Reply To: Masters in Ed vs. Music Ed

[nafmeadmin]

A response from “thoughtful”:

I am a strong proponent of a music education masters degree. If your life situation (kids, etc.) require you to get a degree quick and easy for the pay bump, than no one will fault you for getting such a degree. Most people I have talked to who obtain a music education masters say that they learn as much or more from their classmates than they do from the content of their coursework. So think of who your classmates will be. Do you want to debate philosophy and curriculum with people who are out to get a quick and easy degree, or do you want to have these discussions with people who are devoted enough to take a more difficult road? There are some great people who decide to get the quick and easy degree, for various reasons, but these are the exception rather than the norm.

If you decide on the music education masters, then there is the question of summers-only vs. academic year, and the question of which university to attend. Here are two good sources to get you started that talk about the summers-only vs. academic year options:

1. Conway, C., Eros, J., & Stanley, A. M. (2008). Summers-only versus the academic year master of music in music education degree: Perceptions of program graduates. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education , vol. 178, 21-34. [this in only available in print, but you could get it interlibrary loan.]

2. Fredrickson, William. (2008). Epiphany. Journal of Music Teacher Educaiton, vol.18(1). 3-5. [this one is available on the MENC website.]

I hope this is helpful to you.