The Music Educators Journal

This report is part of a national campaign for music education that aims to focus the nation's attention on the pressing need to include music and the other arts at the center of the school curriculum. The credo of this campaign is, "Just as there can be no music without learning, no education is complete without music." The meaning of this credo is spelled out in this report through a four-part argument. In chapter 1, "Our Culture Is Dying," the contention is made that through inattention to music and the other arts in schools, the nation is dehumanizing its own people--and particularly the children--not by design but by default. It is argued that music has intrinsic value for the learner, and that a knowledge of music is essential to an educated human being. In chapter 2,"Education Without Music," evidence is explored that music education is being pushed to the periphery in schools. Chapter 3, "Education With Music," underscores two areas of interest: first, the new, pathbreaking areas of research on the nature of intelligence and brain function that are linked to music; and second, the significant contributions that music education can make to all of education beyond its intrinsic value. Finally, in chapter 4, "Making It Happen: Mounting a National Effort," there is discussion of ways of putting the credo to work, including linking the benefits of music education to a national advocacy effort to bring music and the other arts to their basic role in U.S. education. Two appendices are included: list of witnesses before the National Commission on Music Education, and a list of endorsing and supporting organizations. (DB)

Both in concept and in practice, policy has permeated the deepest recesses of civil society and has had particular impact on the lives of those who are actively connected to the educational process. For music teachers in particular, policy can evoke images of a forbidden environment beyond one's day-to-day duties and responsibilities. Nothing, however, could be farther from the truth. In this book, author Patrick Schmidt offers a variety of ways for K-12 music educators to engage with, analyze, and develop effective policy. Schmidt first demystifies the notion of policy and the characterization that it is out-of-reach to teachers, before exemplifying how policy, both big-picture policy and policy as a daily encounter enacted at the local level, share many similarities and are indeed co-dependent fragments of the same process. The first provides extensive and detailed contextual information, offering a conceptual vision for how to consider policy in the fast-pace and high-adaptability reality of 21st-century music education environments. The second delivers a practical set of ideas, guidelines, and suggestions specific to music education for a closer and more active interaction with policy, directed at providing 'tools for action' in the daily working lives of music educators. This approach enourages those who are novice to policy as well as those who would like to further explore and participate in policy action to exercise informed influence within their field, community, and school, and ultimately have greater impact in pedagogical, curricular, administrative, and legislative decision-making.

Seventeen contributors make a compelling case for including creativity as part of the music classroom, from kindergarten to teacher training courses. Practical solutions and time tested practices are provided.

Classic articles from Music Educators Journal explore the close relationship between school and community music.

Featuring chapters by the world's foremost scholars in music education and cognition, this handbook is a convenient collection of current research on music teaching and learning. This comprehensive work includes sections on arts advocacy, music and medicine, teacher education, and studio instruction, among other subjects, making it an essential reference for music education programs. The original Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, published in 1992 with the sponsorship of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), was hailed as "a welcome addition to the literature on music education because it serves to provide definition and unity to a broad and complex field" (Choice). This new companion volume, again with the sponsorship of MENC, explores the significant changes in music and arts education that have taken place in the last decade. Notably, several chapters now incorporate insights from other fields to shed light on multi-cultural music education, gender issues in music education, and non-musical outcomes of music education. Other chapters offer practical information on maintaining musicians' health, training music teachers, and evaluating music education programs. Philosophical issues, such as musical cognition, the philosophy of research theory, curriculum, and educating musically, are also explored in relationship to policy issues. In addition to surveying the literature, each chapter considers the significance of the research and provides suggestions for future study.Covering a broad range of topics and addressing the issues of music education at all age levels, from early childhood to motivation and self-regulation, this handbook is an invaluable resource for music teachers, researchers, and scholars.

Popular Music Pedagogies: A Practical Guide for Music Teachers provides readers with a solid foundation of playing and teaching a variety of instruments and technologies, and then examines how these elements work together in a comprehensive school music program. With individual chapters designed to stand independently, instructors can adapt this guide to a range of learning abilities and teaching situations by combining the pedagogies and methodologies presented. This textbook is an ideal resource for preservice music educators enrolled in popular music education, modern band, or secondary general methods coursework and K-12 music teachers who wish to create or expand popular music programs in their schools. The website includes play-alongs, video demonstrations, printed materials, and links to useful popular music pedagogy resources.