For a long time there has been a growing conviction among the music graduates from colleges in Texas that the training of music teachers has been limited both from the standpoint of the number of hours offered in music for a degree and of the adequacy of the training received. The trends in music teacher education in Texas need to be evaluated in order to determine whether or not teacher training in this state is adequate. In comparing the adequacy of the school curriculum as far as the number of hours and courses is concerned, McEachern's A Survey and Evaluation of the Education of School Music Teachers in the United States will be used as a source of comparison, since this study is inclusive of the curricula of colleges over the United States.

Music education policy and administration attempts to shape the musical sensibilities of young people. Yet the logics of music education from a socioeconomic standpoint are inadequately understood. This dissertation focuses on the relationship between music education nonprofits and public schools and on the public and private policies that have shaped the formation and perpetuation of these relationships. I analyze the logics of policy documents alongside the discourses and narratives of private organizations that support music education within the specific contexts of New Jersey, a state that mandates music education access for all students, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated societal inequalities, to illuminate how policy makers and administrators shape student experiences in the proto-democratic space of the classroom. I use policy analysis and institutional ethnography, approaching data primarily through the lenses of neoliberal critiques of marketization, critical whiteness studies, and analyses of the intersection of class and race, which I outline in chapter one. I also consider the design of music education programs within the theoretical framework of culturally relevant pedagogy. Education systems are adapting to shifting racial discourses as schools continue to construct citizens within racialized and classed hierarchies. Music historically has been invoked in the construction of societal stratifications to mark ethnic and cultural boundaries. In chapter two, I examine these narratives that have shaped the formation of music education in the United States as a culturally hegemonizing force and persist in debates around the purpose of music education in under-resourced schools that mainly serve students from minoritized communities. Music education remains a site at which policy makers, administrators, educators, and community members negotiate the role of culture in shaping new citizens. State music education policy in New Jersey specifically struggles to support the progressive vision it professes as it continues to suggest a strongly hegemonic curriculum and perpetually underfunds music programs in schools. Within this context, the third chapter considers how funders and advocacy groups are so frequently focused on short-term funding needs that they persistently struggle to address systemic issues in music education, such as issues with administrations that do not represent the communities being served, colonial content and pedagogy, and unsustainable funding solutions. As such, the limited services and non-democratic leadership of privately funded music education programs in public schools reinforce the role of public schools as gate-keepers of exclusionary citizenship norms. At the same time, privatization has also opened opportunities for non-normative, anti-oppressive forms of music pedagogy to enter public schools. In the fourth chapter, I investigate how, though their very existence reinforces the marketizing trends that rank and exclude, some nonprofits do attempt to serve students in culturally relevant ways within this environment, and can even work in ways that support publicly funded programs. Altogether, my research provides insight into the role that the privatization of public spaces within neoliberalism plays in the formation and reproduction of classed and raced citizens, as policy makers, funders, and program administrators determine which young people are given access to which forms of education.

Musicians acquire musical skills (i.e., pitch and rhythm discrimination) from music education. Research indicates musical skills can transfer to and assist learning in non-arts domains, including language learning. Like musicians, dancers also acquire musical skills in dance education through embodied cognitive processes. However, few or no researchers have investigated the musical skills attained from dance education and considered how these musical skills might interact with language aptitude. Therefore, in this study, 72 undergraduate and graduate music (n = 37) and dance majors (n = 35) were evaluated and compared in pitch and rhythm discrimination scores in the Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA) aptitude test. Participants were also administered a survey to collect data on their demographics and music, dance, and language experience. The study results suggest that music majors may be superior in pitch and rhythm discrimination compared to dance majors, and that there is no difference between dance majors and non-music majors in pitch and rhythm discrimination. Additional findings suggest that bilingual/multilingual music and dance majors may be superior in pitch discrimination compared to monolingual music and dance majors; however, no difference was found in rhythm discrimination between these two groups. Finally, results also suggest that tonal language-speaking music and dance majors may be superior in pitch and rhythm discrimination compared to non-tonal language-speaking music and dance majors.

