Journal of Music Teacher Education

http://jmt.sagepub.com

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

David Teachout
Journal of Music Teacher Education 2005; 15; 3
DOI: 10.1177/10570837050150010101
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MENC: The National Association for Music Education

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From the Chair

How Are We Preparing the Next Generation of Music Teacher Educators?
David Teachout
Chair, Society for Music Teacher Education
Over the past twenty years there have been consequential changes in the field of education as
well as music education. A general push for greater accountability has resulted in renewed
professional self-reflection about what is being taught and why. For the responsive music
educator, this process has revealed a schism between the perennial desire for music to be valued
as a core curricular component and the common practice of providing performance preparation
as the primary mode of delivering musical instruction. Music educators want parity with other
content areas, yet by the time their students graduate from high school relatively few of those
students have developed an individualized ability to creatively manipulate musical elements
from an informed historical and cultural perspective for the purpose of personal gratification and
creative expression to the same degree they have learned to independently incorporate the
elements 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 a
growing number of forward-thinking individuals. Instead of the measure of success being listen
to what my group can do, it is evolving toward a student-centered measure of look at what my
students know, can do, and value about music. The introduction of the National Standards in
1994 and the subsequent adoption of various versions of those standards at state levels (all a
familiar echo of the push for comprehensive musicianship during the 1960s) have caused a
number of music educators to consider regular incorporation of extra-performance teaching
strategies in the effort to provide students with a comprehensive music-learning experience. I
believe that a healthy, vibrant future for music education, one that enjoys incontrovertible
relevance in the minds of policymakers, will depend upon the implementation of pedagogical
approaches that facilitate for all students the cultivation of informed musical taste and expertise
through the development of knowledge and feeling as well as skill. We must prepare our
undergraduates to teach differently, in ways that meet these new challenges. The question
relevant to this column is: What are we doing with our doctoral students (the cadre of future
music teacher educators) to prepare them to train the next generation of teachers differently?
Music teacher educators are beginning to explore and apply sociologically based theoretical
models throughout teacher education curricula that are effectively prompting undergraduates to
assume greater responsibility for their professional development. During the Symposium on
Music Teacher Education in September 2005, a number of presenters offered several innovative
and successful approaches that revolve around a common educational principle: teach for
independence. Some presenters described constructivist strategies to address how teacher

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candidates think, while others presented role-development strategies as means of facilitating how
teacher candidates think about themselves as professionals. Still others explored variations of the
Professional Development School model and other types of immersion learning to demonstrate
the effectiveness of creating a genuine need-to-know mind set in teacher candidates. Common
to all of these approaches is the idea that the university teacher education process is most
effective when the teacher candidate has taken responsibility for his or her own professional
development early in his or her undergraduate program. Except for a fortunate and precious few
of us, these dynamic models were not what we experienced as undergraduates, nor were they
introduced in our training to be teacher educators. We had to figure things out on our own after
completing the formal training. The good news is that we are figuring things out and making
important changes in how we work with aspiring music teachers. My question remains, What are
we doing differently with our doctoral students to prepare them to train the next generation of
music teachers?
Traditional versions of service component responsibilities in higher education come relatively
easily. When providing service to the profession, we tend to engage in activities that are a
familiar part of our existing professional repertoire (e.g., conducting honor groups, adjudicating
festivals, and providing workshops on practices that we have found to be successful). These are
wonderful opportunities to share knowledge and gain mass visibility. Yet, I question their ability
to move the profession forward efficiently. If the purpose of professional service is to facilitate
the betterment (an evolution, if you will) of the profession, I propose that a closer examination
be afforded the Professional Development School (PDS) model, a mutually beneficial
partnership among K12 practitioners, university music teacher educators, and university music
education students. Earlier, I described such immersion models when discussing the benefits to
university students and, consequently, to university professors. Here, it is most relevant to think
in terms of how this model could serve the K12 practitioner. He or she would have a stake in
the professional development of future colleagues. More importantly, the partnership would
provide an opportunity for the K12 practitioner to broaden his or her role as a music education
professional. Think of the profound shift in the engagement one might feel when moving from
being 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 require
a fundamental sharing of power and goals. For too long, however, there has existed a mutual
distrust between those in higher education and the community of practitioners. If models of
collaboration can facilitate working together on ideas or issues that are important to both
constituencies, perhaps the result might be an expanded and truer definition of service to the
profession. In what ways are we engendering among our doctoral students an idea of service to
the profession that would facilitate a positive evolution of the profession?
Upon entering a doctoral program, one of the steepest learning curves needing to be
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negotiated is that associated with the role of researcher. Prior to entering graduate school, most
doctoral candidates were successful professionals in the music education field, having had little
or no contact with research. Once they make a commitment to pursue a career in higher
education, these practitioners must learn a brand new set of research skills. This is important for
a number of reasons, not the least of which is that their ability to secure and hold a position of
employment 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 our
programs seeing themselves as researchers. The facilitation of ones role as researcher is not
unlike the process that undergraduates experience when moving from seeing themselves as
students to seeing themselves as teachers. Undergraduates do not make such a transition simply
by sitting in classes and learning about teaching. They must have reflective-practice
experiences that (a) place them in the role of the teacher, (b) allow them to practice the gestures
and apply the symbols associated with teaching, (c) provide opportunities for their
accomplishments to be valued by their peers and mentors, and (d) allow these undergraduates to
explore and assimilate images that those outside of the profession have of teachers, as these
images will affect decisions about teachers and schools. When applying all four of these
principles to facilitating the researcher role in our doctoral students, the complexity of such a
task becomes apparent. Now, fast forward a bit to when these newly minted doctoral graduates
are 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 contact
with research. Similar to the conclusions that Dorfman and Lipscomb (2005) share later in this
issue of JMTE, getting these students to value research and see its connection to their
professional lives will take a particularly keen set of pedagogical skills. How are we facilitating
the role of researcher in our doctoral students, and how are they being developed as research
pedagogues?
In the preceding paragraphs, I have shared my vision for how our field is evolving and the
particular challenges that exist in the areas of teaching, service, and research. I have concluded
each description with a question along the lines of How are we preparing the next generation of
music teacher educators? How we choose to answer this question is critically important because
our doctoral students collectively represent a leverage point. In the business world, the leverage
point is that point in a work process that has a disproportionate effect on the points downstream
from it. When the leverage point is facilitated optimally, the majority of the next steps will work
well and the number of potential problems will be substantially reduced. There are some
wonderful developments beginning to occur in music teacher education. If these ideas are to take
root and expand, we must properly enculturate our doctoral students. Most importantly, we must
inspire the capacity to think innovatively and the courage to take action.

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