culture. In M. Kaschub and J. Smith (Eds.), Promising practices in 21st century music teacher education. Oxford: Oxford University Press (pp. 205-226) Congratulations to Michele Kaschub and Jan Smith for another excellent edited book Promising practices in 21st century music teacher education. I feel privileged to be among a set of wonderful people and great thinkers in music education, discussing potential transformation in music teacher education and schools of… Read More »Promising practices in 21st-century music teacher education and 21st-century musicianship through digital media and participatory culture

Music, Expression, & Responding to Current Events: Michael Brown & Ferguson

A little over a year ago I wrote about Music, expression, and responding to current events in relation to Trayvon Martin. Perhaps it’s the musician side of me but whenever tragedies occur, I often wonder about the ways people use music to mediate their feelings, perspectives, and make meaning of the situation. It should be no surprise that musicians are already responding musically to the tragic killing of Michael Brown and ensuing situation in Ferguson, Missouri. I’m not sure how… Read More »Music, Expression, & Responding to Current Events: Michael Brown & Ferguson

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

Institute of Popular Music – Music Educator Workshop 2014

I’m looking forward to presenting at the upcoming University of Rochester Institute of Popular Music (IPM) 2014 Music Educator Workshop. If you live in or around New York, consider being a part of the learning community! This is a fantastic opportunity for music educators. A full day of workshops related to popular music and culture pedagogy for only $20. The workshop takes place on July 14 2014 and includes the following presenters: Matt Warren – Popular music-based composition starters for… Read More »Institute of Popular Music – Music Educator Workshop 2014