North Carolina Music Educator Journal Summer 2021

classrooms and beyond.
Resources for SEL and Specific Strategies
for Implementing SEL in the Music
Classroom
• Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: The Heart
of Teaching Music (and student workbook), by Scott Edgar,
GIA Publications.
• Optimism Through the COVID-19 Disruption: Utilizing
Social Emotional Learning for Reflection and Growth, by
Scott Edgar, Andrew Morrison, & Bob Morrison. https://
sbomagazine.com/6934-optimism-through-the-covid-
19-disruption-utilizing-social-emotional-learning-forreflection-and-growth.html
• Music Education and Social Emotional Learning, by Scott
Edgar, NAfME blog: https://nafme.org/music-educationsocial-emotional-learning/
• Music Education and Social Emotional Learning, by Scott
Edgar and Bob Morrison, NAfME webinar: https://
nafme.org/advocacy/quarterly-advocacy-webinars/socialemotional-learning/
• Music Education and SEL During COVID-19: Resiliency
and Empathy Now More Than Ever, by Scott Edgar, NAfME
webinar: https://nafme.org/my-classroom/nafme-onlineprofessional-learning-community/#Webinar%20Recordings
Music Matters
Audition Dates: www.brevard.edu/music
Information: musicinfo@brevard.edu
• Advocating for Music Education Utilizing SEL, by Scott
Edgar and Bob Morrison, NAfME webinar: https://nafme.
org/my-classroom/nafme-online-professional-learningcommunity/#Webinar%20Recordings
• Music Education and Social Emotional Learning Facebook
Page: @MusicSocialEmotionalLearning
• New Jersey Arts Education and SEL Learning Framework:
www.selarts.org
• Collaborative for Academic Social Emotional Learning
(CASEL): www.casel.org
Scott N. Edgar is Associate Professor of Music, Department of
Music chair, and Director of Bands at Lake Forest College. Edgar is
the author of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: The
Heart of Teaching Music, and he delivers clinics internationally on
the topic. He is a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician and VH1 Save
the Music Foundation Educational Consultant. He can be reached at
edgar@lakeforest.edu.
Reprinted from the August 2020 issue of Southwestern Musician,
with permission from the Texas Music Educators Association.
H
igher Education
Shortly after the academic year ended, I had the pleasure of
spending an evening with a few music education students who
graduated in spring 2020. Even in the midst of the pandemic,
all of them found employment as music teachers in the North
Carolina K–12 public schools for the 2020 – 2021 school year. The
evening was spent reminiscing about our time together in music
education classes, telling stories of their best and worst teaching
experiences from the year, discussing the impacts of the pandemic
as first-year teachers, and sharing their plans for the up-coming
school year. Regardless of the struggles they faced as new teachers
during the pandemic, their demeanor throughout the evening was
one of hope and optimism.
Towards the end of our time together, I reminded them of
the NCMEA Professional Development Conference, to be held
November 6 – 9, 2021. Without hesitation, they all emphatically
said they were planning to attend and were looking forward to
physically being among their new music colleagues, something
that wasn’t possible last year. It was wonderful to see their
enthusiasm for both teaching music and attending our wonderful
state conference.
It is that same enthusiasm that keeps members of our Higher
Education board focused on bringing meaningful and enriching
sessions to our constituents at our conference this fall. We chose
Summer Suggested Reading/Resources
The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education,
edited by Cathy Benedict, Patrick Schmidt, Gary Spruse, and
Paul Woodford
Music, Education, and Diversity: Bridging Cultures and
Communities by Patricia Shehan Campbell
Exploring Diasporic Perspectives in Music Education by Ruth
Iana Gustafson
Music Education for Social Change: Constructing an Activist
Music Education by Juliet Hess
Jennifer Whitaker, Chair
sessions focused on diversity, equity, equality, and inclusion with
the hope that the perspectives we gain from these conference
sessions will positively impact our instruction as music teacher
educators. Incorporating this knowledge into our teaching is one
way to push back against inequities and marginalization found in
all aspects of life including music making.
We have the ability to make a significant impact by enriching
our preservice music teachers’ and, in turn, their future students’
awareness of and perspectives on diversity-related issues.
Although some diversity topics may be difficult to broach, doing
so is paramount to ensuring meaningful musical experiences for
all humans. I anticipate we will continue our work in this area
with the same level of enthusiasm and optimism as the first-year
teachers I was fortunate to engage with previously as a music
teacher educator.
We hope you will join us for a tremendous and enlightening
conference in the fall! In the meantime, if you have an interest in –
and time for – summer reading, the following books are excellent
resources to begin examining various aspects of diversity, equity,
equality, and inclusion (listed alphabetically by first author’s last
name). Please feel free to share this list and information regarding
the conference with your colleagues.
The Politics of Diversity in Music Education, edited by Alexis
Anja Kallio, Heidi Westerlund, Sidsel Karlsen, Kathryn Marsh,
and Eva Sæther
Culturally Responsive Teaching in Music Education: From
Understanding to Application by Vicki R. Lind and Constance
McKoy
Policy and the Political Life of Music Education, edited by
Patrick Schmidt and Richard Colwell
Marginalized Voices in Music Education, edited by Brent C.
Talbot
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