Full Description
Both in concept and in practice, policy has permeated the deepest recesses of civil society and has had particular impact on the lives of those who are actively connected to the educational process. For music teachers in particular, policy can evoke images of a forbidden environment beyond one's day-to-day duties and responsibilities. Nothing, however, could be farther from the truth. In this book, author Patrick Schmidt offers a variety of ways for K-12 music educators to engage with, analyze, and develop effective policy. Schmidt first demystifies the notion of policy and the characterization that it is out-of-reach to teachers, before exemplifying how policy, both big-picture policy and policy as a daily encounter enacted at the local level, share many similarities and are indeed co-dependent fragments of the same process. The first provides extensive and detailed contextual information, offering a conceptual vision for how to consider policy in the fast-pace and high-adaptability reality of 21st-century music education environments. The second delivers a practical set of ideas, guidelines, and suggestions specific to music education for a closer and more active interaction with policy, directed at providing 'tools for action' in the daily working lives of music educators. This approach enourages those who are novice to policy as well as those who would like to further explore and participate in policy action to exercise informed influence within their field, community, and school, and ultimately have greater impact in pedagogical, curricular, administrative, and legislative decision-making.
Contents
Preface
Part I
1. The Impact and Importance of Policy in the Lives of Music Teachers
2. The Need for Theory: Developing and Engaging Music Teachers in Informed Leadership
3. A New Kind of Teacher Activism: Policy as a Form of Critical Pedagogy
4. Policy Beyond Traditional Walls: Learning from the Wider Community
Part II
5. Small Actions Go a Long Way! The Day-to-Day of Policy-Minded Educators
6. The Music Educator as Policy Analyst
7. Becoming Part of the Policy Process: From Standards to Rules, from Research to Practice
Resources
References
