http://jmt.sagepub.comJournal of Music Teacher Education

DOI: 10.1177/10570837050150010101 2005; 15; 3 Journal of Music Teacher Education

David Teachout How Are We Preparing the Next Generation of Music Teacher Educators?

http://jmt.sagepub.com The online version of this article can be found at:

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

can be found at:Journal of Music Teacher Education Additional services and information for

http://jmt.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts:

http://jmt.sagepub.com/subscriptions Subscriptions:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions:

by Dorina Iusca on March 31, 2010 http://jmt.sagepub.comDownloaded from

JMTE, Fall 2005, 3

From the ChairHow Are We Preparing the Next Generation of Music Teacher Educators?

David TeachoutChair, Society for Music Teacher Education

Over the past twenty years there have been consequential changes in the field of education aswell as music education. A general push for greater accountability has resulted in renewedprofessional self-reflection about what is being taught and why. For the responsive musiceducator, this process has revealed a schism between the perennial desire for music to be valuedas a core curricular component and the common practice of providing performance preparationas the primary mode of delivering musical instruction. Music educators want parity with othercontent areas, yet by the time their students graduate from high school relatively few of thosestudents have developed an individualized ability to creatively manipulate musical elementsfrom an informed historical and cultural perspective for the purpose of personal gratification andcreative expression to the same degree they have learned to independently incorporate theelements of math, reading, and science to function productively in society. All of that is beginning to change. The definition of music education is being expanded by agrowing number of forward-thinking individuals. Instead of the measure of success being listento what my group can do, it is evolving toward a student-centered measure of look at what mystudents know, can do, and value about music. The introduction of the National Standards in1994 and the subsequent adoption of various versions of those standards at state levels (all afamiliar echo of the push for comprehensive musicianship during the 1960s) have caused anumber of music educators to consider regular incorporation of extra-performance teachingstrategies in the effort to provide students with a comprehensive music-learning experience. Ibelieve that a healthy, vibrant future for music education, one that enjoys incontrovertiblerelevance in the minds of policymakers, will depend upon the implementation of pedagogicalapproaches that facilitate for all students the cultivation of informed musical taste and expertisethrough the development of knowledge and feeling as well as skill. We must prepare ourundergraduates to teach differently, in ways that meet these new challenges. The questionrelevant to this column is: What are we doing with our doctoral students (the cadre of futuremusic teacher educators) to prepare them to train the next generation of teachers differently? Music teacher educators are beginning to explore and apply sociologically based theoreticalmodels throughout teacher education curricula that are effectively prompting undergraduates toassume greater responsibility for their professional development. During the Symposium onMusic Teacher Education in September 2005, a number of presenters offered several innovativeand successful approaches that revolve around a common educational principle: teach forindependence. Some presenters described constructivist strategies to address how teacher

