Changes in the world economy and U.S. educational policy present music educators with the challenge of reassessing traditional pedagogy to ensure they are instructing and assessing in ways that contribute to students’ development of 21st-century knowledge and skill sets. Educators are responding by incorporating pedagogical approaches that challenge students to think critically, problem solve collaboratively, and use technology and media efficiently. Popular Music Pedagogies (PMPs) invite students, music teachers, and music teacher educators to take risks, learn alongside one another, and address 21st-century knowledge and skills through engaging with the music that students choose and create. In this article, we define PMPs and discuss how music teacher educators can incorporate PMPs into music teacher education programs to better prepare preservice and inservice music teachers to function within a Partnership for 21st Century Learning framework.

The purpose of this study was to examine the practices and perspectives of music teachers who integrated popular music and informal music learning practices into their secondary school music programs. A primary goal was to understand music teachers' perspectives on the process of enacting change. The data for this parallel multiple-case study were four semistructured interviews, two school site visits and observations, documents, and a researcher journal. The content of teachers' interviews was synthesized in the form of four narratives. Teachers' pathways to becoming more reform-minded were marked by shifts in professional identity away from teacher-centered, autocratic mindsets toward student-centered, democratic approaches to music teaching and learning. The change process was natural for teachers. The tensions that typically surround popular music, informal music learning practices, and secondary music education (i.e., institutional constraints, music teachers' uncertainty, music teachers' views of popular music, and limited resources and professional development opportunities) were minimal for teachers in this study. Thematic analysis revealed eight characteristics of effective teacher-initiated change in secondary music education: (1) holistic and gradual change processes, (2) teacher reflection and inquiry, (3) teacher autonomy, (4) enabling institutional factors, (5) use of a variety of supportive networks, (6) student-centered pedagogy, (7) teacher-selected professional development, and (8) a balance of structure and chaos and formal and informal music learning practices. Teachers demonstrated the power of local change centered on democratic, student-centered practices and serve as exemplars for how K-12 teachers can step into traditionally structured music programs and create educational experiences for their adolescent students that are more relevant and engaging than what is currently being offered in many secondary music programs in the United States.

The purpose of this autoethnographic multiple case study was to compare experiences of two first-generation college students pursuing doctoral degrees in music education. Motivations for pursuing an advanced degree were to enact change in the field of music education and fulfill personal ambitions. Participants encountered two challenges, insufficient cognitive maps and inadequate familial support, which contributed to financial difficulties and health issues. Support networks inside and outside of their music education doctoral programs facilitated degree attainment. Participants lacked the cultural capital needed to navigate higher education because of their first-generation status. Instead, participants employed several forms of community cultural wealth: social, navigational, resistant, and familial capital. Through examining each other’s experiences, we offer suggestions for preparing and supporting a more diverse group of future music teacher educators.

The purpose of this study was to investigate fourth-grade students' extrinsic motivators for joining and continuing in a school instrumental music program. Three research questions were investigated: (a) What extrinsic motivators have influenced fourth-grade students' initial interest and continuing participation in an instrumental music program? (b) What are the musical backgrounds of these students? (c) What musical activities (in or out of school) are they involved in at the time of this study? Elementary instrumental music students (N = 6) were interviewed following Seidman's three-interview series. Extrinsic motivators that influenced student decisions to join and continue in the instrumental music program were family, environment, social factors, and finances. Participants had varied musical backgrounds and their primary musical activity (in or out of school) at the time of the study was the instrumental music program. Study results indicate that participation in an instrumental music program may encourage students to become life-long musicians.