Music Education at Penn State
Bachelor of Science in Music Education
The Bachelor of Science degree is designed for students pursuing a career teaching music in schools. It includes courses in musicianship and teaching methods applicable to all music teaching areas and grade levels. Studio instruction and professional education courses are also required. Completion of the program requirements leads to Pennsylvania Instructional I Certification in Music K-12. Formal application to the Bachelor of Science degree program usually takes place at the end of the fourth semester.
Mission Statement
The goal of the Penn State Music Teacher Education Program and the Partnership for Music Teacher Excellence is to prepare exemplary music teachers for K-12 music programs. Such individuals can provide outstanding personal and musical models for children and youth and have a firm foundation in pedagogy on which to build music teaching skills.
Excellence in music teaching is defined as follows:
As PERSONAL MODELS for children and youth, music teachers are caring, sensitive individuals who are willing and able to empathize with widely diverse student populations. They exhibit a high sense of personal integrity and demonstrate a concern for improving the quality of life in their immediate as well as global environments. They establish and maintain positive relationships with people both like and unlike themselves and demonstrate the ability to provide positive and constructive leadership. They are in good mental, physical, and social health. They demonstrate the ability to establish and achieve personal goals. They have a positive outlook on life.
As MUSICAL MODELS, music teachers demonstrate the ability to perform a variety of musical literature with technical accuracy, fluency, and expressiveness. They read music notation fluently and analyze musical structures aurally and from notation. They demonstrate knowledge of a significant portion of the literature of Western Art music and have an acquaintance with music from a variety of world cultures. They describe and discuss music verbally. Music teachers conduct and provide musical leadership in a manner that enables others to experience music with ever-increasing depth and sensitivity.
As emerging PEDAGOGUES, graduates of the Penn State Music Teacher Preparation Program are aware of patterns of human development, especially those of children and youth. They are knowledgeable of basic principles of music learning and learning theory and are able to design strategies that foster appropriate interaction between learners and music that results in efficient learning. They are able to develop music curricula and assess music learning of students.
Program Description
During their first semester in the School of Music, students intending to pursue the music education degree must declare a choral, general, or instrumental teaching emphasis. This choice will assist the student and the academic adviser in the selection of appropriate courses and experiences. If a student wishes to change teaching emphasis at any time, he or she must first discuss this intent with the academic adviser. Students wishing to add supplemental experiences from another emphasis should notify the academic adviser so that an individualized course of study can be created. Students must complete all required techniques courses for the chosen teaching emphasis prior to student teaching.
For additional information follow this link to the Undergraduate Program Handbooks on the School of Music's web site.