This article describes music educators' conceptions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We collaborated with six music teachers to consider ways in which DEI is conceptualized and practiced in their own teaching settings. The teachers were carefully selected to encompass a multitude of identities, including race, ethnicity, gender,…

In this article, the two authors talk about their vastly different trajectories that span international geographies and contrasting circumstances. By chance, their lives intersected in a music education program in an American prison. They trace their lifeworlds and how their musical engagement was a reciprocal learning experience for both of them.…

Many music educators view activism through the gaze and experience of the U.S. civil rights movement and the protests of the 1960s. This article examines how two Brooklyn, New York-based music educators engage in activism in their school communities by centering student identity and cultivating joyful musical experiences. The authors share their…

Civil rights advocate and law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term "intersectionality," defining it in 2020 as "a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class,…

Children's literature, including picture books, can be appropriate for any age level and can help students understand complex concepts, such as music. It can also engage students in music learning. Students garner a deeper comprehension of both the text and music when bringing children's literature to life, and reading aloud enhances students'…

the National Jukebox at the Library of Congress represents one of the largest online collections of early-twentieth-century acoustical sound recordings. Since its initial launch in 2011, the National Jukebox has grown to include more than 16,000 recordings from the Victor, Columbia, and Harmony labels, made up of contributions from organizations…

In considering the audition as a barrier to an entry into both music and music education, the question of excellence emerges as an important site of reckoning. "Excellence" in a music school audition encompasses Western classical music, the ability to read notation, and knowledge and execution of Western classical technique. Auditions…

As we work to connect equity to our curriculum and pedagogy, a rhizomatic approach may provide a valuable lens for reconsidering traditional conventions. Such an approach underlines interconnected multiplicity with a noncentered, nonhierarchical emphasis. Applying a rhizomatic method, I offer music teachers some practical applications to challenge…

What does effective feedback look like in the music classroom? In this article, we explore a prominent perspective on feedback proposed by scholar John Hattie and his colleagues and then provide practical examples for application in music contexts. We begin by defining what feedback is and then explore what makes it effective and provide…

This article offers music educators ideas for supporting English learners in music classrooms. Music teachers across all grade levels work with English Learners, a diverse group of students with varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In the classroom, planning specific instructional supports can increase English Learners' participation and…

Much like an effective speaker, a flexible musician is competent across multiple settings. The sociolinguistic theory of code-switching can be a useful tool to better understand how musicians acquire a set of skills and knowledge to support music-making in a range of activities in and outside of school and throughout society. In this article,…

Playing musical instruments represents an engaging and important feature of music-making for children. Music teachers can support students with physical differences and disabilities using inclusive mindsets and practices, such as making adaptations to the instruments or the playing style. If teachers are aware of the variety of options available,…

As a music reference librarian at the Library of Congress, Cait Miller gets obscure songs questions that pose greater issues for music librarians because music libraries are generally searchable by format, genre, instrumentation, composer, and/or title but not often by lyrical quotation. New crowdsourcing transcription programs, however, give hope…

Recent publications document some of the causes of teacher stress, many of which originate from factors a teacher cannot directly control, such as teacher shortages, increased class sizes, additional student accountability measures, and teacher evaluation documentation requirements. Music teachers experience additional stresses that other teachers…

Assessment is one of the thorniest aspects of teaching for creativity. Nevertheless, research suggests there is tremendous potential for nurturing creativity through assessment. This article identifies how music educators can leverage assessment for learning (formative assessment) as a powerful tool for cultivating creativity within a variety of…