History of formation of programs for musical education of the Republic of Moldova and integration of the bulgarian component in the system of general education – background and development

This article attempts to reflect, from the point of view of national minorities, the history of the development of music education programs in the general education system of the Republic of Moldova. Emphasis is placed on the efforts of the Bulgarian diaspora of Moldova and the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria in preserving the culture, traditions and identity of the minority. The work reflects the thirty-year period of the program’s development; all its versions are briefly described in chronological order.

Bimusicality and Beyond

The chapter examines roles for gamelan in music pedagogy outside ethnomusicology. First, the pedagogical benefits of teaching gamelan are compared to those of teaching African drum ensembles and steel pan, two other non-Western classical percussion traditions that are commonly taught in American colleges. Then, the benefits of teaching gamelan within percussion education, composition, and music education programs are considered as teachers who employ gamelan in their classroom discuss how they use the instruments. Pedagogical benefits for students include improving motor coordination, physical technique, focus, and cognition; improving their listening skills; and expanding their concepts of artistic collaboration or group social skills, in addition to instilling real possibilities for cross-cultural professional artistic collaboration.

Accrediting Agencies

This chapter provides an overview of two agencies that accredit collegiate music education programs: the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). Examining points of overlap and divergence, it explains that CAEP relies on NASM for recommendations about music content and that the CAEP standards go into greater depth about student teaching and field experience requirements than the NASM Handbook. While music educators must adhere to certain hard policies demanded by these agencies, they have discretion regarding how they create and adjust soft policies in order to meet those ends. The chapter offers that music educators might use accreditation processes to reflect on their values and to spur innovations while resisting standardization across universities.

Associations Between Musical Participation and Young Children’s Prosocial Behaviors

Collective music making has been associated with the emergence of prosocial behaviors in children and adults. Yet, the associations between participation in early childhood music education programs and prosocial skills in young children remain elusive. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how children with varied amounts of music participation—in a formal program and in the home—performed in two prosocial tasks (i.e., instrumental helping and sharing) and how their parents rated their prosocial tendencies and interests for music. Thirty-six children (ages between 3 and 4 years) with varied amounts of participation in an early childhood music program completed prosocial tasks of instrumental helping and sharing. Results indicated that there were no significant age or sex differences in children’s prosocial responses. Instrumental sharing was positively correlated with time spent in the music program. Sharing scores, in turn, correlated with children’s active musical participation and parental prosocial ratings. These findings are discussed in light of theories of musical and prosocial development in childhood.

Admission and Assessment of Music Degree Candidates

The purpose of this survey study was to examine current admissions processes and assessment practices for music programs of National Association of Schools of Music member institutions. Representatives from 95 institutions responded to a researcher-designed questionnaire. Music education programs were perceived as being comparable to performance programs on admissions standards. We describe the current state of candidate assessment practices from matriculation through degree conferral, consider a range of assessment measures including gateway or barrier instruments, and pose critical questions about the use of such assessments to determine whether music education candidates are appropriately qualified to become P–12 music educators.