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Maryland College and University Educators Association Journal
Articles in this Journal:
- The Future of Music Teacher Education (Maryland Music Educator, Winter 2006)
- Whence Music Teacher Education? Rethinking, Researching and Revitalizing the Future of Our Profession (Maryland Music Educator, Spring 2006)
- Maryland College and University Educators Present Plan for Meeting New Mandates for Teacher Certification
- Reviewing Past Goals in Order to Look Ahead (Maryland Music Educator, Summer 2007)
- Music Teacher Empowerment Through Arts Alliances (Maryland Music Educator, Winter 2007)
- Making Music More than Music: Integrating the Arts in College Music Classes (Maryland Music Educator, Spring 2008)
The Future of Music Teacher Education
(Maryland Music Educator, Winter 2006)
Last spring MCMUEA sponsored a discussion concerning the future of Music Teacher Education. That discussion focused on questions raised during the recent Symposium on Music Teacher Education. Those questions included:
1) Where will future music educators come from?
2) How will they be prepared?
3) What happens after they graduate?
We explored many of the challenges faced by music schools which prepare future teachers. The sheer credit load and the failure of some members of music faculties to value the goals of music teacher education were highlighted. State and National institutions have moved forward with innovations in both requirements and curricular approaches, but, outside of the music education specialists, music department faculty awareness of those innovations is patchy.
The biggest debate concerning music education curriculum seeks to find the balance between knowledge and skill. This is also true of larger teacher education debates as well, but the discussion is particularly critical to a field such as music, where active public performance itself is such an integral part of the discipline. Finding that balance within a music department can be effectively led only at the department chair level, since honest discussions approaching compromise and collaboration is needed between performance faculties (both solo and ensemble) and music history and theory faculties. Those discussions are never easy. Any compromise in requirements will be seen by some as "dumbing down," while insistence on consistently high levels of excellence (depending on how "excellence" is defined) will be seen by others as "elitism." But both compromise and consistently high levels of excellence are in fact needed in order for future music teachers to be prepared for the myriad requirements of classrooms while graduating in reasonable periods of time.
Not surprisingly, this debate is raging on a wider scale as well. Arthur Levine, president emeritus of Teachers College, Columbia University, recently published a lengthy review of the state of teacher education today: Educating School Teachers. You can find the entire report on this link:
http://www.edschools.org/pdf/Educating_Teachers_Report.pdf
The executive summary is found at this link:
http://www.edschools.org/pdf/Educating_Teachers_Exec_Summ.pdf
You might also find valuable a response written on October 5, 2006 by Arthur E. Wise, president of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education in Washington DC.
The crux of the Levine report was the as yet unanswered question: Is teaching a profession (like medicine and law) in which a person undergoes intensive training followed by apprenticeships prior to entering the profession, or a craft (like journalism) in which one learns on the job? Teacher training in the US is all over the map. Many schools have very exacting standards, but there are also many programs that take career-changers and basically teach them rapidly in immersion programs. Levine himself referred to teacher education as the "Dodge City of the education world," going on to say its "like the fabled Wild West town, it is truly unruly and chaotic." Levine endorses the idea of teaching as a profession, and suggests higher standards in academic expectations, a lot more classroom exposure than some institutions now require, and clear tracking of teacher success once they are in the classroom. He also endorses a five year program for all teacher education.
In my mind, music education is both a profession and a craft, and it’s also an art. We prepare teachers in many ways for the diverse challenges of the classroom. Learning never stops though, and all teachers will continue to learn some of their most valuable skills and knowledge from teaching, often from the students themselves. We will do that while helping children develop their own sense of aesthetics, both in response to music they hear, and in the process of creating their own relationship with music, both through performance and composition. This is indeed a tall order. The best balances can only be found if all music faculties within an institution clearly understand the goals and challenges of music teacher education today, and if they are willing to take responsibility to find ways to coordinate their own areas with all the other areas each future music educator must confront and learn. The ideal balance is found in an atmosphere of collaboration and integrated learning. That takes the leadership of a department chair to communicate those needs across the music curriculum. The role of the music education specialist is complex. They stay on top of the most recent requirements and challenges by staying activity engaged with what’s happening in a diversity of classrooms, by leading active research, and by adequately coordinating with both national music education organizations and with the institutional education department. But in order for any of that to really matter, the music education specialist must keep the music department chair significantly involved in that process as well. This is not always easy; sometimes it’s nearly impossible. But it’s the only way to effectively approach that goal of cooperation, collaboration, and curricular integration.
