The Program in Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University is one of the oldest and most distinguished programs of its kind in the country. The rich heritage and legacy provides a foundation upon which current faculty and students engage with contemporary issues in music education, especially those associated with our urban setting.
At Teachers College we value music as human activity, as a way of knowing and relating to the world that serves individuals throughout their lifespan in personally relevant and culturally significant ways. We see music as a core component to schooling, and are committed to preparing teachers ready to embrace the rewards and challenges of public school teaching and to creatively seek new opportunities to address the persistent need for an education in music within the changing structures of our society.
The student experience embraces this vision by engaging students in meaningful music making and learning. We aim to deepen the capacities of each student in their approach to pedagogy, research, and performance through creative explorations and systematic inquiry from both individual and collective perspectives. Each degree program includes core courses in these areas, along with a breadth of courses from across the College meant to empower graduates to shape and lead their educational communities in musically meaningful ways.
The Program in Music and Music Education embraces humanistic values as they relate to contemporary musical and educational life while respecting the musical traditions of the past. The faculty in Music and Music Education recognize the importance and uniqueness of the arts in our society and strive to offer flexible and individualized programs for the preparation of musician-educators. Faculty members are seasoned practitioners, who reflect a wide range of expertise in comprehensive musicianship, early childhood music, instrumental and jazz pedagogy, vocal and choral performance, assessment, improvisation, jazz, technology, and the full spectrum of public and private school music through graduate school and research practices. Our graduate degree programs provide students the analytical and critical skills required to integrate theory and practice, the hallmark of a Teachers College degree.