Music Educators Journal

The January 1970 Music Educators Journal’s “Special Report: Facing the Music in Urban Education” included the article “Recommendations for Teacher Education Programs.” This article contained seven recommendations to prepare successful future urban music educators. As two urban music educators, we examine how MEJ authors have since addressed these recommendations. We offer suggestions for preservice and in-service music educators, as well as music teacher educators.

What scientific evidence can music educators share with their community stakeholders concerning how and why music moves us so powerfully? Five key points derived from recent psychological and neuroscientific findings are (1) Network Science is a new technique that allows researchers to examine the brain’s interconnectivity as people listen to music; (2) the Default Mode Network is a set of interconnecting brain networks that are involved in conscious awareness, self-reflection, and autobiographical memories and emotions; (3) when people listen to preferred music, there is dynamic interconnectivity in the Default Mode Network, linking music to self-awareness, along with associated personal histories, core emotional memories, and empathy; (4) musical training leads to numerous changes in the brain that have implications for music learning; and (5) scientific evidence supports the powerful role that music plays in enhancing quality of life.

Practice is a major element in cultivating musical skill. Some psychologists have proposed that deliberate practice, a specific framework for structuring practice activities, creates the kind of practice necessary to increase skill and develop expertise. While psychologists have been observing behavior, neurologists have studied how the brain changes when people learn. Neurologists have found changes in the structure of the white matter of the brain that correlate with vast amounts of musical practice. This article contains a brief overview of what researchers believe happens in the brain when people learn or refine motor skills, such as singing or playing an instrument. This article also explores the new research into myelination, one mechanism the body uses to optimize the efficiency of neural circuits. In addition, the authors propose ways that music educators can use findings from both psychological and neurological fields to improve music teaching and learning and help their students begin to develop musical expertise.

Empathy has captured attention in diverse fields, such as the arts, education, medicine, and entertainment. This article provides insight into the development of empathy through music-making experiences. Recent research has suggested that music educators can play a valuable role in promoting empathy in their students through specific music learning processes. In addition, the personal empathic connections that are made in the creation and performance of music can influence teaching strategies. This article offers definitions of empathy, reviews recent studies of empathy and music-making, and provides applications for teachers.

Many music educators teach students who are both gifted and possess a learning disability—what is commonly referred to as “twice exceptionality.” This article describes some characteristics of twice-exceptional students, the challenges these students often face in school, and some strategies music educators can use to properly differentiate instruction and curricula. The strategies offered include highlighting strengths and mitigating areas of challenge; emphasizing integrative thinking and deemphasizing dispersive thinking; allowing students flexibility of choice; overtly teaching organizational skills, self-regulation, and compensation strategies; and building relationships. While the differentiation strategies suggested are specifically for twice-exceptional students, they can benefit all students.

Conventional music learning in schools could benefit from the study of the music from films, television, and video games. This article offers practical applications for including film music as an outlet for analysis, an interdisciplinary compositional art form, a viable teaching tool, and an authentic performance/production experience. Music educators in both performance-based and non–performance-based settings will learn ways film music can serve as a tool for fostering rigorous critical thinking skills via analysis, broadening creativity through composition and production experiences, and offering a platform for artistic reflection. A list of print and online resources devoted to film music is included.

A positive teacher-student relationship is a critical component of an engaging climate in pluralistic music classrooms. This article defines and gives examples of five strategies for building positive, cross-cultural teacher–student relationships. Teachers who take responsibility for developing these relationships begin by becoming culturally competent themselves. Culturally competent teachers make use of multiple cultural patterns of interaction, behavior, and music-making in their classrooms. By doing so, these teachers create a classroom climate that is responsive to their students. In addition, culturally competent teachers create more equitable relationships with their students while simultaneously maintaining a focus on musical achievement.

Polyphony, often used to describe a type of composition in early European music, is also practiced in other parts of the world, not only for aesthetic enjoyment but also to strengthen a society’s cohesiveness. Examples of such musical traditions are found in sub-Saharan Africa and many mountainous regions of Europe, where group singing or music-making is part of the communal lifestyle. However, polyphony in Asian music, especially in East Asia, is rarely discussed. This article introduces two polyphonic singing traditions in East Asia: in the Wa people of southwest China and the Thao people of Taiwan. Members of these groups frequently use polyphonic techniques such as canonic imitation, antiphonal singing, melodic ostinato, or drone to accompany many sociocultural events. This article provides guidelines and teaching strategies for music educators to implement the interdisciplinary lessons in their classroom.