Collaborative Action for Change: Selected Proceedings from the 2007 Symposium on Music Teacher Education

About the Book

Collaborative Action for Change presents new directions in the preparation and lifelong professional development of music educators. The book's chapters are based on some of the most effective presentations from the 2007 Symposium on Music Teacher Education. The Symposium focused on examples of successful partnerships and collaborations between music teacher educators, classroom teachers, school and district administrators, and other individuals and organizations. Two invited keynote addresses, given by Marilyn Cochran-Smith (Boston College) and Don Gibson (Florida State University), raise important questions for music teacher educators to consider in shaping and assessing preservice teachers' learning experiences and curricula. Three chapters encourage expansion of college curricula to facilitate genuine interaction among preservice teachers, teacher educators, and the musics and cultures of their own and their students' worlds. Beginning teachers' socialization and skill development is explored by three authors. Examples of two effective university-school partnerships, as well as a collaborative effort among university faculty, discuss the challenges and rewards encountered in pursuing such cooperative ventures. Also included are descriptions of two different mentoring programs for novice and experienced music teachers, and suggestions for better preparing future music teacher educators. Together, the book's authors present concrete visions of music educators engaged in music teaching and learning, growing from discussions in classes, over coffee, and/or (often tedious) meetings, and taking individual and collective action for change in music teacher education.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 3 Introduction
Chapter 4 Keynote Addresses
Chapter 5 Broad Visions of Music Teacher Education Curriculum
Chapter 6 Perspectives on Music Teachers' Development
Chapter 7 Partnerships in Music Teacher Education
Chapter 8 Collaborations to Support Professional Development

About the Author :
Margaret Schmidt is associate professor of music education at Arizona State University (ASU), where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education and is director of the ASU String Project. Her research focuses on ways teachers, particularly beginners, think about teaching.

Review :
Visionary educators realize that the preservice teachers we are grooming now must be prepared for tomorrow's schools. Technology is changing the way people communicate at an alarming speed and teaching strategies must accommodate and embrace those changesin order to arm new music educators with the skills they will need to succeed in future elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. Consequently, the leadership of MENC's Society for Music Teacher Education has forged ahead to provide cutting edge information for teachers and students. A quick review of the titles in these proceedings demonstrates that the 2007 SMTE Symposium presenters were looking into the twenty-first century and beyond the walls of established classrooms and ensembles familiar to most of us. Teachers who intend to step out of their comfort zone and broaden their perspectives will want to explore the concepts, ideas and recommendations in Collaborative Action for Change. I am grateful for the innovative guidance SMTEprovides for us all as we venture into uncharted territory in music education. This collection of papers from the Proceedings of the SMTE 2007 conference represents some of the best thinking in music teacher education today. Built on issues related to practice, research and philosophical concerns, the authors capture differing perspectives and areas of interest, while putting forth ideas that articulate conceptual and curricular possibilities for music teacher education. That teacher development and collaborative partnerships form the core of papers is of no surprise. What is remarkable is the manner in which the collection is able to portray the complex nature of music teacher education, and how important it is for the profession to be informed and solidly grounded in a knowledge base that is itself complex and diverse. Well-organized and carefully edited, the Proceedings are a valuable professional resource-an important source for curriculum work and policy study and formation, as well as a guide for thinking about professional development in music teacher education.. For most of their history, music teacher education programs have been living in houses built by others: normal schools, conservatories, and liberal arts colleges. With the work of the Society for Music Teacher Education, those interested in the music education enterprise are envisioning new architectural structures to facilitate programs that fulfill the needs and vision of the profession. The 2007 SMTE Symposium proceedings provide a window into select pieces of this emerging blueprint that address not only elements of design but also the interaction among the "inhabitants" and their relationship with and contributions to their communities. Visionary educators realize that the preservice teachers we are grooming now must be prepared for tomorrow's schools. Technology is changing the way people communicate at an alarming speed and teaching strategies must accommodate and embrace those changes in order to arm new music educators with the skills they will need to succeed in future elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. Consequently, the leadership of MENC's Society for Music Teacher Education has forged ahead to provide cutting edge information for teachers and students. A quick review of the titles in these proceedings demonstrates that the 2007 SMTE Symposium presenters were looking into the twenty-first century and beyond the walls of established classrooms and ensembles familiar to most of us. Teachers who intend to step out of their comfort zone and broaden their perspectives will want to explore the concepts, ideas and recommendations in Collaborative Action for Change. I am grateful for the innovative guidance SMTE provides for us all as we venture into uncharted territory in music education.

This collection of papers from the Proceedings of the SMTE 2007 conference represents some of the best thinking in music teacher education today. Built on issues related to practice, research and philosophical concerns, the authors capture differing perspectives and areas of interest, while putting forth ideas that articulate conceptual and curricular possibilities for music teacher education.
That teacher development and collaborative partnerships form the core of papers is of no surprise. What is remarkable is the manner in which the collection is able to portray the complex nature of music teacher education, and how important it is for the profession to be informed and solidly grounded in a knowledge base that is itself complex and diverse.
Well-organized and carefully edited, the Proceedings are a valuable professional resource-an important source for curriculum work and policy study and formation, as well as a guide for thinking about professional development in music teacher education.