Promising Practices in 21st Century Music Teacher Education

Music teacher education is under heavy criticism for failing to keep pace with the changing needs and interests of 21st century learners. Technological innovations, evolving demographics in the school age population, and students' omnipresent access to music and music making all suggest that contemporary teaching and learning occurs in environments that are much more complex than those of the 19th century that served as music education's primary model. This book surveys emerging music and education landscapes to present a sampling of the promising practices of music teacher education that may serve as new models for the 21st century. Contributors explore the delicate balance between curriculum and pedagogy, the power structures that influence music education at all levels, the role of contemporary musical practices in teacher education, and the communication challenges that surround institutional change. Models of programs that feature in-school, out-of-school and beyond school contexts, lifespan learning perspectives, active juxtapositions of formal and informal approaches to teaching and learning, student-driven project-based fieldwork, and the purposeful employment of technology and digital media as platforms for authentic music engagement within a contemporary participatory culture are all offered as springboards for innovative practice.