School-University Partnerships: A Means for the Inclusion of Policy Studies in Music Teacher Education

Abstract

The need for music educators to become more actively involved in policy issues, including analysis, design, implementation, and research, is critical to the future of music education. Bridging the gap between policy and practice requires a collaborative effort among music professionals. This article explores the inclusive use of policy studies in a music teacher education curriculum within a school-university partnership context. The process of creating a secondary instrumental music partnership is used to illustrate specific examples of how policy can be included in music teacher education programs. I demonstrate how the partnership created a curricular opportunity for preservice music teachers to investigate policy in an authentic context. Planning time, curricular scope and sequence, and the negative impacts of the curricular incorporation of policy on the self-efficacy of the preservice music teachers emerged as concerns for future consideration and review. Recommendations to address these concerns are included.

Primary school music teachers’ professional development motivations, needs, and preferences: Does specialization make a difference?

“…Eros (2013) has looked at second-stage music teachers (that is, those who have already passed the "survival years" and have between 4 and 10 years of teaching experience), whereas Bauer (2007) and Bush (2007) have focused on more experienced teachers with different specializations. More recently, Conway (2012) has investigated how music teachers' PD interests evolve across their professional life-cycle (see also Conway, 2007Conway, , 2011Hourigan, 2011;Hunter, 2011;Pellegrino, 2011). Beyond the amount of teaching experience, there are other variables that might also influence music teachers' PD interests and that still require further investigation.…”

Silent Partners

“…A recent edition of Arts Education Policy Review featured a series of articles that chronicled diverse aspects of several school–university partnership models. These areas included general music (Abrahams, 2011), music technology (Greher, 2011), urban education (Abrahams, 2011; Carlisle, 2011), international settings (Burton, 2011), and instrumental music (Hunter, 2011; Kruse, 2011a). Among these articles, Brophy (2011) discussed national survey data that elicited attitudinal responses related to music education partnerships.…”

Staying in Tune With Music Education

“…In this era of ever-changing education trends and policy reforms, such as the Race to the Top (RTTP) competition (U. S. Department of Education, 2014), the emphasis on Common Core (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014; U. S. Department of Education, 2013Education, , 2014, and the evolving topic of teacher evaluation, undergraduate music education majors must be up-to-date on education policy (U. S. Department of Education, 2009). To develop undergraduate music education majors' knowledge of these policies so that they are proactive and progressive educators, it is crucial that they have the skills to locate proposed and passed legislation and be informed of educational policy making and implementation efforts (Hunter, 2011). However, just how informed are they about policy's influence on education, present-day music programs, and their future careers?…”