A
Century of Music Ed Celebrated at Oberlin
By
Julie Sabatier
Faculty, alumni and students will gather in Kulas
Recital Hall this Saturday to celebrate 100 years of music education
at Oberlin.
The Conservatory was the first in the nation to offer a four-year
college degree program in music education. Professor of Music Education
Jody Kerchner said the program attracts, “students who are
highly gifted performers and want to teach.” She stressed
that this is a combination that is difficult to find anywhere else.
Every music education course from the first semester onward requires
students to participate in fieldwork, another aspect of the program
that is unique to Oberlin. Students observe teachers and participate
in classrooms in and around Oberlin leading small groups of students
in singing exercises and helping them learn to hold their instruments
correctly. “Over the years, the field experience has become
more practical and more varied,” Kerchner said.
Co-authors and Conservatory professors Kay Edwards, Joanne Erwin,
Jody Kerchner and John Knight kept their own field experiences in
mind when they collaborated on the new textbook Prelude to Music
Education. The book, which was three years in the making, was released
by Prentice-Hall just two weeks ago.
According to Joanne Erwin, director of the Music Education department,
it is already being used in Oberlin classes and several other schools
have expressed interest in it as well. “This book is very
practical rather than philosophical,” Erwin said. Each chapter
opens with a classroom scenario. “The goal is to have first-year
College students thinking, what would it be like to be in that room,”
she added.
The book will be presented by music education faculty members at
the conclusion of Saturday’s day-long celebration. The day
will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a video titled Remembering Oberlin
History. The 10-minute video consists of interviews with current
and emeritus professors of music education at Oberlin. It was created
by fifth-year TIMARA and music education double-major Suzanna Sitomer
in conjunction with Erwin. Sitomer said she is excited to share
this project with the community. “I think a lot of people
don’t know how many cool things got started at Oberlin,”
she said.
After the video, the first Music Education Distinguished Alumni
Award will be presented to emeritus professor of eurhythmics and
Oberlin grad Herbert Henke. In honor of this award, a brick with
Henke’s name on it will be placed on the “Walk of Fame”
at the National Headquarters for Music Education in Reston, Virginia.
Following the award ceremony, members of the current music education
faculty will lead workshops in their various spheres of study. “This
will give participants a flavor of who we are as a faculty,”
Kerchner said.
After lunch, there will be an alumni panel discussion on the topic,
“After Oberlin: What Music Education Taught Me.” The
discussion will give alumni a chance to share their experiences
with current students and relate how Oberlin helped prepare them
for their teaching careers.
All the events planned for Saturday are designed to give an overview
of music education at Oberlin and how it has developed over a century
of teaching and learning. The audience members will include accreditors
from the Ohio State Board of Education who will be on campus. “The
content is kind of geared towards the accreditors,” Sitomer
said. “We have to prove [to them] that we are just as good
as those other departments.”
The state board was not concerned with music education until eight
years ago, when the U.S. adopted national standards in arts and
education. “The national standards haven’t really changed
what we’re doing, but they have focused and specified it,”
Erwin said.
The music education department has experienced some changes in recent
years. Kerchner said there has been a shift in strategies for teaching
choral ensembles as well as more attention paid to preparing students
for dealing with children with special learning needs.
“Overall, things haven’t changed that much,” Erwin
said. “What was important 100 years ago is still important
now. I think that this department is the most natural outgrowth
of [Oberlin]’s mission of changing the world.”
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