The Levine report is frightening. It suggests that many education departments should be closed, that they are merely "cash cows," and that standards are all over the map. The Wise response rebuts that assertion, saying that the Levine report was outdated before it hit the press. There’s no denying that music teacher education is very challenging at this time though, and that those challenges will only become more pronounced. Music departments that choose to educate future music educators must realize their responsibilities to meet those challenges as a unit, and to meet them proactively, not as a response to requirements that come from the outside. We could then very well serve as a model for the whole teaching profession.
Whence Music Teacher Education?
Rethinking, Researching and Revitalizing the Future of Our Profession
(Maryland Music Educator, Spring 2006)
On Saturday, February 26, 2006, the Maryland Colleges and Universities and the Collegiate components of MMEA held an open discussion: “Whence Music Teacher Education? Rethinking, Researching, and Revitalizing the Future of our Profession.” Fifteen people were present, including student teachers, district music supervisors, classroom teachers, and university professors. This is a brief summary of that discussion.
A short review was given of a previous discussion/position statement, which was done by MCUMEA in 2002. That study explored the impact of the Professional Development School concept and other Maryland State Department of Education requirements for music education programs. The complete statement can be found on the MCUMEA website: http://www.mmea-Maryland.org/html/MCUEA_journal.php?id=5.
Several discussion participants attended the Symposium on Music Teacher Education last September at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (see http://smte.iweb.bsu.edu. These participants shared highlights of the symposium. As background, Richard Disharoon, past president of the Eastern Division of MENC, explained he had established a resolution for the Eastern Division regarding Music Teacher Education and related issues. That resolution played a role in SMTE and the National Executive Board of MENC co-sponsoring the symposium, which was intended to be open-ended and to generate continued discussions in the future. Michael Jothen of Towson University reviewed a paper he presented at the symposium addressing the 3 fundamental questions identified, particularly focusing on items 2 and 3.
1. Where will future music educators come from?
2. How will they be prepared?
3. What happens after they graduate?
The ensuing discussion touched on the apparent disconnect between major music organizations concerned with teacher education and the realities of public school needs today. Major innovations have primarily come from state departments of education. Concern was also expressed for a lack of understanding on the part of college faculty members, particularly applied faculty members, for both the importance of quality music education programs and the pressures placed on those students. Models of new curricular approaches were discussed. The sheer credit load problem was prominent in those discussions. Lack of practical experience in the classroom prior to teaching has long been a concern as well. The example of the certification internship requirements for music therapy was raised; a very substantial requirement indeed compared with that for music education. There was a strong desire for action in addition to “more research.”
We asked ourselves, “Should we have our own statement about music teacher education?” and “Do we need to create a vision for music education?”
We decided to explore these topics in the coming year:
1) What does it mean to be a music educator in the 21st century?
2) What would we like to see in a focus statement?
3) To whom shall we send such a statement?
4) Why
The challenges facing music teacher education today are enormous. Indeed, all music curriculum in general on all levels will undergo very dramatic changes in the next decade. The need for meaningful exposure to world music, contemporary popular genres and the increasing importance of technology will force fundamental re-structuring of the entire music education model. This will be challenging in the extreme, but, if we can be fully engaged in the process, it will be incredibly exciting as well.
Maryland College and University Educators Present Plan for Meeting New Mandates for Teacher Certification
In recent months members of Maryland College and University Educators Association (MCUEA) have met several times to discuss issues surrounding the implementation of The Redesign of Teacher Education Performance Criteria. The Performance Criteria, mandated by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), will apply to all student teachers (currently designated as teacher candidates or teacher interns ) beginning September 2003. While music education faculty recognize that changes in the traditional student teaching model may be in order, the circumstances of teacher interns in music are different from those of teacher interns in general education.
