Introduction to Effective Music Teaching: Artistry and Attitude - Paperback

by Alfred S. Townsend (Author)

Introduction to Effective Music Teaching: Artistry and Attitude provides the prospective teacher with front-line tested strategies and approaches that are based on current research and the author's three decades of service as a public school music educator, department chairman, and public school district music administrator. Starting with a brief overview of the history of music education in public schools, Alfred Townsend gives the reader a deeper understanding of the importance of music education to all students, gifted or not. Readers then examine artistry (command of content and mastery of methods) and the ABCs of teacher attitude, the critical component that unlocks learning for many students. With an open and accessible writing style, Dr. Townsend reviews the six components of effective teaching, showing that artistry and attitude can be combined to fuel student learning and teacher leadership. Using all of this information, the reader constructs a personal, practical philosophy of music teaching and learning that will form the basis for his or her instruction. Readers will also experience artistry and attitude in action through well-written case studies of effective teachers. With increasingly diverse student populations teachers now face, this book provides music teachers with ways to interact effectively with students of all backgrounds, attitudes, and talent.

Author Biography

Alfred S. Townsend is associate professor of music at Old Dominion University, where he holds the F. Ludwig Diehn Endowed Chair in Instrumental Music Education, and where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education and research. His articles have appeared in the Music Educators Journal, Teaching Music, Choral Journal, National Band Association Journal, The Instrumentalist, and Il Saggiatore Musicale. Over the course of many years, he has served as a public school district music administrator and teacher, university professor, and ensemble director.