Music Education, M.A.

Director: Valerie Austin

This program is scheduled for discontinuation in 2014-2015. No new students are being enrolled in this program.

Program Description

The Master of Arts in Music Education program is intended to prepare the experienced, inservice music teacher for full participation in the profession as leader, researcher, and master practitioner. It is designed for music teachers with initial (Standard Professional I) licensure who, after the successful completion of the program, will obtain the North Carolina “M” license in music. The program is designed to promote both teacher autonomy and interdependence through development of individual talents, interests, and philosophies and through growth in competence in the professional practice of music education.

Program Goals and Objectives

The Music Education graduate program is designed to help students engage in inquiry, reflection, and action in order to enhance:

1. The professional lives of teachers in general;
2. The learning and well being of their students;
3. The teaching and learning environments of their schools; and
4. Partnerships with parents and families.

Students will:

1. Strengthen their command of the structures, methodologies, and content of contemporary music education, philosophy, and research;
2. Improve their command of performance and conducting skills;
3. Improve their understanding of music technology, history, literature, theory, and arranging;
4. Demonstrate scholarly competence in the organization, interpretation, and evaluation of knowledge;
5. Demonstrate professional competence and leadership in the communication and dissemination of knowledge to diverse students; and
6. Identify contemporary problems in various aspects of music and music education and design and/or demonstrate proposed solutions with appropriate leadership initiatives.

The culminating Master’s projects will reflect the five UNCP Teacher Education Master’s Candidate Standards and the core and content standards of the M.A. in Music Education program. As a result, applied music and thesis projects will be authentic in nature and applied in content. Students will design and/or demonstrate proposed solutions to contemporary, clearly identified problems. The portfolio will contain artifacts and relevant data documenting graduate study and related activities. Areas of emphasis include self-evaluation, reflection, and identification of “next steps.”

Program-specific admission criteria:

1. Two years of teaching experience or the equivalent.
2. An acceptable audition on one’s major instrument/voice.
3. Letter of application that includes a statement of the applicant’s philosophy of music education.