Transforming Lives: How ETM Creates Career Pathways for Aspiring Music Teachers

Transforming Lives

How ETM Creates Career Pathways for Aspiring Music Teachers

By Dr. Jameon Moss, Music Teacher Intern Instructional Supervisor

This blog is sponsored by NAfME Corporate Member Education Through Music.

Every student deserves access to music education. This belief is at the core of Education Through Music (ETM) and is the foundation of everything we do. But what happens when there simply aren’t enough music teachers to reach every school and student? This nationwide shortage is a critical issue, affecting students and schools everywhere.

At ETM, we feel a strong responsibility to tackle this challenge because it directly impacts our mission: to provide quality music education to underserved students in under-resourced schools. To address this need, we have developed a solution to expand the pool of qualified music educators in the New York City area. We’re thrilled to introduce our latest initiative—the Workforce Development Program.

This program is a bold, innovative approach that helps talented musicians from diverse backgrounds transition into meaningful careers as music educators. Through comprehensive mentorship, targeted training, and hands-on experience, we are building a pipeline of skilled teachers ready to share their knowledge, passion, and creativity with students. With this initiative, we aim to meet the demand for music educators and enrich the lives of countless students who deserve the joy and growth that music education brings.

Introducing ETM’s Workforce Development Program

For more than 30 years, ETM has operated with a straightforward yet impactful approach: We hire musicians with diverse teaching backgrounds—including studio instructors, teaching artists, and out-of-state certified music educators—provide them with professional development, and place them in one of our New York City Department of Education (DOE) partner schools. Through our program, musicians are supported in building a music program for their school community and providing the musician a pathway to obtaining New York State music education certification.

In response to a decline in the number of new music educators entering the field, ETM partnered with the New York City DOE to create the Workforce Development Program. This initiative aims to strengthen the pedagogical skills of musicians deeply rooted in performance, building a robust pipeline of qualified music teachers for placement in partner schools across New York City.

Musicians with performance backgrounds bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and unique perspectives to their students. However, many lack one essential element—classroom teaching experience. Our Workforce Development Program addresses this gap by preparing these musicians for careers in music education, providing them with hands-on classroom experience under the mentorship of veteran public school teachers.

How It Works

Modeled after a traditional student-teaching experience, our approach is five-prong:

1. Mentorship with Experienced Music Educators:

Our new teachers, called Intern Teachers, are placed in ETM Partner Schools with veteran music educators, known as Music Teacher Mentors. These mentors function as cooperating teachers, providing guidance on the realities of a music educator’s role and supporting the instructional growth of the intern. This mentorship utilizes the valuable, lived experiences of seasoned teachers to help set up interns for long-term success.

2. Instructional Supervision for Targeted Growth:

Intern Teachers are also paired with an instructional supervisor whose primary responsibility is to support their professional and instructional development. The instructional supervisor complements the mentor’s guidance by offering weekly coaching through classroom observations and lesson plan feedback.

3. Structured, Research-Based Training Series:

Intern Teachers participate in an eight-week, research-based webinar series, designed by ETM, to build foundational knowledge in areas critical to music education. Topics include lesson structure and pacing for elementary and secondary students, classroom routines and norms, student voice and choice, culturally responsive/relevant/sustaining practices, and music education classroom assessments—just to name a few.

4. Culminating Experiences:

Throughout the program, Intern Teachers work closely with their Mentor and Supervisor to gradually assume full responsibility for planning and teaching entire music classes across multiple grade levels. By the end of the experience, interns are leading full classes, conducting a musical performance at their school’s concert, and completing a final evaluation, which may lead to an offer for a music teaching position with ETM at one of our partner schools.

5. Ongoing Assessment and Evaluation:

Partnering with George Washington University to evaluate the program model, ETM is committed to continuous learning and growth. Participant feedback through surveys, 1:1 interviews, and focus groups also ensures that the program remains responsive to the needs of educators and students alike.

Our Inaugural Program

In the spring of 2024, the program piloted with four Intern Teachers, with backgrounds varying from music production to instrument performance degrees, all of whom were placed with ETM alumni in schools in the Bronx. Three completed the program with flying colors and are now employed as music teachers in ETM partner schools. Due to their excellent performance and highly effective teaching during the program, two Interns were asked to stay as the music teachers at their intern placement schools.

A Huge Success

The success of our inaugural Workforce Development Program underscores the importance of quality mentorship, support, and training for new teachers. If we want to address the teacher shortage, we have to provide adequate support to aspiring teachers that prepares them for classroom teaching and sets them up with a network of experienced professionals who can answer questions, provide advice, or simply lend an ear.

The Workforce Development Program shows the immense benefits of merging content knowledge and real-world experience with pedagogical expertise. By offering comprehensive professional development and ongoing support, we are shaping the next generation of music educators. Our program ensures that Interns become not just capable teachers, but also inspiring and impactful educators, ready to guide future musicians.

Photo at top by Lisa Helfert.

About the author:

Jameon Moss is an educator and researcher. His background also includes extensive operatic stage experience, most notably with Des Moines, Sarasota, Kentucky, and Fargo-Moorhead Opera. He is an alumnus of Morehouse College (BA), where he was awarded a Talent Award. Additionally, he has earned degrees from Northwestern University (MM), where he was honored with the Eckstein Fellowship, Harvard University (M.Ed.), where he received the Urban Scholars Fellowship and Teachers College, Columbia University (EdD) where he was doctoral fellow.  His research focuses on charter school music education professional development for in-service teachers and instructional coaching in music classrooms.

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