The App Scavenger Hunt

The chapter focuses on projects designed to enhance student engagement with, and exploration of, mobile devices. Helping preservice teachers manage the often steep learning curve that goes hand in hand with connecting theory to practice is but one aspect of music teacher preparation. For the methods student and university professor alike, staying abreast of the current PK-12 school population’s musical needs poses unique conditions for curriculum development. Learning how to use technology while working with a diverse range of students presents challenges for all who are involved in teaching music with technology. The App Scavenger Hunt is an introductory project intended to foster collaboration by exploring the variety of apps available for later projects such as spontaneous musical jam sessions, group composition, and the (re)creation of cover tunes. These musicking experiences, in conjunction with field experiences in music methods classes, aided university students’ embrace of the potential for creative music making with mobile technology.

Revealing Whiteness in Preservice Music Teacher Preparation

Educational institutions and teacher education preparation programs tend to reflect White Eurocentric beliefs and values. Additionally, White preservice teachers may have little understanding of their own cultural backgrounds, as they are largely unexamined in a structure of White norms. In this paper, I draw upon elements of critical whiteness studies as a framework to further analyze data from a prior, larger study about an immersion field experience to reveal the ways in which whiteness was largely unacknowledged but always lurking in the background of the experience—in participants’ discourses about their experiences and interactions with students of color in the music classrooms. This deepened understanding of whiteness embedded in the experience was imperative for considering how to better facilitate field experiences for White preservice music teachers and how to better prepare them to work successfully with students of color.

Lessons from Lithuania: Teacher beliefs and behaviors in teaching young children to sing

The purpose of this naturalistic case study was to uncover beliefs and behaviors of successful teachers who produced excellent children’s singing in Lithuania. The research questions guiding the study were: What particular beliefs did music teachers hold about their ability to teach children to sing and the necessary components to teach children good singing? What specific behaviors did music teachers exhibit and embrace in public and singing school music classes to achieve good singing that is accurate, tuneful, resonant, expressive, and in head voice? In this naturalistic case study, data from informants ( N =18) consisted of interviews ( n = 12) and observations in their classrooms ( n = 22) and concerts ( n =7) in an urban area in a city in Lithuania. The conceptual framework underpinning the study was supported by the data, relating to their beliefs and behaviors about their knowledge and skill in teaching, their use of a variety of teaching strategies, and their use of highly sequenced literature. Of most importance was that they emphatically lived their beliefs in order to achieve success with children’s singing. Implications are offered that relate to music teacher preparation.

Choral Music Education

Preservice choral music teacher preparation benefits from reviews of literature, published over four decades that, taken together, document the gradual transformation of practice. These reviews of literature provide a place to begin the present chapter, followed by an update of that literature to determine where the field has remained stable and where boundaries have been challenged and expanded in the 21st century. Subsequently, a content analysis of major textbooks for choral methods courses is undertaken, revealing gaps between research and practice in these areas: (a) connecting vocal development to social development, (b) connecting teacher effectiveness to student progress, and (c) recognizing the multiple cultural influences on choral singers. The chapter concludes with a proposed framework for preparation of choral music educators, borrowed from the training of healthcare professionals, called cultural humility. Cultural humility is not intended to be learned in a classroom, but instead through ongoing clinical practice.

Assessing Musical Development

This chapter discusses the general landscape of assessment education in music programs and possible means of incorporating assessment learning in music teacher preparation programs. The chapter outlines a possible sequence of activities that would cover the more pertinent topics of assessment in an instructional sequence that would encompass all 4 years of a typical music education undergraduate program, as well as possible prototypical music education courses in which the topics could be incorporated with the ultimate aim of potentially leading to a more assessment-literate music education profession. The chapter describes steps that music teacher educators can take to help student teachers prepare for what their potential districts may require for teacher evaluation and teacher certification. It also emphasizes the importance of discussing contemporary school legal issues within the student teaching semester, even if students already are required to take a course that covers these issues.

Music Teacher Preparation for Teaching Children With Exceptionalities

This chapter examines a framework for special education teacher preparation within music teacher education. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, as of the 2013–2014 academic year, 6.5 million students representing 13% of all public school children qualify for special education services. This was an increase from 4.7 million, or 11%, in 1990–1991. Music education and special education share similar challenges with teacher preparation. Finding, preparing, and developing a qualified workforce in special education presents one of the field’s biggest challenges. The first logical place to examine pathways to successful preparation for music teachers is the literature focused on teacher preparation in special education. Brownell (2005) proposes a framework for special education teacher preparation that includes crafting impactful field experiences, working together (collaboration), examining outcomes of teacher education, and focusing on inclusion and cultural diversity.

Alternative Pathways to Certification

This chapter explores the literature on alternative pathways to teacher certification to provide a context for understanding how and why these programs developed and their potential impact on traditional pathways to licensure. A discussion of the different types of alternative certification programs, including graduate-level teacher certification programs, certificate-only programs, and non-university certification programs (NUCPs), provides a basis for understanding how preservice music teachers are certified in these programs. These include recruitment, implementation of curricula, and often limited preservice music teacher preparation prior to teaching. This chapter concludes with a discussion of how music teacher educators can continue to lead the profession with adapting existing traditional pathways to accommodate a wide range of teacher candidates from a diverse array of personal, musical, and professional backgrounds to help prepare them for a multitude of music teaching scenarios in an ever-changing educational landscape.

The Nature of Music Teacher Preparation Scholarship Through the Lens of the Journal of Music Teacher Education

This chapter examines the Journal of Music Teacher Education (JMTE) from 1991 to 2017, including JMTE’s mission, review processes, and content of 403 articles. Of particular interest are changes in journal size, topic emphases, quantitative versus qualitative methodologies, ratio of research (new data) to interest articles (ideas based on existent data), and collaborative authorships. A review of related research involving trends in journal publication and scholarship of teaching and learning is included, as well as lists of JMTE editors, editorial review board members, and individual author productivity. Relationships between journal growth and strength of the sponsoring professional society (Society for Music Teacher Education Symposium and Graduate Student Research Forum) are discussed. Comparisons between the vitality of JMTE and the demise of Quarterly Journal of Teaching and Learning are explored. Suggestions for future analyses of professional journals conclude the chapter.

Band Project: A Model for Service Learning

Real-world experiences, such as situated learning, fieldwork, and student teaching have been among the most prevalent examples employed in teacher preparation programs. Despite the increasing evidence in support of service learning in music teacher preparation, there are a limited number of models specific to instrumental music education. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of participants in one such model, called Band Project. Participants included preservice music educators, young band students, and one lead teacher who also served as the instrumental music teacher at the school. The research question that guided this investigation was as follows: In what ways do participants in an afterschool band project describe their experience? Four themes emerged from analysis of data: (a) Relationships and Community, (b) Challenges and Tensions, (c) Aspirations, and (d) Transformations. Findings reinforced the importance of service learning for preservice music educators, particularly amid growing concerns for cross-cultural awareness, inclusion, and social justice in music teacher preparation.