Professional Development Opportunities This School Year for Music Educators

Dozens of Hours of Professional Development on Your Schedule

NAfME strives to lead the profession by providing music educators with engaging professional development opportunities to support proven practices. And during this pandemic, with most, if not all, in-person music education conferences canceled, we understand the need for professional development opportunities that you can take part in on your schedule.

NAfME Academy®:

Housing dozens of relevant professional development webinars, NAfME Academy® is full of ideas educators need to enhance their teaching and serve the needs of students, and about 50 NEW webinars have recently been added! Here are a few of the relevant and timely webinars currently available to preview for free:

Learning Targets Using Google Classroom – By Karla McClain and Cathy Sullivan
Mindset, Grit, and Determination – By Paul Young
The All-Inclusive String Ensemble – By Vivian Gonzalez
Alternative Techniques for Teaching Middle School Band – By Todd Mahaffey
Fostering Independent Musicians in the Choral Classroom – By Karla McClain
Essential Time Management Strategies for Teachers – By Emily Schwartz

Subscribe today to NAfME Academy for $20/year for NAfME members ($100/year for non-members) to access the full suite of webinars available.

NAfME Professional Learning Community Webinars

NAfME has developed a series of Professional Learning Community webinars to deliver timely and targeted topics presented by experts during COVID-19. This format offers educators the opportunity to engage with webinar presenters live, as well as reference recordings at a later time. A select number of webinars remain free and open to the public.

At the conclusion of each presentation, a professional development certificate of completion will be available for all interested viewers. Certificates will be available for live attendees and those referencing the recording. Certificates will be automatically generated upon successful completion (75% or higher) of a 5-question true/false and/or multiple-choice quiz.

Music Educators Journal:

The Music Educators Journal (MEJ) offers peer-reviewed scholarly and practical articles on music teaching approaches and philosophies. Earn professional development recognition from more than 100 featured articles at no cost to you. Here are a few of the most popular articles:

Harnessing Optimism in Response to Musical Challenges – By Seth A. Taft
Using Visual Mapping to Promote Higher-Level Thinking in Music-Making – By Joshua Groffman and Zora Mackiewicz-Wolfe
Backward Design and Repertoire Selection: Finding Full Expression – By Jocelyn W. Armes
Integrating Literacy withing the Performance Classroom – By Cynthia L. Wagoner
Equity in Music Education: Making a Place for Everyone – By Mallory Allekna and Soyeon Kang

And on this page you can access articles considered to be directly applicable to teaching online during COVID-19.

A Continued Member Benefit:

As of spring 2019, Journal of Research in Music Education is available digitally for all NAfME members at no additional cost! This quarterly, peer-reviewed journal is comprised of reports on original research related to music teaching and learning. The wide range of topics includes various aspects of music pedagogy, history, and philosophy, and addresses vocal, instrumental, and general music at all levels, from early childhood through adult.

Virtual NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference:

We are pleased to announce that the NAfME National Music Research and Teacher Education Conference will be presented in a virtual format in 2021. The virtual conference will take place from Thursday, February 25 (at 10:00 AM EST) to Saturday, February 27 (until mid-day). The conference will begin with keynote addresses by Clifford Madsen, Marie McCarthy, and Mackie Spradley. The first two days will include four blocks of presentations, followed by a poster session (with breaks provided throughout). The final day will include the Senior Researcher Address and additional meetings.

Session proposals that were accepted for the November 2020 NAfME National Music Research and Teacher Education Conference will take place during this virtual conference. Papers, symposia, and colloquia will be presented synchronously (via Zoom). Poster sessions will include an online visual for each poster along with a block of time for virtual interactions. There will be a modest registration fee for all attendees. REGISTER NOW

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The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides a number of forums for the sharing of information and opinion, including blogs and postings on our website, articles and columns in our magazines and journals, and postings to our Amplify member portal. Unless specifically noted, the views expressed in these media do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Association, its officers, or its employees.