Photo of Jody Kerchner
  • Professor of Music Education
  • Director, Division of Pedagogy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement
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Education

  • BS in music education, West Chester Univiversity, 1987
  • MM in vocal performance, West Chester Univiversity, 1991
  • PhD in music education, Northwestern University, 1996

Biography

Jody L. Kerchner specializes in secondary school music and choral music education. She was awarded the Oberlin College Excellence in Teaching Award in 2011. She is founder and conductor of Oberlin Music at Grafton, a prison choir at the Grafton Correctional Institution.

Prior to teaching at the collegiate level, Kerchner taught K-8 general and choral music in Swarthmore, Pa., and Winnetka, Il., and was conductor of the Oberlin Youth Chorale.

An active clinician, she has presented keynote addresses, research papers, and pedagogy workshops nationally and internationally at conferences in North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Kerchner also frequently serves as guest choral conductor for elementary, middle, and high school honors choral festivals.

Kerchner has served on the editorial board for the International Journal for Music Education, Asia-Pacific Journal of Music Education, and Music Educators Journal. She is the past chair of the Music in the Schools & Teacher Education Commission (MISTEC) of the International Society for Music Education (ISME). She is also a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA and its research committee), and the College Music Society (CMS).

Publications
  • Kerchner, J. & Strand, K. (2016). (Eds.). Musicianship: Composing in Choir. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Kerchner, J. (2014). Music Across the Senses: Listening, Learning, Making Meaning. NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Kerchner, J. (2009). Music Experience in Our Lives: Things We Learn, Meanings We Make. Landham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Erwin, J., Edwards, K., Kerchner, J., Knight, J. (2002). Prelude to Music Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Chapters in Books

Kerchner, J. (2014). Music listening vistas, visions, and vim (chpt. 4). In J. Barrett & P. Webster, Eds., The Musical Experience: Rethinking Music Teaching and Learning. NY: Oxford University Press. (refereed)

Kerchner, J. (2013). Razing structure and raising creative teaching and learning in higher music education programmes (chpt. 24). In P. Burnard (Ed.), Developing Creativities in Higher Education: International Perspectives and Practices. Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. (refereed)

Kerchner, J. & Abril, C. (2012). Music teacher education: Crossing generational borders (chpt. 18). In G. McPherson & G. Welch, Eds., The Oxford Handbook of Music Education (vol. 2). London: Oxford University Press. (refereed)

Abril, C. & Kerchner, J. (2009). Musical experience in our lives (chpt.1). In J. Kerchner & C. Abril, Eds., Musical Experience in Our Lives: Things We Learn and Meanings We Make (chpt.1). Landham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. (refereed)

Kerchner, J. (2009). Drawing middle-schoolers’ attention to music. In J. Kerchner & C. Abril, Eds., Musical Experience in Our Lives: Things We Learn and Meanings We Make (chpt. 11). Landham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Kerchner, J. (2006). Growing into the music educator identity. In M. Moore & B. Leung, Eds., School Music and Teacher Education: A Global Perspective in the New Century (chpt.1). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Education & International Society for Music Education. (refereed)

Kerchner, J. (2006). Tools for developing reflective skills (chpt. 11). In P. Burnard & S. Hennessy, (Eds.). Reflective Practice in Arts Education. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. (refereed)

Kerchner, J. (2005). A world to know and feel: Exploring children’s verbal, visual, and kinesthetic responses to music. In M. Mans & B. Leung, Eds. Music in Schools for All Children: From Research to Effective Practice. Proceedings of the 14th International Seminar of the Music in the Schools and Teacher Education Commission. Granada, Spain: University of Granada. (refereed)

Kerchner, J. (2004). Portfolio assessment in music education methods courses: Experiencing, modeling, teaching, assessing. In P. Shand, Ed., Music Education Entering the 21st Century. Nedlands, Western Australia: International Society for Music Education.

Kerchner, J. (2003). Stepping off of the podium: Leveling the playing (and singing) field. In S. Leong, Ed., Musicianship for the 21st Century (chpt. 11). Sydney, Australia: Australian Music Centre. (ref.)

Articles
  • Ballantyne, J., Kerchner, J., & Arostegui, J. (2012). Developing music teacher identities: A cross-cultural study. International Journal for Music Education, 30(3), 211-226.
  • Kerchner, J. (2010). Mapping informance as general music performance. General Music Today, 23(3), 15-19.
  • Kerchner, J. (2006). Collegiate metamorphosis: Tracking the transformation from female music education student to teacher. Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 169, 7-24.
  • Kerchner, J. (2004). Singing visions: Metaphors for teaching students with visual impairments. Choral Journal, 45(5), 26-36.
  • Kerchner, J. (2002). Keeping the artistry: Modeling the professional life. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 11(2), 14-21.
  • Kerchner, J. (2001). Children's verbal, visual, and kinesthetic responses: Insight into their music listening experience. Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, 146, 31-50.
  • Kerchner, J. (2001). Incorporating the National Standards into a band rehearsal. Teaching Music, 9(1), 40-44.
  • Kerchner, J. (1998). A model for educational partnerships. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 8(1), 7-14.
  • Kjelland, J. & Kerchner, J. (Eds.). (1998).The effect of music performance on music listening. Bulletin for the Council of Research in Music Education, 1-55.
  • Kerchner, J. (Spring 1997). Portfolio assessment: Tracking development, Journal of Music Teacher Education, 6(2), 19-22.

As a qualitative researcher and musician-educator, Kerchner focuses on school music students’ focus of attention, perception, and multisensory (verbal, visual, kinesthetic) responses during music listening; music teacher education; music teacher identity development; reflective teacher praxis; choral music education; empathetic leadership; and portfolio music assessment.

Notes

  • Bautista, Fraser, and Kerchner Present at Conference

    October 23, 2018

    Three faculty members presented "Transformative Imaginations: Decarceration and Liberatory Futures" at the October 2018 Imagining America National Conference in Chicago. The faculty were: Jody Kerchner, professor of music education, director in the division of pedagogy, advocacy, and community engagement, and community-based learning/research faculty fellow; Jennifer Fraser, associate professor of ethnomusicology and anthropology; Adrian Bautista, comparative american studies and senior associate dean for strategic initiatives.

  • Jody Kerchner Presents

    July 27, 2018

    Jody Kerchner, professor of music education, presented a conference session at the international Music in the Schools & Teacher Education Commission Seminar in Prague, Czech Republic on July 12. The paper was "What I learned from prison: Practice teaching with community-based partners." 

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