A History of Music Education at Michigan State University

Abstract

Music educators and college music teacher educators have long been interested in the improvement of music teaching. However, change has been difficult, since college music education is a hybrid of the liberal arts tradition, the conservatory tradition, and the teachers college tradition, instead of the result of programs designed specifically for music education.1 Change in music education may best be effected by changes in teacher training. These changes can be helped by attention to history, but unfortunately, historical research does not occupy a major place in music education, according to Allen Britton. He states that to know the teaching methodologies of the past is to avoid reinventing them.2 This study investigates the history of music teacher education at Michigan State University. Michigan State University (MSU) currently covers more than five thousand acres and serves more than 44,000 students.3 Located in East Lansing, Michigan, MSU began as Michigan Agricultural College (MAC) in 1855 and the first sixty-three students arrived in 1857. The School of Music is part of the College of Arts and Letters and currently has about six hundred students.