Explaining the Program- Music Education

The Music Education program at UW–Whitewater prepares music educators to teach in choral, general, and/or instrumental music settings at the primary and secondary levels.
Music education has traditionally been the focus of UWW department of music. To that end, we take pride in the strength of our curriculum and the success of our graduates. The Wisconsin Music Educators Association annually rewards the Richard G. Gaarder Award, recognizing the most outstanding senior in Music Education among all degree-granting colleges and universities in the state. We note with pride that 17 of our seniors have received this highly competitive award in the 27 years of its existence. The comprehensiveness of our Methods and Techniques courses, when combined with the other high quality educational experiences the students receive, provides students with an exceptionally strong preparation for their career. The program includes a great variety of ensemble experiences and culminates with a semester of student teaching.

UW-W has three separate Music Education degrees on the books:
· BM Music Education, Choral Emphasis
· BM Music Education, Instrumental Emphasis
· BM Music Education, General Emphasis
Successful candidates in the program earn a Bachelor of Music degree and a Wisconsin teaching license in one or more of the music education certification areas.

The UW–Whitewater curriculum is built around a strong sequence of Methods courses, including Elementary Instrumental Methods, Secondary Instrumental Methods, Choral Methods, and General Methods. All of the methods courses include a co-required Field Study, designed to provide opportunities for our students to work closely with music educators in the surrounding community. Secondary Instrumental Music Methods includes an additional component that is distinctive. Students in this class work with Wisconsin's leaders in the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) project. Another strong focus of our program is an emphasis on music technology and contemporary music education practices.
We also have very active collegiate chapters of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Our collegiate NAfME Chapter won a national “Chapter of Distinction” Award from National Association for music education.