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This article is the second in a series intended to assist general music teachers in creating gender-inclusive music environments. Technology can be used in general music classrooms to support learning and to extend musical creativity. Previous authors have shared ideas that can help general music teachers use technology in ways that promote more gender-inclusive environments by helping all learners effectively use technology. The purpose of this article is to help general music teachers identify and incorporate strategies for using technology in their classrooms that support students of all genders. Specific strategies, such as purposeful role models, student groupings, and family support, as well as resources are included. Through thoughtful and purposeful integration informed by relevant literature and research, technology can be used to develop children’s musicianship.

General music teachers can promote gender inclusivity in music classrooms through music listening activities. Helping all students feel included and honored could improve student learning and foster continued and diversified music listening in school and beyond. The purpose of this article, the first of three about gender inclusivity in general music, is to help music teachers create inclusive general music experiences to support all students during music listening activities. By knowing learners as individuals, teachers can help all students feel valued in music classrooms, which may serve to deepen and extend their music listening skills and preferences.

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may influence the projected career plans of elementary general music teachers. Survey participants ( N = 972) completed a questionnaire designed to elicit responses about multiple factors and projected career plans in 1 year and in 5 years. The vast majority of participants planned to remain in their position the following year, yet a little under half of them planned on remaining in their positions in 5 years. The variables associated with teacher migration or attrition in 5 years were issues of teacher support (i.e., participation in a mentoring program and recognition in the form of teaching awards), student race, and family responsibilities (i.e., number of children at home). Movers were also more likely to have received a teaching award than those who intended to stay in their current positions or those who planned to leave the profession. Implications for the profession as well as for practice and future research are discussed.

The purpose of this instrumental multiple case study was to explore the roles that high school music educators and the experiences they provide play in influencing high school students’ decisions to pursue a career in music education. Four bounded systems, consisting of programs led by ensemble directors with documented records and reputations for helping matriculate music education students into undergraduate music education programs, were studied. Findings were organized into the following themes: (a) formative attraction to the profession, (b) differing approaches to encouragement, (c) forms of encouragement, and (d) life as a music teacher. Specific implications for practice for multiple stakeholders and implications for future research are provided based on these findings.

As stakeholders turn to online methods, researchers would benefit from assistance in identifying ways to address important questions related to children’s musical lives in an altered research landscape. The purpose of this article is to describe how online methods can be used to conduct research with young children and music. A secondary purpose is to introduce and orient readers to relevant literature and resources to enable them to complete investigations. Our discussion is presented in three primary sections: online research with children and music, ethical considerations and suggestions for practice. Sections one and two provide general overviews of relevant literature and resources while establishing a foundation for our suggestions, which are also informed by our previous experiences. As researchers, we began this investigation to address a need in our own work, and we offer our preliminary findings and suggestions in this article as a resource for others.

Employing student choice and democratic practices are pillars of modern classroom management in a variety of settings, including elementary general music spaces. However, as curricula become larger and instructional times become shorter, there is a perhaps a temptation to resort to more teacher-centered management techniques in the perceived interest of saving time. This column, the seventh in a series about classroom management and the first of several about the particular topic of student choice and democratic practices, contains several techniques for teachers who are ready to cede some control of their classrooms at first in exchange for classrooms in which students perhaps feel more invested and help manage more autonomously. Specific techniques include preparing multiple activities to help teach a concept and establishing procedures for class choices of activities.

The purpose of this literature review was to gather and examine current research related to the recruitment of precollegiate students into traditional music teacher education programs in the United States. Research has shown that precollegiate students who pursue music education as a career are influenced by their secondary ensemble directors. Further analysis also indicated that there is a limited body of research on recruiting as it pertains to marginalized populations, especially on students of color, indicating a need for a more sustained effort to mitigate such barriers. Additionally, university-affiliated outreach programs have shown great promise in music teacher recruitment and should be replicated and expanded wherever possible. Implications for practice and for further research are provided.

