General Music in Middle School and High School

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of secondary general music (SGM), including background, variations of courses, and curricular considerations. The chapter details goals for SGM courses and provides an overview of common characteristics among adolescents who are SGM students, preservice music teachers, and in-service teachers. It emphasizes the value of learner autonomy and ownership through frameworks of community music and informal learning and recommends a balance of pedagogical and andragogical teaching approaches. The chapter describes ways in which SGM teachers and teacher educators might conceptualize roles and challenges of teaching general music for middle and high school students, including topics such as music technology and popular music, considerations for special learners, and methods course fieldwork.

Considerations With Virtual Secondary Music Students

“…As adolescents take on increasingly adult roles and tasks, ownership in their learning becomes likewise important. Andragogy is a conception of adult learning (Knowles et al, 2005) that has been considered for adolescent music students (Bucura, 2019b), and discussed in music education scholarship in relation to lifelong learning (e.g., Roulston, 2010;Sobol, 2019). Andragogy is one way to consider students' growing senses of ownership and responsibility as learners.…”

Transformational Learning Strategies for the Secondary General Music Classroom

“…The concept of andragogy , or the art and science of adult learning, can be applied to facilitate learning through empowerment, motivation, personal interpretation, and creativity (see Knowles, 1984). While music education scholars have discussed andragogy in relation to community music (Tsugawa, 2009), and SGM (Bucura, 2019b), application of andragogy typically centers on either community contexts or within school institutions. Yet neither seems sufficient given abrupt shifts to at-home and hybrid learning that have tended to blur school and home/community lines in recent years.…”

“…Yet neither seems sufficient given abrupt shifts to at-home and hybrid learning that have tended to blur school and home/community lines in recent years. Bucura (2019b) considered andragogy in relation to adolescent learners as one way to recognize their growth toward self-directed learning (see also Mezirow, 1981). Bucura (2020) believed andragogical approaches invite learners to take responsibility and initiative, consider learning needs, and make plans for how to achieve their goals.…”

“…Learners' perspectives are prioritized when they are making decisions (Chinnasamy, 2013). Andragogy can be one way to consider motivation, as well as self-directed and lifelong learning (Bucura, 2019b). Andragogy can be described as self-determined and approached through learner-directed inquiry, sensitive teacher guidance, and learner autonomy.…”

“…Scholars have pointed out that there often exists a gap between school music and students’ own music lives (Bucura, 2019b; Brashier, 2019; Schuler, 2011). In fact, in 2014, the Task Force on the Undergraduate Music Major from the College Music Society recommended that music programs seek increased social relevance by creating a wide array of offerings that speak to diverse music interests across all segments of society, a point that is reiterated elsewhere (e.g., Whitmore, 2019).…”