Happy May! We are doing something a little different this month and, like our blogpost in December about jazz, we are focusing on a specific discipline featured in our collection. This month we are highlighting our music education materials. We are excited to share that OISE Library is also highlighting their music education materials as well - be sure to stop by their display too! Read on to find new trends within music education research and the latest in pedagogical practice.

Social issues in music education

If I were a racist: exploring racism in music teaching by Nathan Holder is a thought-provoking look at the history of racism in music education, and the way it continues to pervade contemporary music education. Recommended chapters “Classical music and the trans-Atlantic slave trade” and “White spaces.”
Musician-teacher collaborations: altering the chord edited by Catharina Christophersen and Ailbhe Kenny is a series of essays from 11 countries investigating the dynamic between musicians and teachers in educational institutions. Recommended chapter: “Musicians as Musician-Teacher Collaborators: Towards Punk Pedagogical Perspectives.”
Music lesson plans for social justice: a contemporary approach for secondary school teachers by Lisa C. DeLorenzo is a practical approach to developing lessons plans in social justice topics for secondary school. It includes ‘how-to’ guides and ready to go materials. Recommended chapter “Climate Change Unit.”
Rethinking music education and social change by Alexandra Welzel-Kertz offers new frameworks to re-think music education for social transformation. Recommended chapter: “Music education and utopia.”
Sound pedagogy: radical care in music edited by Colleen Renihan, John Spilker, and Trudi Wright argue for principles of kindness and care within music education, addressing obstacles experienced in higher education. Recommended chapter: “Integrating Well-being and Intersectional Equity across a Revised Music History and Culture Curriculum” by John Spilker.
Trama and resilience in music education: haunted melodies edited by Deborah Bradley and Juliet Hess investigates the links between trauma and music, in both practice and theory. Recommended chapter: “Teaching through trauma: compassion fatigue, burnout, or secondary traumatic stress?” by Tawnya D. Smith
Queering vocal pedagogy: a handbook for teaching trans and genderqueer singer and fostering gender-affirming spaces by William Sauerland features both real-life experience and practical knowledge for trans and genderqueer singers. Recommended chapter: “Pedagogical considerations for gender-affirming vocal music education.”
Values and music education by Estelle R. Jorgensen offers nine sets of values for thinking about music education, through both constructive and critical thinking. Recommended chapter: “Justice, Equality, Fairness, and Inclusion.”

New trends in music education

Music education practice

Research and theories

Music education and place

Ethno music gatherings: pedagogy, experience, impact edited by Lee Higgins and Sarah-Jane Gibson details Ethno, a music programme for young people located in over 40 countries, has impacted those who have attended and its relevance for pedagogy. Recommended chapter: “Music making as holistic praxis” by Dave Camlin and Helena Reis.
Globalizing music education: a framework by Alexandra Kertz-Welzel uses an interdisciplinary approach to highlight how a global mindset can transform music education. Recommended chapter: “Thinking globally in music education research.”
Music education for the twenty-first century: legacies, conversations, aspirations edited by John O’Flynn and Patrcia Flynn centres on music education practices in Ireland, highlighting their strengths and challenges. Recommended chapter: “The creative muddle of music education” by Keither Swanwick.
New mansions for music: performance, pedagogy, and criticism by Lakshmi Subramanian looks at the Karnatik music system in India, and how it has been transformed by modernization. Recommended chapter: “From the Gurukula to the University: Initiatives in Music Education.”
The Oxford handbook of preservice music teacher education in the United States edited by Colleen Conway, Kristen Pellegrino, Ann Marie Stanley, and Chad West argues, from 56 contributors, that music education only benefits all students if educators are using diverse learning strategies in the classroom. Identifies opportunities to challenge existing pedagogical boundaries. Recommended chapter: “Reconsidering elementary general music methods: deconstructing our decisions.”
The Transformative Politics of Music Education by Tuulikki Laes, Gert Biesta, and Heidi Westerlund offers a unique approach to music education which links it to politics – with an emphasis on Europe. Recommended chapter: “The paradox of social innovations within music schools: Taking critical responsibility in transformative practice.”
Places and purposes of popular music education: perspectives from the field edited by Bryan Powell and Gareth Dylan Smith feature international perspectives on popular music education topics. Recommended chapter: “Decolonizing higher music education: Person versus persona” by Adriel E Miles.
A spectrum of voices: prominent American voice teachers discuss the teaching of singing by Elizabeth L. Blades includes interviews with 25 notable vocal teachers, offering insights into pedagogical practice and lessons structure. Recommended chapter: “Training singers practical artistic and professional development.”
World music pedagogy by Sarah H. Watts, Christopher J. Roberts, and Amy C. Beegle is a tool to think globally about middle and high school music classrooms – asking how we should discuss multicultural music education and prompts for self-reflection for educators. Recommended chapter: “Learning through engaged listening.”

By Sabine O'Donnell, TALint Student, Music Library

Music education

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