The Subject Specialist and the General Administrator

Abstract

partments of music education were very rare. Even now when the name is being commonly used, the stress of training is frequently upon personal musical technic rather than upon professional education outlook. The general educator has increasingly questioned the wisdom of exclusive training in subject-matter as the basis for teaching. The superintendent has frequently complained that the musician has had much music and little education. Consequently, the conservatory graduate whose preparation has been predominantly and frequently completely musical, has an increasingly difficult task in obtaining an appointment to a position in public schools. Many school systems engage their music teachers, and scale their salaries, on the basis of the academic degrees which the applicants have gained. When these applicants endeavor to obtain such degrees from colleges which specialize in teacher training they find the academic requirements for both the initial and advanced degrees include English, history, science, psychology, history of and philosophy of education, theory and practice of teaching, and allied subjects. The future music teacher frequently pursues a goodly number of the same courses taken by the future superintendent. Music education is stressing professional, scientific preparation. Many school administrators look with favor upon requiring a similar academic degree from all supervisors or teachers of special subjects. They like the procedure, for instance, which recognizes with a bachelor of science graduates who are prepared to teach household arts, physical training, fine arts, drawing, as well as history, English, mathematics, and the other regular academic subjects. It is evident that the music teachers are