The purpose of this study was to investigate the content and intended audiences for educational sessions offered at MENC biennial conferences in order to illuminate trends and topics in professional development. The researchers performed a content analysis of each session ( N = 2,593) using program booklets from conferences between 1988 and 2008, creating a coding scheme with separate codes for audience focus and session content. After establishing sufficient interjudge agreement, the researchers coded all educational sessions offered at the conferences from 1988 to 2008. Results indicated that the number of sessions targeted at specific audiences (e.g., choral teachers only) remained small relative to those targeting broader audiences. Content coding revealed large increases in the number of sessions focused on technology and a slight decrease in the number of sessions focused on traditional large ensembles. Session content sometimes followed professional trends (e.g., the inception of the National Standards in 1994) but did not reflect increased attention in the profession to topics such as creativity and students with exceptionalities. These findings have important implications for those planning state and national music education conferences and for music educators who attend these professional development events.

This study aimed to understand the nature of feedback that students and teacher exchanged in a workshop-based collegiate songwriting course. Two research questions guided the study: (1) What kinds of feedback do students and teacher give as they respond to each other’s work? and (2) What factors contribute to the culture of feedback in this class? Data sources included field notes from class observations, individual interviews with four informant students, a group interview, and a student-conducted interview of the investigator, who was also the instructor of the class. The analysis generated four themes that describe the feedback culture of this songwriting class: micro feedback, macro feedback, feedback roles, and overall feedback culture. Recommendations for practice and future research are presented.

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This chapter considers the broad and versatile musicianship skills that music teachers require to be successful in 21st-century classrooms in which students from a variety of backgrounds bring with them diverse musical interests and needs. After considering how musicianship has been defined in a variety of professional and scholarly literature, the chapter enumerates musical skills that are important for preservice teachers to develop and considers how those skills, which often have been too narrowly construed, can be expanded and reimagined. This includes emphasis on creativity (composition, improvisation, songwriting), as well as exploration of vernacular music and music technology. Consideration also is given to the many structural barriers that limit the way musicianship is conceived, taught, and learned in both K–12 and college/university settings, as well how some adjustments to curriculum, entry requirements, and other structures could open the door to solving the musicianship conundrum that music teachers and music teacher educators face.

To better understand existing ensemble requirements for music education majors at U.S. institutions, we conducted a content analysis of ensemble requirements for 1,021 degree programs at 465 colleges and universities accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). The mean number of ensemble credits required for each degree program was 7.25 ( SD = 2.89), and the mean number of semester enrollments required was 7.86 ( SD = 1.95). There were significant differences between degree types (e.g., instrumental-focused, choral-focused) in terms of total ensemble credits required and number and kind of subrequirements (e.g., chamber or small ensemble). A majority of programs did not contain specific subrequirements beyond traditional large ensembles, suggesting that many students may not undertake the varied complement of ensemble experiences called for in the NASM standards. By continuing to diversify ensemble offerings and encouraging or requiring students in all degree specializations to develop their musicianship through a variety of ensemble experiences, music programs may be able to make valuable ensemble experiences even more beneficial for undergraduate music education students.