Music education has many "elephants" in its classrooms: obvious major problems that go unmentioned and suffered silently. Two of the larger, more problematic "elephants" are identified, analyzed, and critiqued: (1) the hegemony of university schools of music on school music and the resulting focus in school music on…

Drawing from inquiry on human motivation can serve to inform seasoned educators in questing for a more individualized form of professional development. Experienced music teachers who have moved beyond the formative stages benefit from crafting self-defined experiences that satisfy needs-based states. Research in self-determination theory reveals…

Teacher evaluation is a current hot topic within music education. This article offers strategies for K-12 music educators on how to promote their effectiveness as teachers through archival documentation in a teacher portfolio. Using the Danielson evaluation model (based on four domains of effective teaching practices), examples of music teaching…

Recent educational discourse is full of references to the value of critical thinking as a 21st-century skill. In music education, critical thinking has been discussed in relation to problem solving and music listening, and some researchers suggest that training in critical thinking can improve students' responses to music. But what exactly is…

An expanding body of evidence based on cognitive neuroscience provides music teachers with information about the interaction of music instruction and brain development. This information is foundational for those interested in the biology of teaching in addition to the curriculum taught. Pedagogy can be grounded in research-based insights on how…

The discoveries of score analysis (e.g., minor seventh chord, ostinato, phrase elision, melodic fragment, half cadence) are more than just compositional techniques or music vocabulary. They are sounds--fascinating, storytelling, dynamic modes of expression--that when approached as such enrich the rehearsal experience. This article presents a…

Ensemble directors have a special interest in helping students learn to practice effectively. Practice is also an essential component of musical development. Music educators need to both teach effective practice strategies and guide students toward meaningful, thoughtful practice. Metacognition strategies are one way to accomplish this. Current…

International-mindedness is defined in many different ways in education discourse. Some of the definitions include the ability to be open-minded and respectful of cultures and peoples or having an awareness of the interconnectedness of people not only intellectually but also with growing empathy. Do music educators have any role in helping…

Music educators in the United States and those who support them currently wrestle with the fact that students from low-income communities and homes are underrepresented across the country's music programs. Music education classes, particularly at the secondary level, do not represent the broader population enrolled in U.S. public schools. In…

This address by Lilla Belle Pitts was prepared for a joint symposium session of the convention of the California-Western School Music Conference and the California Secondary School Principals, held in San Francisco, March 1937. The symposium theme was "Music Education in the Secondary Schools." Pitts said in this address that it was…

Music teachers are often the Pied Pipers of their schools, attracting the interest of students by the nature of the subject they teach. Their students who excel are often the best and brightest, since music reading and music production demand higher-level thinking skills, motor ability, and in the case of ensemble performance, social skills. As…

The revised Core Arts Standards offer music educators the chance to examine the contradictions that currently permeate the arts advocacy discourse. This article examines the emphasis on 21st-century workplace skills in claims made by arts advocacy proponents. An alternative approach focuses instead on lifelong learning in the arts and the array of…

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills lists among its top priorities for students the development of "learning and innovation skills," of which the first are "creativity and innovation." The third National Standard from the National Association for Music Education is "Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments." These guiding…

The brainchild of Jose Antonio Abreu, El Sistema, a music education program for aspiring orchestra musicians launched in Venezuela for students of limited means and now spreading to other parts of the world, has become a subject of interest to music teachers and teacher educators in North America. This article examines a bit of the program's…

Two extraordinary recent experiences that the author would call highly "spiritual" are explored against the background of ideas provided by writers such as Friedrich Schleiermacher, Rudolf Otto, Paul Tillich, and Abraham Maslow to unpack what spirituality is, with particular attention to the emotions and the insights involved in spirituality. The…