The change needed in urban music education not only relates to the idea that music should be at the center of the curriculum; rather, it is that culturally relevant music should be a creative force at the center of reform in urban education. Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom: A Guide to Leadership, Teacher Education, and Reform is the start of a national-level conversation aimed at making that goal a reality.
Culturally relevant music can drive reform in urban education. Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom, Volume 1: A Guide to Survival, Success, and Reform opens a national-level conversation aimed at making that goal a reality. This first of two volumes addresses cultural responsivity, teaching strategies, and alternative teaching models. Contributors, who include classroom music teachers, inner city arts administrators, well-known academics, and policy-makers from across the United States and Canada, offer a full range of political, philosophical, and practical approaches to reaching kids in urban schools. These authors, whose voices are distinct and yet united, guide music educators at every level, motivating them to challenge tired assumptions, reconsider the issues, and transform their classrooms and their students. See also: Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom, Volume 2 ORDER BOTH VOLUMES 1 & 2 NOW AND SAVE 1-57886-545-X $65.00 paper set / 1-57886-544-1 $130.00 cloth set
The prevailing discourse surrounding urban music education suggests the deficit-laden notion that urban school settings are "less than," rather than "different than," their counterparts. Through the lens of contextually-specific teaching, this book provides a counternarrative on urban music education that encourages urban music teachers to focus on the strengths of their students as their primary resource. Through a combination of research-based strategies and practical suggestions from the author's own experience teaching music in urban settings, the book highlights important issues for teachers to consider, such as culturally relevant pedagogy, the "opportunity gap," race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, musical content, curricular change, music program development, student motivation, and strategies for finding inspiration and support. Throughout the book, the stories of five highly successful urban music teachers are highlighted, providing practical, real-world advice for music teachers across the domains of general, choral, band, and string music teaching. Recognizing that the term "urban" can encompass a wide variety of different school and community settings, this book challenges all teachers who work in under-served and under-resourced settings to take a critical look at their own music classroom and work to tailor their pedagogy to meet the particular needs of their students.
A New York Times Best Seller "Essential reading for all adults who work with black and brown young people...Filled with exceptional intellectual sophistication and necessary wisdom for the future of education."—Imani Perry, National Book Award Winner author of South To America An award-winning educator offers a much-needed antidote to traditional top-down pedagogy and promises to radically reframe the landscape of urban education for the better Drawing on his own experience of feeling undervalued and invisible in classrooms as a young man of color, Dr. Christopher Emdin has merged his experiences with more than a decade of teaching and researching in urban America. He takes to task the perception of urban youth of color as unteachable, and he challenges educators to embrace and respect each student’s culture and to reimagine the classroom as a site where roles are reversed and students become the experts in their own learning. Putting forth his theory of Reality Pedagogy, Emdin provides practical tools to unleash the brilliance and eagerness of youth and educators alike—both of whom have been typecast and stymied by outdated modes of thinking about urban education. With this fresh and engaging new pedagogical vision, Emdin demonstrates the importance of creating a family structure and building communities within the classroom, using culturally relevant strategies like hip-hop music and call-and-response, and connecting the experiences of urban youth to indigenous populations globally. Merging real stories with theory, research, and practice, Emdin demonstrates how by implementing the “Seven Cs” of reality pedagogy in their own classrooms, urban youth of color benefit from truly transformative education.
This timely book explores teaching music in the urban setting along with interviews and journal accounts from urban music teachers in a variety of specializations. Written for pre-service music education students and music teachers new to urban teaching, this is a must-read for those considering teaching in the urban schools. Selected topics include culturally responsive teaching; White teachers working with students of color; nurturing pedagogy for at-risk youths; working with ESL students and immigrant families; creating a democratic and socially just music classroom; and developing habits of teaching that promote resilience and confidence in the emotional, social, and academic well-being of young musicians. A valuable resource for music teaching, this book features an accessible blend of theory and practice with authentic stories from the field.
In this insightfully honest and moving memoir about the realities of teaching in an inner-city school, Ed Boland "smashes the dangerous myth of the hero-teacher [and] shows us how high the stakes are for our most vulnerable students" (Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black). In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them. Freddy runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented. In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students. Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story is sure to ignite debate about the future of American education and attempts to reform it.
Viewing the plurality of creativity in music as being of paramount importance to the field of music education, The Routledge Companion to Creativities in Music Education provides a wide-ranging survey of practice and research perspectives. Bringing together philosophical and applied foundations, this volume draws together an array of international contributors, including leading and emerging scholars, to illuminate the multiple forms creativity can take in the music classroom, and how new insights from research can inform pedagogical approaches. In over 50 chapters, it addresses theory, practice, research, change initiatives, community, and broadening perspectives. A vital resource for music education researchers, practitioners, and students, this volume helps advance the discourse on creativities in music education.
This book provides undergraduate and graduate students in education with an overview of urban teaching. Organized around eight authentic questions, it offers pre-service and in-service teachers opportunities for critical reflection and problem-posing not often seen in comparable course texts. This text supports staff who are looking for increasingly creative approaches to exploring key educational issues with their students.
`This engaging and insightful book highlights issues of power and authority, which are often overlooked yet critically important in teacher preparation, induction, and retention′ - Judith Haymore Sandholtz, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside `A Classroom of Her Own is as practical as it is insightful. It is a rare combination of revealing case studies and practical advice designed to help beginning teachers learn how to teach′ - Elliot W Eisner, Lee Jacks Professor of Education and Professor of Art Stanford University, School of Education This book is a study of six teachers, all of them young, white, and female, and the challenges they face in the classroom as they grow and learn as educators. The author describes their relationships with students, parents, other teachers, administrators, and office personnel, and details the obstacles they face while developing the confidence and wisdom that all teachers need. The nine chapters cover a wide spectrum of issues, including instruction, discipline, working conditions, safety, and more. Complex problems, such as troubled students, ineffectual colleagues, less-than-helpful administrators, language and cultural barriers, are explored. The six voices represent a variety of schools, urban and suburban, affluent and poverty-stricken, well run and troubled. Included are many stories in the teachers′ own words, describing their frustrations and fears, as well as their triumphs and successes. The six women discuss the career angst common to all new teachers, sharing how they deal with challenges such as modest salaries, keeping professional and personal life separate, dealing with evaluations, and finding the help and encouragement they need. The joys and rewards of working with children and making a difference in their lives comes through clearly in each teacher′s story. This book is a wonderful resource for all pre-service and beginning teachers, as well as veteran or mentor teachers who will be working with newcomers to the profession.