MCUEA Concerns
Among the concerns voiced by college and university faculty, Component II of the criteria is particularly troubling. Component II states that "teacher candidates have extensive field-based preparation in K-12 schools with diverse populations, which includes an internship within two consecutive semesters at a minimum of 100 full days in a school," and that "teacher candidates have their extensive internship in sites that are collaboratively planned with public school partners and follow the Maryland Professional Development School (PDS) Standards."[1] That is to say that a music teacher intern must be placed in the school that MSDE has designated as a professional development school for that intern's particular university.
Heretofore, music education faculty have endeavored to place their interns in schools having programs which matched well with each intern's teaching interest. For example, a pre-service teacher with a strong interest in marching band would be placed in a school with a strong marching band program. Under the new mandate, that flexibility may not be possible. Furthermore, the stipulation to complete 100 days of observations and internship over consecutive semesters may require considerable re-working of collegiate music and music education programs. Given that music education students typically are required to complete 142-147 credit hours in order to meet music requirements (theory, history, form and analysis, etc.) and education requirements,[2] it already is a difficult situation. Music education students often are forced to complete their internship and senior recital in the same semester or to remain in school five years to complete their degrees.
MCUEA resolutions
Since the publication of The Redesign of Teacher Education performance standards, college and university faculty across the state have discussed their concerns about the new mandates amongst themselves and with MSDE representatives.[3] From their discussions, members of Maryland College and University Educators Association have drawn the following conclusions:
Institutions across the state which certify teachers in music consent to comply with the spirit of the stated performance criteria.
Certifying institutions share similar concerns and encumbrances in their efforts to effect changes which conform to "the letter of the law."
In order to provide the best internship possible, it may be necessary to place teacher candidates in schools other than designated PDS locations.
Other requirements placed on students for graduation and the requirement to work with other college and university departments in scheduling classes may encumber our ability to strictly maintain the requirement to provide a field-based experience within two consecutive semesters at a minimum of 100 full days.
It may be beneficial to all certifying institutions to compose a unified statement which states our shared concerns, justifies our occasional need to place students in non-designated schools, and provides models for structuring programs in ways that satisfy MSDE requirements.
This unified statement will not be formally presented to MSDE. However, once composed, the statement should be made available to each certifying institution and archived with the Maryland Music Educators Association.
The Maryland College and University Educators Association, with concern for all involved in the process of preparing music teacher candidates and in the spirit of compliance with parameters set forth by the Maryland State Department of Education, hereby makes public its plan of action.
Action Plan for Meeting PDS Requirements in Music Teacher Certification
In compliance with MSDE performance criteria regarding placement of interns in designated PDS locations, music teacher educators propose the following actions:
Insure excellence in the quality of the internship experience for all students by establishing minimum standards for quality teachers and teaching conditions according to those set forth by Music Educators National Conference (MENC).
Systematically review music teaching faculty and teaching conditions in designated PDS locations according to MENC standards.
If conditions in currently designated PDS are found to be unsatisfactory, designate satellite schools as alternative locations for assigning interns.
If satellite schools are designated, present a plan to MSDE for providing workshops and mentoring for cooperating teachers.
If satellite schools are designated, present a plan to MSDE for providing weekly seminars for students assigned to satellite locations.
Concerns regarding assignment of interns to designated PDS locations
PDS locations are designated without regard to the quality of teacher and teaching conditions specific to music. Research in music teacher education indicates that the cooperating teacher is critical in forming attitudes and developing skills which the new teacher carries into the workplace. Therefore only the finest teachers are acceptable for overseeing interns.
While quality of teaching and teaching conditions may be favorable in designated PDS locations at a particular point in time, the assignment of music teachers is constantly in flux due to budget constraints and shifting school populations. Thus, continuity in quality is not guaranteed from year to year.
Due to the broad scope of music education, it is necessary to insure that interns are guaranteed a comprehensive preparation representative of the varied assignments of in-service music teachers. That preparation may include, but is not limited to: elementary, middle, and high school chorus; elementary, middle, and high school general music; elementary, middle, and high school band; elementary, middle, and high school strings; marching band; jazz band; musical theater. At the same time it is necessary to place interns with specific expertise (e.g., strings) in locations where they can gain teaching experience in their area of expertise. Not all PDS locations may provide for both the breadth and specificity that must be considered in placing interns in music.