Student teaching is recognized as the culminating and seminal experience of preservice teacher education. It is a unique time when preservice teachers are fully engaged in daily responsibilities of P-12 music educators, while under direct supervision of a mentor, often referred to as the cooperating music teacher (CMT). CMTs have immense influence on student teachers during this pivotal point in their education. The purpose of this convergent mixed methods study was to explore preferences and practices of music teacher educators (MTEs) in the United States with regards to the selection, preparation, and education of CMTs, through the lens of Abramo and Campbell’s Four Notions Framework. Data were collected through a document search of state administrative codes, rules, and regulations regarding selection criteria for CMTs, a national survey of MTEs (n = 104), and semi-structured follow-up interviews of survey participants (n = 10). This study demonstrated the importance of MTE agency and student involvement in the selection process and selection criteria that is responsive to diverse and localized needs of institutions of higher education, P-12 schools, and individual student teachers. Findings argue against universal criteria for CMTs in favor of policies that are appropriate and sensible for diverse teaching and learning contexts. Findings indicate a prevalence of published criteria for the selection of CMTs across the United States, paired with a disconnect between the prevalence of policy and MTEs knowledge of those state policies, and a lack of published policy at institutions of higher education. MTEs in the study reported community building and individual relationships as important elements that facilitate the selection, preparation, and education of CMTs. MTEs also demonstrated strong agreement with the importance of the Four Notions Framework and indicated student involvement dispositional criteria for CMTs (e.g., good role model, willingness to discuss feedback) to be elements of the selection process they valued most. The strong agreement with the Four Notions Framework positions it as a useful tool to evaluate effectiveness of selection criteria and available professional development. Availability of professional development for CMTs appears to be an important area of growth for the profession. MTEs identified themselves as primary providers of professional development, through informal and formal individualized interactions they have with CMTs. While handbooks for CMTs appear to be prevalent, findings demonstrate they are an underutilized tool for preparation and education of CMTs. MTEs shared mixed perceptions about alignment of available professional development with the Four Notions Framework, indicating effectiveness of those opportunities, in helping to promote dispositions and qualifications MTEs value, is another area of growth. The availability of qualified and effective CMTs emerged as a primary barrier, alongside other expected barriers such as geographic contexts, time, funding, staffing, and full workloads. MTEs in this study also identified institutionalized structures and policies intended to support CMTs that sometimes act as barriers to selection, preparation, and education. A lack of common terminology in the field of music teacher education may also act as a barrier to collaboration and communication about policies and processes. Implications and recommendations are offered for further exploration of selection criteria, advancement of professional development, and further lines of inquiry.

This autoethnographic study explores a space for aesthetic education in a Western classical music conservatory setting. It examines my own teaching of a graduate-level elective course called Modernism: Art and Music over the span of three years under the zero-Covid policy in China. Through my own attending as a teacher, I explore areas of wide-awakeness, imagination, and pluralism found within the framework of Maxine Greene’s aesthetic education philosophy. By documenting my transformative and reflexive journey, I hope to shed light on the possibilities for educators and policymakers to consider a wider implementation of aesthetic education approaches in the conservatory to better support students’ personal, musical, and career developments.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of curriculum reform to participation in secondary school music classes in Virginia 1979-88. The study was conducted through an examination of historical documents from the Virginia State Department of Education, researcher interviews with directors of instruction and music supervisors of nine selected school divisions, researcher interviews with selected members of the State School Board, and the development and administration of the Guidance Counselor Music Support Questionnaire to 500 randomly selected guidance counselors. The relationship between curriculum reform and participation in secondary school music classes was found to be a complex one. State music enrollments did not decline to the extent state secondary enrollment declined during the overall period of this study. However, drops in music enrollment occurred during the national call for "back to basics" and when increased graduation requirements were implemented in the Virginia schools. School divisions utilized a variety of strategies to bring about stabilization of secondary school music enrollments. Some of these strategies were more successful than others. One large school division utilized "flexible" staffing during the period of the study. This division experienced a loss in music enrollment. Another large division developed an innovative music appreciation class for secondary students and added a string program. This division experienced growth in music enrollment. The results of this study suggest a dichotomy between expressed support for the arts and the position of the arts in the curriculum. While support was advocated by national reform reports, the general public, administrators and guidance counselors, secondary school music enrollments continued to drop in Virginia between 1979-88. An additional finding was a lack of music enrollment data within and among school divisions. / Ed. D.

M.S.

The purpose of this study is to present a comparison between recommendations made by authorities in the field of music education regarding the music curriculum in the elementary and junior high schools and the music curricula currently in existence, based on the tabulated results of a questionnaire sent to various school systems in Texas.