Southern Miss Music Ed Updates Curriculum for 21st Century Teachers

Thu, 05/05/2022 - 10:20am | By: Hanif Lawrence

For decades, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Music has cultivated a reputation for training some of the finer music educators in the country.

To this end, the faculty of the School of Music continues to explore new ways to strengthen and rejuvenate the music education curriculum to help prepare graduates for the modern K-12 classrooms.

With feedback from new teachers and veteran teachers in the field, Dr. Melody Causby, assistant professor of music education (instrumental), led the music education team in in revising the curriculum. Instrumental licensure students will now have more opportunities to practice a range of instruments.

The key change involves splitting courses in brass methods and woodwind methods into two courses each while keeping the overall number of degree hours the same. The music education programs will now include a capstone course specifically geared to music licensure students.

“This will allow for the practical development of teaching skills, over time,” noted Causby. “We’ve redesigned all our music education courses so that they allow students teaching opportunities and podium time in every course and they’re getting feedback from their professor in real time as their lesson is happening.”

Another practical addition to the curriculum is the provision for peer teaching opportunities, which will become a standard part of every music education class. Initially, they will work with a small group, like instrument instruction in the brass and woodwind classes. But as juniors and seniors, they will teach a full lab ensemble.

The former program saw all the brass and woodwinds methods courses being completed in the junior year, which meant learning multiple secondary instruments while working on their primary instrument. This made mastery of all the bass and woodwind instruments much more challenging.

“Beginning this fall, we have expanded the brass and woodwind methods courses,” said Causby. “Students will now take two credits of each: high brass methods, low brass methods, flute/clarinet methods, and sax/double reed methods. That means they’ll get to play all the instruments and spend five to eight weeks on each.”

These methods courses will accompany the existing string methods, percussion methods, and other MED courses that are spread evenly across the curriculum for the Bachelor of Music Education degree.

Increased collaboration will be evident with lab ensembles. The program now has two lab ensembles, one instrumental and one choral. For the instrumental lab ensemble, all sophomore- junior--senior level instrumental MED courses will combine on Fridays. Some students will play their secondary instruments alongside other students playing their primary instruments, modeling for those playing secondaries around them. This environment encourages growth and an exchange in ideas.

“In this ensemble, juniors and seniors teach the full ensemble as I coach them,” continued Causby. “We now also have co-curricular projects between conducting and MED courses, so they learn how to put the pedagogy and the gestures together.”

This masterclass setting is extremely beneficial to the juniors and seniors so they can begin to apply the skills they have been learning and experiment with techniques, error detection, and problem solving from the podium — but in an encouraging environment with guidance from trusted and qualified faculty.

As the alumni of the music program continue to make major strides in classrooms across the country, they share their experiences with faculty – and their voices are heard. The School of Music values all Golden Eagles, and they are encouraged to provide any feedback that they believe can benefit future generations of educators.

This fresh approach is the result of much research and collaboration as we seek to keep our young educators equipped for the evolving world of music teaching. Certainly, the most practical, comprehensive, and collaborative program is the best way to achieve that, and we welcome our new class of first-year music educators to take them on this journey.

For more information, visit usm.edu/music.