Interns in music should be afforded an internship experience which will prepare them to be competitive in a broad job market.
Assignment of interns to satellite locations
In the event that interns in music are assigned to satellite locations, the certifying institution will follow procedures already implemented by the Physical Education Departments at Salisbury University, Towson University and other schools across the state. That is:
Document the need for assigning a student to a satellite location
Locate a designated PDS in the alternative location and obtain permission from the school's administration. Provide an "overseer" or supervising teacher who is familiar with new teacher education requirements and practices.
Document that interns have completed the required amount of time observing in the same school where they complete their internships.
Projected impact on departments of music in certifying institutions
In order to comply with the plan of action stated above departments of music may need to:
Coordinate with teachers, supervisors, principals at currently designated schools.
Accommodate music education students' requirement to complete 100 days of observations and internship by altering current schedules of course offerings and classes.
Carefully monitor, perhaps alter, advising practices to facilitate students' timely completion of courses in music, general education, and music education.
Consult with partner schools, other institutions of higher learning, and the Maryland State Department of Education to develop models for implementing the "100 Days" requirement, internship seminars, and seminars for cooperating teachers.
Allow released-time for music faculty responsible for coordinating methods courses, internships, mentoring and workshops for cooperating teachers in music.
Submitted by Cherie Stellaccio, President
1. Maryland State Department of Education Program Approval and Assessment Branch. The Redesign of Teacher Education Performance Criteria (8/29/01).
2. Most baccalaureate majors require 120-130 credit hours.
3. Maryland College and University Educators Association Roundtable, Maryland Music Educators Association Conference, February 22, 2002.
Reviewing Past Goals in Order to Look Ahead
(Maryland Music Educator, Summer 2007)
In the past five years several discussions have been held concerning the challenges facing music teacher education today, both nationally and in Maryland. Generally, there is concern about the curricular pressures on music teacher preparation and how curricular approaches are affecting the subsequent performance of new Music Educators in the classroom. Close coordination within music faculties is needed to closely integrate performance and knowledge, with all faculty members, no-matter what their specialty, positively engaged in music teacher training. In order for students to fully make sense of the professional expectations thrust upon them, close coordination is also needed between music curriculum and education curriculum (and not just on the part of the music education specialist. Schools in the 21st century may also desire more teachers in the arts who can cross disciplines, helping children to explore the common threads between music and other areas of learning.
In the coming year I would like to host discussions concerning the ways different institutions are approaching these challenges. I would like to highlight particularly innovative approaches that have come to light. I am aware of several, and those institutions will be invited to present their ideas. If your institution is initiating any innovations you’d like to share, please contact me directly.
The above concepts are general, and to a large extent, philosophical. However, in the coming year I’d also like to follow up on a study Cherie Stellaccio led several years ago specifically in response to new MSDE guidelines in teacher education. Her excellent summary of the issues can be found in the MCUMEA Journal at http://www.mmea-maryland.org/html/MCUEA_journal.php?id=5
Questions raised included:
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Concerns about the Maryland Professional Development School requirement relevant to student teaching, and whether the PDS concept adequately recognizes the need for the student music educator to have a mentor with a high level of experience and success. The PDS model does not necessarily take the strength of each individual discipline at the PDS into account.
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Concerns about the requirement for two consecutive semesters of internships with a minimum of 100 full days in schools. With the high curricular load music education students face in general this requirement may affect their abilities to complete other classes.
Possible approaches included:
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Coordinate with teachers, supervisors, and principals at currently designated schools.
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Accommodate music education students' requirement to complete 100 days of observations and internship by altering current schedules of course offerings and classes.
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Carefully monitor, perhaps alter, advising practices to facilitate students' timely completion of courses in music, general education, and music education.
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Consult with partner schools, other institutions of higher learning, and the Maryland State Department of Education to develop models for implementing the "100 Days" requirement, internship seminars, and seminars for cooperating teachers.
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Allow released-time for music faculty responsible for coordinating methods courses, internships, mentoring and workshops for cooperating teachers in music.
