Composing Our Future

In order to prepare pre-service teachers and meet the needs of practitioners in the field, music teacher educators need resources to guide the development of curriculum, specific courses, professional development workshops, and other environments where composition education can begin, grow, and flourish. With chapters ranging from practical information to solid theory to useful best practice examples, Composing Our Future offers fresh insight into composition in music education from authors who are directly engaged in this work.

Michele Kaschub is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Music Teacher Education and Graduate Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Janice Smith is Associate Professor of Music Education and Coordinator of Undergraduate Music Education at Queens College, City University of New York. Together they are the authors of Minds on Music: Composition for Creative and Critical Thinking (2009).

Contents Introduction Chapter 1. Embracing Composition in Music Teacher Education, Michele Kaschub and Janice Smith Section I. Foundations & Futures Chapter 2. Music Composition Intelligence and Creative Thinking in Music, Peter Webster Chapter 3. How Teachers Can Learn from Composition Research, Maud Hickey Chapter 4. The Compositional Turn in Music Education: From Closed Forms to Open Texts, Randall Everett Allsup Section II. Model Practices in Teaching Composition Chapter 5. Preparing to Engage Children in Musical Creating, Sandra Stauffer Chapter 6. Scaffolding Student Composers, Jackie Wiggins with Mike Medvinsky Chapter 7. Teaching Gifted Learners in Composition, Daniel Deutsch Chapter 8. Facilitating Composition in Instrumental Settings, Alexander J. Koops Chapter 9. Guiding Composition in Choral Settings, Katherine Strand Chapter 10. Composition and Students with Special Needs, Alice M. Hammel Section III: Composition and Technology Chapter 11. Capitalizing on Emerging Technologies in Composition Education, Rick Dammers Chapter 12. The Vermont Midi Project - Fostering Mentorships in Multiple Environments, Sandi McLeod Chapter 13. Digital Natives and Composition in the Middle School Band: From Imagination to Music, Bruce Carter Section IV. Composition in Undergraduate Courses Chapter 14. Composition in International Settings: Broadening Pre-service Perceptions, Patricia Riley Chapter 15. Pre-Service Teachers in Urban Settings: Composing Connections, Janice Smith Chapter 16. Preparing Teachers to Facilitate Songwriting, John Kratus Section V. Strategic Administrative Practices for Including Composition in Music Education Chapter 17. "All In" for Composition Education: Opportunities and Challenges for Pre-Service Music Teacher Curricula, John Richmond Chapter 18. Creating School-University Partnerships to Enhance Composition Teaching & Learning, Gena Greher Chapter 19. Advancing Composition in Music Education Through Strategic Professional Development, Michele Kaschub Section VI .Moving Forward Chapter 20. Enacting the Vision: Creating and Sustaining Meaningful Composition, Betty Anne Younker Author bios Index