Courses for Secondary Instruments

The main purpose of this chapter is to synthesize the literature regarding courses for secondary instruments in the interest of making recommendations for promising practices. The chapter also is intended to “push boundaries from within the system” of music teacher education. That is, it is intended to be a resource for those who prepare preservice music teachers (PMTs) for the realities of P-12 school-based music education and who aspire to instill in these new colleagues a disposition toward change. The chapter is divided into six sections: importance of secondary instrument courses, characteristics and configurations of secondary instrument courses, focus and content of secondary instrument courses, peer teaching activities and field experiences within secondary instrument courses, recommendations for promising practices (including professional development beyond the preservice music education curriculum and an institutional model for secondary instrument courses), and future considerations.

Developing Effective Dispositions for Teaching Music

The impact of teacher dispositions on the professional development of preservice music teachers (PMTs) has been substantiated. This chapter describes an approach to dispositional development within the structure of an introduction to music education course. A teacher concerns model is used to organize this systematic approach through three developmental stages that include self-concerns, teaching task concerns, and student learning concerns. A series of 11 critical questions are presented for use in guiding PMTs’ dispositional development through these developmental stages. Activities to engage PMTs in the exploration of each of these questions are detailed for use by music teacher educators desiring to engage PMTs in dispositional development.

Service-Learning Opportunities for Preservice Music Teachers within Community Music Settings

Authentic teaching opportunities are important for all preservice teachers, and service-learning opportunities within community music settings support preservice music teacher development. The purpose of this chapter is to document a service-learning opportunity within a community music school and showcase the benefits and challenges of a partnership between a music teacher preparation program and this school. After defining service learning and describing how it is utilized in music teacher education, the chapter uncovers the following topics: establishing a community music partnership, designing a service-learning opportunity, and evaluating the outcomes of service-learning programs. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of and recommendations for utilizing a multi-tier service-learning program alongside a preservice music teacher curriculum.

Diversifying Musical Experiences in Schools and Music Teacher Preparation Programs

This chapter discusses the innate differences between vernacular music-making cultures and those oriented in Western classical traditions, and suggests students in traditional school music education programs in the United States are not typically afforded opportunities to learn skills used in vernacular and popular music-making cultures. The chapter emphasizes a need to diversify music-making experiences in schools and describes how vernacular musicianship may benefit students’ musical development. It suggests that, in order for substantive change to occur in music education in the United States, teachers will need to advance beyond simply considering how to integrate popular music into their traditional large ensembles—and how preservice music teacher education programs may be the key to help better prepare teachers to be more versatile and philosophically open to teaching a more musically diverse experience in their future classrooms.

Pushing the Boundaries from the Inside

This chapter situates the study of music teacher education within the larger body of music education and teacher education research. It problematizes the terms teacher training, teacher education, and best practice and introduces the concept of teaching as an “impossible profession.” Goals of teacher education, including reflective practice and adaptive expertise, are discussed. The chapter outlines the challenges that music teacher educators face as they try to prepare preservice teachers for the realities of P-12 school-based music education while instilling in these new colleagues a disposition toward change. It concludes with narratives that examine teachers’ descriptions of classroom relationships throughout the lens of presence in teaching as a way to remind teacher educators of the importance of their work to push the boundaries of music teacher education in order to serve the profession at large.

Race, Ethnicity, and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

This chapter outlines how principles associated with culturally relevant pedagogy may be used in music teacher education to help preservice music teachers better understand how perceptions of race and ethnicity mediate teaching and learning in music. Specific attention is given to race and ethnicity as they relate to (a) facets of cultural identity, (b) the origins of culturally relevant pedagogy in US public education, and (c) the significance of culturally relevant pedagogy in music teacher education. The latter portion of the chapter provides examples of instructional strategies designed to develop a disposition toward culturally responsive teaching among preservice music educators. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the challenges that must be considered when viewing music teacher education through a cultural lens.

Modern Band, Songwriting, and Curricular Innovation

This chapter seeks to provide a rationale and practical steps for teacher educators to begin a process of curricular development centered on songwriting and modern band as a means of diversifying curricular offerings in K–12 schools. Songwriting is presented as a primary avenue for curricular growth when preceded by quality authentic musical experiences centered on the arrangement and performance of cover songs. Suggestions are presented for how to begin teaching preservice music teachers how to write songs. The chapter concludes by emphasizing the importance of continuing to develop the quality of our sustaining technologies—widespread musical offerings such as standardized band, choir, and orchestra—while working to bring disruptive technologies more and more into the mainstream.

A Historical Overview of Music Teacher Education in the United States

This chapter examines the history of music teacher education in the United States from its humble beginnings in the 19th century through the varied preservice and advanced programs offered today. The chapter describes the evolution of the field over the past 200 years and speculates on the future of the profession through a historical lens. Most music teachers of the 18th and early 19th centuries received little formal preparation in either music or pedagogy and earned most of their living in a trade. Around 1830, music teacher education began on an institutional basis in singing conventions, teacher institutes, and private academies. State normal schools and some conservatories extended this work in the mid-19th century by offering instruction in pedagogy and “public school music.” Colleges and universities followed suit around 1900 and, two decades later, began awarding undergraduate and graduate degrees in music education. These programs expanded a great deal through World War II and continued to develop in response to changing needs, values, and priorities of society. Today, initial preparation is highly accessible through public and private colleges and universities throughout the country. The same is true of graduate-level instruction, which will likely become more prevalent as institutions continue to develop fully online master’s and doctoral programs.

Field Experience

This chapter presents an overview of preservice field experiences in music teacher education. Field experience, also termed fieldwork, early field experience, clinical practice, clinical teaching, extern teaching, or practicum, refers to teaching and/or observation experiences undertaken by preservice teachers within P-12 classrooms or other off-campus settings as part of curricula leading to teacher certification prior to the student teaching semester. Field experience is a common curricular requirement or standard among university teacher education programs, state departments of education, and higher education accrediting agencies. The chapter examines current practices and addresses potential benefits and problems associated with various field experience arrangements. Finally, it explores innovative approaches to field experience, poses questions for consideration, and suggests implications for practice and research.

Setting an Agenda for Music Teacher Education Practice, Research, and Policy

This final chapter of The Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education in the United States synthesizes suggestions from the previous 42 chapters in the areas of teacher education practice, research, and policy. It reviews the boundaries that need to be pushed in music teacher education, such as those related to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It summarizes the challenges to that work and directs the reader to specific chapters that have covered this subject in detail. Personal reflections from P-12 teachers are incorporated throughout the chapter to illustrate the boundaries they have tried to push and the challenges they have face in doing so. Before concluding, the chapter discusses agendas for change within the field.