Bibliography in Music Education for Classroom Teachers

Abstract

T E purpose of this bibliography is to provide classroom teachers in rural and small-town schools with an eclectic set of references that will assist them in teaching music in their rooms. The bibliography has the unusual advantage of coming from a single source, the yearbooks of the Music Educators National Conference. Since the founding of this organization in 1907, a volume has appeared each year devoted to the papers, addresses, and discussions that have been given in the yearly meetings. Without doubt these volumes contain the outstanding contributions in the field of music education. In this bibliography only those volumes issued since 1929 are used. These are commonly found in college, university, and public libraries and are, therefore, likely to be available to most elementary-school teachers. There has always been controversy whether the classroom teacher should teach the music in his room. Although it is not the purpose of this article to determine whether the music should be taught by the specialist or by the classroom teacher, it seems pertinent to say that classroom teachers have been, and are, teaching music successfully in schools, both with and without supervision. The classroom teacher cannot be expected to be a virtuoso, but many supervisors and college instructors will readily concede that, with the broadening concept of the place and function of music education in the lives of boys and girls, the classroom teacher can teach music successfully if he is an intelligent lover of music and has a genuine interest in music as a dynamic educational force. The bibliography has been selected in light of the writer's experience in teaching potential classroom teachers to teach music and in light of his work with classroom teachers who have taught music 269