Growing Musicians

Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School and Beyond focuses on teaching adolescents within the context of a music classroom, regardless of content area (orchestra, band, choir, or general music). It provides a look at the importance of music courses in the lives of adolescents as they navigate the path between being a child and an adult.

As every music student is completely unique, there is no one-size-fits-all prescriptive way of working with this age group. Rather, music educators must approach adolescents with high musical standards and aspirations to learn and achieve within music.

Other considerations a successful middle school music teacher must have:

• a willingness to honor the individuality of each adolescent musician;
• a sense of structure, but an ability to be flexible;
• a desire to foster and promote a safe classroom environment where students feel empowered to be themselves and speak openly about what they think and believe;
• an understanding that music classes are not only safe places where students learn how to become better musicians but also better people through musical experiences focused on humanity and empathy;
• a dose of humor, or at least the ability to acknowledge that adolescents are extremely funny whether or not they realize it.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Chapter 1: The Adolescent Musician
• Chapter 2: The Music Teacher
• Chapter 3: Establishing Music Classroom Climate
• Chapter 4: Establishing the Framework for Successful Music Classes
• Chapter 5: The Humanity of Teaching Music
• Chapter 6: Humor in the Music Classroom
• Appendix A: Teacher participant extended bios
• References
• Index