An example of what we need more of!:
Master of Arts in Teaching Music
a partnership of JAMM, the Juneau Symphony
and University of Alaska Southeast
OVERVIEW:
In
partnership with Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) and the Juneau Symphony
(JS), the University of Alaska Southeast proudly announces its one-year Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)
Music K-12 certification program to reflect the changing role of today’s music
teacher. As part of the course requirements, MAT students will conduct
their teaching internships at JAMM school sites and music classrooms within the
Juneau School District, as well as perform in the Juneau Symphony. This program gives preference to musicians
interested in using music for social change.
Through
a competitive application process, up to four $10,000 scholarship are available
to music majors/minors whose main instrument is violin, viola, cello, or
bass. MAT graduates are awarded a
Master’s degree in Education with an Alaskan teaching certificate in K-12 Music. Program begins July 26, 2015
Application Deadline: April 1, 2015 (letter of intent for
consideration of scholarship is March 1, 2015)
Living in Juneau, Alaska: Located in Juneau, Alaska, this artistic community is surrounded by
natural beauty and provides an idyllic environment to pursue a graduate degree
focused on community engagement, positive youth development, and social change through
the arts. Accessible only by boat or
plane, Alaska’s capital supports a symphony, two opera companies, several
theatre companies, and a host of other arts opportunities throughout the
community. In 2013, Juneau was selected
by the John F. Kennedy Center as the 11th city in the country for its Any Given
Child program, an initiative committed to bringing equity and access to arts
education for children in grades K-8.
Interning at Juneau Alaska
Music Matters (JAMM): All MAT students will conduct their
9-month internship with JAMM, an El Sistema-inspired program, which uses the
power of music and ensemble to help children reach their fullest
potential. JAMM serves 500 students in
three elementary schools in the Juneau School District. Lorrie Heagy will serve as the mentor
teacher. She is the 2011 Alaska Teacher
of the Year, school music teacher, and one of fifty Sistema Fellows who studied
at the New England Conservatory and in Venezuela to bring Sistema’s transformative
approach to the United States. In
addition to general music classes and after-school JAMM programming, MAT
students also will gain experiences in classes at the the middle and high
school level.
Quartet-in-Residence: JAMM and the Juneau Symphony, along with other key
community stakeholders, will sponsor
a Quartet-in-Residence by providing a $10,000 scholarship to four music
majors/minors who play a stringed instrument:
violin, viola, cello, or bass. The quartet will inspire JAMM students, as
well as contribute to Juneau’s classical music community and teaching artist
pool, while increasing teachers credentialed to work in the K-12 music
classroom.
Aligning the MAT Music (K-12)
Certification with the Transformative Role of Today’s Music Teacher:
The
role of the music teacher has changed. Music teachers are agents of change,
where instrumental music serves as a critical opportunity for all children to
have access to the social, emotional, and intellectual benefits that music
provides. The MAT Certification in K-12
Music provides its students coursework that prepares them for their
multi-faceted role in today’s society:
as citizen, artist, teachers, and scholar.
COMPONENTS OF THE MAT MUSIC
(K-12) DEGREE PROGRAM:
Brain-based Teaching
Practices:
Students will
participate in Juneau’s Basic Arts Institute, where participants learn skills
that will enable them to apply brain
research into their classroom practice and learn first-hand knowledge of how the arts increase
student engagement and achievement. Participants will work with experts, local
artists and cultural leaders to explore a variety of arts activities that they
can use to integrate the performing, visual, cultural, and media arts into
their curriculum.
Rehearsing and Performing with
the Juneau Symphony:
This course
mutually benefits the Quartet-in-Residence, as well as the Juneau Symphony. By
rehearsing and performing with the Juneau Symphony for its concert series, MAT
students maintain their performance skills, while by actively engaging and
contributing to Juneau’s musical community
Emphasis on Positive Youth
Development:
Students will
apply Lerner’s Positive Youth Development model, as well as other educational
theories that emphasize student empowerment, self-determination, efficacy, and
resiliency. Educational theorists such
as Freire, Dewey, Bandura, and Dweck provide different lenses in which to
understand and support a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional growth.
Overview of Music Pedagogies
and Music Technology Applications:
Students will
actively participate in and teach lessons demonstrating key principles from
Dalcroze, Orff, Kodaly, Suzuki, Feierabend, and World Music Drumming. The lessons also include brain-based teaching
strategies that help motivate, engage, and empower students. Other components of this technology course
include GarageBand to create music, Finale to make simplified arrangements, and
Web 2.0 tools to document learning as part of a professional educational
portfolio.
Classroom Management:
Although
well-structured, developmentally appropriate, and engaging lessons often
preclude behavioral issues, today’s music teacher faces challenges different
from those of the regular classroom teacher.
Oftentimes, music teachers are tasked with teaching ensembles of fifty
students or more (each with and instrument in hand) and no other adult support. Place this situation in an after-school
context and classroom management can become even more challenging. To equip MAT students with a more
comprehensive tool kit, the internship provides students with an overview of
effective classroom approaches, including the Responsive Classroom, Love and
Logic, and Michael Grinder’s ENVoY.
Educational Research:
The MAT K-12
Music Certification program embodies the scholar-practitioner model, which
helps students apply new knowledge through action and civic engagement. As part
of this research class, students will create and apply new knowledge to effect
social change in their school and community.
Grant writing has become a necessity and required skill of today’s music
teacher. Students will work alongside JAMM music teachers to identify a
research project that will contribute meaningful data toward student outcomes,
program effectiveness, or community engagement.
MAT students will incorporate this data into a grant application that
they’ve identified and written to help support JAMM.
Electronic Portfolio:
Throughout the
MAT K-12 Music Certification program, students will document their work as
citizens, artists, teachers, and scholars. By including rich media as part of
their portfolios, UAS students not only will be contributing to the wider community,
but also providing future employers evidence of their work.
For
more information contact:
Lorrie Heagy heagyl@gmail.com
