Season 1
Expanding Access (ver 2) to Music
Scott's Dissertation
A music teacher preparation program can look complete on paper. The degree includes applied study, ensembles, theory, history, conducting, methods courses, field experiences, and student teaching. Each requirement has a purpose. Each course contributes knowledge and experience. Faculty members work hard to help candidates become capable musicians and thoughtful teachers. Students invest years practicing, studying, rehearsing, observing, planning, and teaching.
This book began with a growing sense that we are leaving too much out. For years, I have looked closely at how colleges and universities prepare students to become music teachers. I have taught within these programs, advised students as they moved through them, supervised field experiences, participated in curriculum discussions, and worked alongside graduates as they entered schools. I have seen the remarkable commitment of faculty members who care deeply about music, teaching, and the students they prepare. I have also watched talented future educators spend four years completing a demanding degree and still arrive in schools without many of the experiences they need for the work ahead.
I did not write this book because I believe I have figured out the future of music education. In many ways, I wrote it because I have spent much of my career realizing how much I still need to learn. I began as a music educator who knew how school music was supposed to work. I understood rehearsals, ensembles, performances, lesson plans, and the expectations placed upon students. I believed that if I selected good music, taught it carefully, and helped students perform it well, I was doing what a music teacher was supposed to do.
Essential Question How can music teacher preparation programs create conditions in which future educators develop increasing responsibility, authority, and ownership over their musical lives?
Every fall, schools of music across the country welcome a new cohort of music education majors who have survived an audition, declared an intended career, and, in many cases, described teaching music as a lifelong ambition. Yet a meaningful proportion of these students will not be enrolled in the program by the start of their sophomore year, and a further share will leave before student teaching. This pattern is not unique to any one institution. It sits inside a much larger and more urgent problem: a documented, multi-state shortage of certified music teachers that has intensified over the past decade (Hash, 2021; Miller, 2024). Understanding why music education majors leave their programs, and particularly why so many leave after only one year, is therefore not simply a matter of institutional bookkeeping. It is directly tied to the health of the K-12 music teaching workforce.
Essential Question How can music teacher preparation programs help future educators use the learning of existing music as a foundation for interpretation, adaptation, creation, and independent musical participation?
Essential Question How can music teacher preparation programs help future educators approach unfamiliar musical traditions with curiosity, humility, and respect?
Essential Question How can music teacher preparation programs develop musicians who can recognize what an unfamiliar situation requires and adapt their existing knowledge accordingly?