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MAT in Secondary Education
with K-12 Music Certification
OVERVIEW:
In
partnership with Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) and the Juneau Symphony
(JS), the University of Alaska Southeast proudly announces its one-year Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in
Secondary Education with a certification in K-12 Music to reflect the changing
role of today’s music teacher. As part of the course requirements, MAT students will conduct
their teaching internships at JAMM school sites and music classrooms within the
Juneau School District, as well as perform in the Juneau Symphony. This program
gives preference to musicians interested in using music for social change.
Through
a competitive application process, four $10,000 scholarships are available to
music majors/minors whose main instrument is violin, viola, cello, or
bass. MAT graduates are awarded a
Master’s degree in Education with an Alaskan teaching certificate in K-12
Music. Program begins July 26, 2015
Application Deadline: April 1, 2017
Living in Juneau, Alaska: Located in Juneau, Alaska, this artistic community is surrounded by
natural beauty and provides an idyllic environment to pursue a graduate degree
focused on community engagement, positive youth development, and social change
through the arts. Accessible only by
boat or plane, Alaska’s capital supports a symphony, two opera companies,
several theatre companies, and a host of other arts opportunities throughout
the community. In 2013, Juneau was
selected by the John F. Kennedy Center as the 11th city in the country for its
Any Given Child program, an initiative committed to bringing equity and access
to arts education for children in grades K-8.
Interning at Juneau Alaska
Music Matters (JAMM): All MAT students will conduct
their 9-month internship with JAMM, an El Sistema-inspired program, which uses
the power of music and ensemble to help children reach their fullest
potential. JAMM serves 500 students in
three elementary schools in the Juneau School District. Lorrie Heagy will serve as the mentor
teacher. She is the 2011 Alaska Teacher
of the Year, school music teacher, and one of fifty Sistema Fellows who studied
at the New England Conservatory and in Venezuela to bring Sistema’s
transformative approach to the United States.
In addition to general music classes and after-school JAMM programming,
MAT students also will gain experiences in classes at the middle and high
school level.
Quartet-in-Residence: JAMM and the Juneau Symphony, along with other key
community stakeholders, will sponsor a
Quartet-in-Residence by providing a $10,000 scholarship to four music
majors/minors who play a stringed instrument:
violin, viola, cello, or bass. The quartet will inspire JAMM students, as
well as contribute to Juneau’s classical music community and teaching artist
pool, while increasing teachers credentialed to work in the K-12 music
classroom.
Aligning the MAT Music (K-12)
Certification with the Transformative Role of Today’s Music Teacher:
Music
teachers are agents of change, where instrumental music serves as a critical
opportunity for all children to have access to the social, emotional, and
intellectual benefits that music provides.
The MAT Certification in K-12 Music provides its students coursework
that prepares them for their multi-faceted role in today’s society: as citizen, artist, teachers, and
scholar.
COMPONENTS OF THE MAT MUSIC
(K-12) DEGREE PROGRAM:
Brain-based Teaching
Practices:
Students will
participate in Juneau’s Basic Arts Institute, where participants learn skills
that will enable them to apply brain research into
their classroom practice and
learn first-hand knowledge of how the arts increase student engagement and
achievement.
Participants will work with experts, local artists and cultural leaders
to explore a variety of arts activities that they can use to integrate the
performing, visual, cultural, and media arts into their curriculum.
Rehearsing and Performing with
the Juneau Symphony:
This course
mutually benefits the Quartet-in-Residence, as well as the Juneau Symphony. By
rehearsing and performing with the Juneau Symphony for its concert series, MAT
students maintain their performance skills, while actively engaging and
contributing to Juneau’s musical community
Emphasis on Positive Youth
Development:
Students will
apply Lerner’s Positive Youth Development model, as well as other educational
theories that emphasize student empowerment, self-determination, efficacy, and
resiliency. Educational theorists such
as Freire, Dewey, Bandura, and Dweck provide different lenses in which to
understand and support a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional growth.
Overview of Music Pedagogies
and Music Technology Applications:
Students will
actively participate in and teach lessons demonstrating key principles from
Dalcroze, Orff, Kodaly, Suzuki, Feierabend, and World Music Drumming. The lessons also include brain-based teaching
strategies that help motivate, engage, and empower students. Other components of this technology course
include GarageBand to create music, Finale to make simplified arrangements, and
Web 2.0 tools to document learning as part of a professional educational
portfolio.
Classroom Management:
Although
well-structured, developmentally appropriate, and engaging lessons often
preclude behavioral issues, today’s music teacher faces challenges different
from those of the regular classroom teacher.
Oftentimes, music teachers are tasked with teaching ensembles of fifty
students or more (each with and instrument in hand) and no other adult
support. Place this situation in an
after-school context and classroom management can become even more
challenging. To equip MAT students with
a more comprehensive tool kit, the internship provides students with an
overview of effective classroom approaches, including the Responsive Classroom,
Love and Logic, and Michael Grinder’s ENVoY.
Educational Research:
The MAT K-12
Music Certification program embodies the scholar-practitioner model, which
helps students apply new knowledge through action and civic engagement. As part
of this research class, students will create and apply new knowledge to effect
social change in their school and community.
Grant writing has become a necessity and required skill of today’s music
teacher. Students will work alongside JAMM music teachers to identify a
research project that will contribute meaningful data toward student outcomes,
program effectiveness, or community engagement.
MAT students will incorporate this data into a grant application that
they’ve identified and written to help support JAMM.
Electronic Portfolio:
Throughout the
MAT K-12 Music Certification program, students will document their work as
citizens, artists, teachers, and scholars. By including rich media as part of
their portfolios, UAS students not only will be contributing to the wider community,
but also providing future employers evidence of their work.
For
more information contact:
Heidi O'Connor-Brook (violin): As a musician and former collegiate athlete, Heidi is passionate about the importance of arts, culture and healthy living in the lives of children and youth. Graduating from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance, Heidi grew up in the rural Yukon Territory near Whitehorse. Heidi spent four years as a private instructor for the Young Native Fiddlers. She has also taught Suzuki violin and traditional fiddling for community programs and public schools in Whitehorse.
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