| Oberlin College Conservatory of Music has maintained a strong dedication to the preparation of music educators since 1921, when the first four-year degree in public school music was granted here. The Music Education Division remains firm in its view that the development of outstanding music teachers for public and private schools throughout the United States and the world continues to be a noble and worthy pursuit. The Music Education Division excellence in education through the development of musicianship, scholarship, and pedagogy.
Candidates for the music education major include students from this country and abroad who exhibit extraordinary musicianship, fine performing skills, and strong academic backgrounds. They are guided during their Oberlin careers by full-time faculty members of exceptional background and reputation who continue to be active both as musicians and teachers. Faculty members share and act on commitments to individual student potential and achievement, experiential learning with actual school children, systematic and sequential skill development, reflection and critical thinking, creating and sustaining vibrant community-wide arts environments, developing music understanding and an interest in life-long learning in the general population, and ongoing and vital faculty development.
Music education students and graduates demonstrate the benefits of Oberlin's rigorous program by being welcomed eagerly as field experience students and student teachers, by competing successfully for positions in public and private schools, and by being accepted into graduate programs in music education and performance. As alumni, they show recognition of the value of their preparation by volunteering to serve as mentors to current students and by recommending Oberlin to the finest of their students.
Two concentrations are available in the music education program, both leading to Ohio licensure, Music P-12. Students may select a vocal or instrumental emphasis depending on their own career preferences. Each stresses extensive preparation in a variety of classroom situations, thorough grounding in educational theory, and the importance of maintaining high standards of musicianship; some students develop a program permitting them to pursue their interests in both tracks. The program's content is also flexible enough to accommodate individual interests; a student preparing to teach piano, for example, may choose from courses in piano pedagogy, keyboard skills, applied piano, and educational psychology.
After completing two years of study and the Comprehensive Musicianship Examination, music education majors may apply for entrance into either of the Division's five-year programs, which combine undergraduate and graduate work. The Master of Music Education program is designed for music education majors who wish to pursue advanced studies and research in this area. The Master of Music in Teaching program is for students who wish to combine an undergraduate major in performance or composition with a program of study in music education at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
The rate of placement for the program's graduates has been extremely high, with virtually all those seeking a teaching situation upon graduation securing a position. Music education graduates teach in public and private schools in all levels throughout the United States and abroad, and when they leave their positions, administrators often seek replacements from Oberlin as well.
Outstanding musicianship is highly valued at Oberlin, and music education majors are expected to achieve excellence in performance or composition. Music education majors are encouraged to perform as soloists and to compete for places in the Conservatory's major ensembles.
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| Music Education Faculty, from left to right: Jody Kerchner, Joanne Erwin, Peggy Bennett, and John Knight |
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