Music Educators Journal

The practical techniques used by music educators are built on a variety of fascinating philosophical systems. Estelle R. Jorgensen, a professor of music in the Music Education Department of Indiana University in Bloomington, gives some valuable suggestions for learning about the underpinnings of the profession.

Charles A. Elliott professor of music at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, looks at America's community song tradition and asks us which songs our children should be learning—both for their own enjoyment and so that they will come to better understand our country's heritage.

Children's movement is a powerful and natural teaching resource that teachers sometimes fail to use. Jack Neill, a music specialist for the Manassas, Virginia, public schools, gives some suggestions for using movement in music education.

What can neurologists, visual artists, and sociologists tell music educators about music learning? Donald J. Shetler, professor emeritus and senior faculty associate at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, who coordinated the Eastman symposium on musical development and cognition, describes the event's highlights and explores the value of interdisciplinary studies.

How can teachers choose wisely among students' suggestions for popular songs? Jeff Santy, who teaches at Rhinelander High School in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, offers his solution.

To increase their effectiveness, more and more teachers are striving to understand their students' evolving thoughts and ideas. Using examples from her own teaching, Merryl Goldberg, a teaching fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, explores some techniques that teachers can use.