by Dorina Iusca on March 31, 2010 http://jmt.sagepub.comDownloaded from

JMTE, Fall 2005, 4

candidates think, while others presented role-development strategies as means of facilitating howteacher candidates think about themselves as professionals. Still others explored variations of theProfessional Development School model and other types of immersion learning to demonstratethe effectiveness of creating a genuine need-to-know mind set in teacher candidates. Commonto all of these approaches is the idea that the university teacher education process is mosteffective when the teacher candidate has taken responsibility for his or her own professionaldevelopment early in his or her undergraduate program. Except for a fortunate and precious fewof us, these dynamic models were not what we experienced as undergraduates, nor were theyintroduced in our training to be teacher educators. We had to figure things out on our own aftercompleting the formal training. The good news is that we are figuring things out and makingimportant changes in how we work with aspiring music teachers. My question remains, What arewe doing differently with our doctoral students to prepare them to train the next generation ofmusic teachers? Traditional versions of service component responsibilities in higher education come relativelyeasily. When providing service to the profession, we tend to engage in activities that are afamiliar part of our existing professional repertoire (e.g., conducting honor groups, adjudicatingfestivals, and providing workshops on practices that we have found to be successful). These arewonderful opportunities to share knowledge and gain mass visibility. Yet, I question their abilityto move the profession forward efficiently. If the purpose of professional service is to facilitatethe betterment (an evolution, if you will) of the profession, I propose that a closer examinationbe afforded the Professional Development School (PDS) model, a mutually beneficialpartnership among K12 practitioners, university music teacher educators, and university musiceducation students. Earlier, I described such immersion models when discussing the benefits touniversity students and, consequently, to university professors. Here, it is most relevant to thinkin terms of how this model could serve the K12 practitioner. He or she would have a stake inthe professional development of future colleagues. More importantly, the partnership wouldprovide an opportunity for the K12 practitioner to broaden his or her role as a music educationprofessional. Think of the profound shift in the engagement one might feel when moving frombeing responsible for a classroom of students to having an integral role in shaping the profession. It is important to note that models such as the PDS are delicate and complex, and they requirea fundamental sharing of power and goals. For too long, however, there has existed a mutualdistrust between those in higher education and the community of practitioners. If models ofcollaboration can facilitate working together on ideas or issues that are important to bothconstituencies, perhaps the result might be an expanded and truer definition of service to theprofession. In what ways are we engendering among our doctoral students an idea of service tothe profession that would facilitate a positive evolution of the profession? Upon entering a doctoral program, one of the steepest learning curves needing to be

by Dorina Iusca on March 31, 2010 http://jmt.sagepub.comDownloaded from

JMTE, Fall 2005, 5

negotiated is that associated with the role of researcher. Prior to entering graduate school, mostdoctoral candidates were successful professionals in the music education field, having had littleor no contact with research. Once they make a commitment to pursue a career in highereducation, these practitioners must learn a brand new set of research skills. This is important fora number of reasons, not the least of which is that their ability to secure and hold a position ofemployment will often depend upon their ability to present and publish research consistently. More important than learning about research is that we want doctoral students to leave ourprograms seeing themselves as researchers. The facilitation of ones role as researcher is notunlike the process that undergraduates experience when moving from seeing themselves asstudents to seeing themselves as teachers. Undergraduates do not make such a transition simplyby sitting in classes and learning about teaching. They must have reflective-practiceexperiences that (a) place them in the role of the teacher, (b) allow them to practice the gesturesand apply the symbols associated with teaching, (c) provide opportunities for theiraccomplishments to be valued by their peers and mentors, and (d) allow these undergraduates toexplore and assimilate images that those outside of the profession have of teachers, as theseimages will affect decisions about teachers and schools. When applying all four of theseprinciples to facilitating the researcher role in our doctoral students, the complexity of such atask becomes apparent. Now, fast forward a bit to when these newly minted doctoral graduatesare teaching their first research course to a class of new graduate students. More than likely,these class members will have been successful professionals who have had little or no contactwith research. Similar to the conclusions that Dorfman and Lipscomb (2005) share later in thisissue of JMTE, getting these students to value research and see its connection to theirprofessional lives will take a particularly keen set of pedagogical skills. How are we facilitatingthe role of researcher in our doctoral students, and how are they being developed as researchpedagogues? In the preceding paragraphs, I have shared my vision for how our field is evolving and theparticular challenges that exist in the areas of teaching, service, and research. I have concludedeach description with a question along the lines of How are we preparing the next generation ofmusic teacher educators? How we choose to answer this question is critically important becauseour doctoral students collectively represent a leverage point. In the business world, the leveragepoint is that point in a work process that has a disproportionate effect on the points downstreamfrom it. When the leverage point is facilitated optimally, the majority of the next steps will workwell and the number of potential problems will be substantially reduced. There are somewonderful developments beginning to occur in music teacher education. If these ideas are to takeroot and expand, we must properly enculturate our doctoral students. Most importantly, we mustinspire the capacity to think innovatively and the courage to take action.

by Dorina Iusca on March 31, 2010 http://jmt.sagepub.comDownloaded from