Experienced teachers often know the value of partnering with students’ families to help students gain the most out of their time in school. Elementary general music teachers occupy a unique place in this triangle among students, families, and teachers because, unlike their other elementary school colleagues, they often see hundreds of students each week, year after year. Such circumstances can lead early-career general music teachers to feel overwhelmed about making connections with families. This column, the fifth in a series about classroom management and the first of several about the particular topic of students’ families, contains three techniques for making meaningful connections with students’ families and its benefits toward preventing classroom management issues.

Asking questions is one of the most immediate ways to help students reflect on their own actions, which is a technique that is often overlooked in favor of a teacher’s direct commentary. This column, the fourth in a series about classroom management and the second on the particular topic of asking questions, contains four more specific questions with which to prompt students before and/or after behavioral incidents. Each of these questions stem from four sources of self-knowledge that form the basis of self-efficacy. There are practical uses of these questions and explanations of their connections to the larger construct of self-efficacy in this column, along with suggestions for further reading.

Culturally responsive teaching and culturally responsive pedagogy are some of the more heartening trends in music education and the increasingly pluralistic classrooms in which we teach. However, it is easy for some teachers to develop anxiety about making connections with families out of fear of conflict, not getting administrative support, or feelings of inexperience. This column, the sixth in a series about classroom management and the second of several about the particular topic of students’ families, contains several techniques for making meaningful connections with students’ families, especially when those families are from cultures different than one’s own. Specific techniques include conversational formats to foster mutual respect and techniques for confronting one’s own implicit biases.

The purpose of this article is to address the issue that children’s natural singing voices and pitch perception are in a treble range, and a male elementary general music teacher’s natural singing voice is an octave below. There are many strategies to overcome this significant but manageable obstacle in daily teaching, including monitoring of vocal health, use of instrumental accompaniment, encouragement of student vocal modeling, specific vocal exercises and cues, and cognitive strategies to help students discern between child and adult voices. Specific games, prompts, and rubrics are also included in this article to help guide any male elementary general music teacher to the most appropriate long-term vocal modeling solutions.

Asking questions is a time-honored technique for learning in a variety of contexts dating back to antiquity, but it is also an often-overlooked technique for classroom management. This column, the third in a series about classroom management and the first of two on the particular topic of asking questions, contains two specific questions with which to prompt students before and/or after behavioral incidents. The first question necessitates students to reflect on their own actions, and the second question is about asking students to pay attention to their feelings. Additionally, there are connections provided between these questions and the larger constructs of metacognition and self-esteem.

Different teachers can have widely varying classroom management results with the same set of students. There are some explanations for this occurrence, but one explanation that most people could agree on is the teachers’ language they use with their students. This column, the second in a series about classroom management issues, is about which approaches and prompts are effective for preventing and quelling undesirable behavior. Specific topics include the intersection of culturally responsive teaching and classroom management, fostering respect among students, and using more assertive but still respectful prompts with students.

Classroom management skills and related issues are usually top concerns of preservice and new in-service music educators. This column, the first in a series about classroom management issues, is about designing lessons to avoid common behavior issues. There are many more variables to consider besides curriculum when designing a lesson, such as the students’ experiences directly prior to music class, the culture set by the classroom teacher, and dozens of others. This column contains a detailed examination with applicable strategies concerning two such variables: time of day of the lesson and students’ physiological needs.

The purpose of this study was to describe the essence of being a male elementary general music teacher (MEGMT). I sought answers for two research questions. First, what are the perceived uniquely male experiences in elementary general music teaching? Second, in what ways might gender be a consideration in the preparation of elementary general music teachers? I conducted semistructured interviews of ten current MEGMTs in one New England state. After three cycles of coding, I found four emergent themes: (a) perceived uniquely male issues in teaching, (b) the hiring process and early years, (c) workplace gender issues, and (d) urban teaching overall. These findings both corroborated and contradicted those of the limited studies about MEGMTs, yielding support to investigate MEGMTs’ multifaceted essence further.