At the annual Berklee Teachers on Teaching conference, a world-class musician and educator and a future-oriented inventor share their perspectives. More
Thursday, April 8, 2010, 7:30 p.m., David Friend Recital Hall
Music Education Department
The Music Education Department offers you the opportunity to combine your musical talents with the skills necessary to teach music in a variety of ways, such as: a K-12 music teacher, private instructor, and/or an ensemble conductor. For Music Education majors, the department coordinates student teaching placements and assists in the evaluation process for Massachusetts State Department of Education teaching certification.
"Teaching in the Music Education Department, you have to prepare people to do it all. Most state certificates for music educators are not area- and grade-specific like those for English or science. As a public school music teacher in Massachusetts, your certification will be K–12, all ages, all levels. So Berklee students who plan to enter public education need experiences that will help them become proficient in teaching brass, voice, strings, and woodwinds. Plus, if the school where they are teaching has a football team, nine times out of ten they will be responsible for the marching band. So they have to have all of these experiences."
"Teaching in the Music Education Department, you have to prepare people to do it all. Most state certificates for music educators are not area- and grade-specific like those for English or science. As a public school music teacher in Massachusetts, your certification will be K–12, all ages, all levels. So Berklee students who plan to enter public education need experiences that will help them become proficient in teaching brass, voice, strings, and woodwinds. Plus, if the school where they are teaching has a football team, nine times out of ten they will be responsible for the marching band. So they have to have all of these experiences.
"You have to love working with kids. If you don't truly love teaching, your students will be able to tell. K–12 learners want to know that you care. Hopefully, you're trying to teach the whole child and not just the subject matter. What happens at home and in the community comes into play.
"I attended W.J. Keenan High School in Columbia, South Carolina. It was a very supportive environment for the arts. A lot of good musicians came through that program and are now teaching music or playing professionally. Several have attended school here at Berklee. When I was in public school, we had music every day. Now, music instruction varies from state to state and district to district. If I had my way, students would have the opportunity to pursue all subjects every day, to have a balance every day.
"I think my teaching style has changed as I've aged. To strive for providing quality education—that hasn't changed. But the mechanism for how I deliver that information has changed. You have to keep up with policy changes, with new information, new technology, and what issues are affecting the students."
B.S., Western Carolina University
M.M., University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Ph.D., University of South Carolina
Publications in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Choral Journal, Contributions to Music Education, Journal of Band Research, Southeastern Journal of Music Education,Strategies for Teaching: Technology, Visions of Research in Music Education
Contributing author to the book Musical Experience in Our Lives: Expanding the Boundaries of Music Education.
The Music Education Department has full use of the Professional Education Division Technology Lab , a 22-workstation classroom and laboratory equipped with a variety of music and multimedia related software for music education students to learn and experiment with the latest technology tools available for music instruction.
Public Accreditation and Certification Documents
Massachusetts State Department of Education regulations require that college teacher preparation programs undergo a thorough program approval process conducted by a visiting team from the department every five years in order to remain in good standing. Berklee College of Music recently completed this process for the next five year interval and received its letter of approval from the Commissioner of Education. Following are all of the documents related to this process:
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