How has your institution addressed these issues? Perhaps this fall would be a good time for us to sit together and share the solutions we’ve found, and the ideas we’re all developing for this new and very challenging century. I will be contacting you for feedback in this area, and I hope you’ll be willing to participate in this continuing, critical discussion.
Until then, I wish you all a very wonderful summer!
Finding Strength to Move Forward Through Sharing
(Maryland Music Educator, Fall 2007)
Welcome to the new school year! Every new beginning is filled with hope for the future. In higher education we are in a position to watch fledgling music educators at all stages of development try out their wings in the classroom as observers, interns, student teachers, or perhaps now in their first few years. No matter how many years we “experienced” music educators have taught we also look for new beginnings. We wish to see what others are doing that might also work well in our situations.
The past decade has brought many challenges, and that has intensified our desire to see what others may be doing well, things that sustain excitement and inspiration in a field now so full of pressures. Many pressures we now face have been discussed in the last five years in this column and at MMEA. That discussion was started in a big way by Cherie Stellaccio. The primary concerns she brought to light were issues surrounding the Maryland Professional Development School requirement relevant to student teaching, and the two consecutive semesters of internships with a minimum of 100 full days in schools. Both of these can be problematic when the desire to match the student teacher to the best possible mentor is taken into account, and when the high curricular pressure now necessary in music education programs is considered. This has created internal pressures to lighten requirements in performance, theory, and/or music history and literature for music education majors, and that can have unfortunate effects on music faculty relations, and more importantly, on attitudes of young music educators on the relative importance of all those components. A full review of all those issues can be found by simply going to the MMEA website (www.mmea-maryland.org) and visiting the MCUMEA link on the left side.
The point I’d like to make now is that the most important thing Cherie did was to get people together to share their stories, their challenges, and how they were dealing with those challenges. As a result of her work Education and Music departments throughout the state developed a greater understanding of each other’s expectations and needs. Some accomodations became possible that might otherwise not have been considered. Now, several years later, many of us have found rewarding ways of approaching these challenges, and we’ve surely also found many new questions that remain confounding. Its very likely, through sharing our experiences, we will find more solutions than conundrums.
MCUMEA is hosting a round table discussion in October to review where we are now with these issues. Cherie Stellaccio will once again lead the discussion, joined by a number of other music education professionals from many different experiences. These will include music education professors, music supervisors, student teachers, and of course, music teachers active in the classroom. These will include those involved in supervising new music educators either in their student teaching experience or as interns or both. I will be actively inviting many people to share, but all are welcome. If you have particular strategies you’ve formed that work well, or intractable challenges you continue to face and you’re looking for ideas, please let me know. We’ll keep this discussion alive and well as we go further into this amazing new century.
Music Teacher Empowerment Through Arts Alliances
(Maryland Music Educator, Winter 2007)
If you like to explore innovative ideas and find the most creative ways to communicate the concepts you teach don’t miss this conference. Several sessions will spotlight a combination of the most exciting new initiatives in Maryland in many years. The main focus is Arts Integration, and the leadership organization is the Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance (AEMS). Richard Disharoon, Past President of MENC Eastern Division is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of AEMS. He wrote an extensive summary of these projects and the sessions he will be sponsoring at this conference. That article can be found in this journal issue on page 22.
MCUMEA’s session is part of this combination of presentations. We’re delighted to host Dr. Ray Zeigler, Fine Arts Specialist for the Maryland Department of Education and Director of the Maryland Artist/Teacher Institute (MATI), a professional development program for integrating the arts at the elementary and middle school levels. Clearly institutions of higher learning play an important role in teacher training for programs such as these. To that end, Dr. Zeigler played a central role in the creation and work of the Higher Education in the Arts Task Force (HEAT force), which will be the focus of his presentation. The HEAT force was formed by the AEMS steering committee in 2002 to look at the role institutions of higher education (IHEs) can play in providing every child in Maryland opportunities for learning both in and through the arts. Its membership includes representatives from IHEs, K-12 teachers and principals, and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). AEMS convened the HEAT Force in 2002 to think about how to maximize the impact of the good work IHEs were doing. Among other work being carried out by the HEAT Force, some campuses have been collaborating to explore arts integration in the State, focusing on the impact of these initiatives on teaching and student outcomes. The HEAT Force, along with AEMS, has played a crucial role in the current development of a unique Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Arts Integration for Maryland’s teachers. The Post-Bac Certificate was approved by MHEC in April, 2007. This certificate will give teachers the opportunity to participate in extensive training in arts integration and to earn a credential recognizing their special capabilities. To be made available to in-service teachers—and later to pre-service teachers in accelerated B.A./M.A.T. programs—this certificate will give high visibility and credibility to arts integration as a method of teaching for increased student engagement and learning. It is anticipated that in the future, additional IHEs (both public and private), as well as cultural institutions, will join the program to provide an increasingly rich array of professional development opportunities in arts integration for teachers.
Dr. John Ceschini, the Executive Director of AEMS will join Dr. Zeigler in presenting this very exciting new approach to learning for all children though arts – especially through music. We all hope to see you there!
Making Music More than Music: Integrating the Arts in College Music Classes
(Maryland Music Educator, Spring 2008)
The last MMEA conference hosted several sessions devoted to innovative new teacher training programs in Maryland combining the arts into classrooms at all levels. Fully engaging music students at the college level also benefits from such an approach.
Why do students take college level music classes? There are all sorts of reasons. In MCUMEA we are primarily concerned with Music Education students. But they are a minority of college music students. Students participate in ensembles, they take general music classes to satisfy general graduation requirements, they take private lessons either for their degree requirements or to continue something they started before coming to college. They take advanced theory and/or music history and literature courses either to satisfy graduation requirements or simply because they are deeply interested. What made them deeply interested to begin with? Not the details with which we find ourselves so deeply concerned. More likely it was the big picture. As one of my advisees, a theory and composition major, recently said when I asked her about her music history classes, “I’m not so good with dates, but I love the stories. I really enjoy getting to know the characters as people. When I get to know them as people, then I can remember the dates.” How can we best tell those “stories” to our students? How can we best help them remember historical “characters” as “people?” By embracing the complexities of the times in which they lived, and the complexities of their lives as they navigated their times. The arts, all the arts: sculpture, painting, architecture, theatre, poetry, literature, dance, and the various musical arts we all love give a great window into those “stories.”
Many of us have had opportunities to integrate non-musical material into a variety of settings. Here are a few I’ve found helpful:
1. Voltaire’s Candide in units including Mozart operas, especially Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro.
2. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in units including Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
3. Comparing Shiller’s full text for “Ode to Joy” with Beethoven’s adaptation.
4. Including Bernini’s “The Ecstacy of St. Theresa” and Donne’s “Holy Sonnet no. 14” when introducing Baroque Style. Excerpts from Pascal’s Pensées is also very helpful here.
5. Looking at the Declaration of Independence in some detail, along with Jefferson’s Monticello when discussion the emphasis on rational thought and use of symmetry in the Enlightenment, and in the Classical Style.
6. Comparing heroic paintings of revolutionary figures with photographs of the fallen from the Gettysburg battlefield when discussing the impact of advancing technology, including photography, on changing sensibilities from Classicism to Romanticism.
7. Comparing Picasso with Stravinsky, and discussing their artistic relationship.
8. Reading Alls Quiet on the Western Front while studying Britten’s War Requiem.
9. Reading I Robot while looking at diverse directions in electronic music today. (Watching the movie with Will Smith and comparing it with the book is fun too.)
10. In choral rehearsal/performance its always fun to have contrasting settings of the same poem, or diverse settings of poetry from very different cultures, but dealing with similar themes.
These are just a few examples of ways to capture and maintain the imaginations of the many different types of student that populate music classrooms, studios and ensembles. They are also “characters” playing out the complexities of their lives in their own “stories” in these very complex times in which we live. The spirit of “storytelling” is reflected in the new Maryland arts integration initiatives. We play an important role in developing and sustaining those initiatives. We do the same in our own college classrooms in the way we stir it all together. May we all enjoy the feast to come as arts integration becomes the norm in the learning experience.
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