ing them to participate and observe in the first class, assume some leadership in the second class, and provide even more leadership in the third class. Prior to each Lab, the teachers email copies of their lesson plans to the university students, and they give them feedback throughout the Saturday classes.


This past year, inservice music educa- tors also came to campus to participate as speakers in Music Education Convo- cations. These monthly meetings were begun to develop a sense of community among music education majors, from freshman to seniors. Inservice music educators played a key role in lending credibility and creating a need to know for such topics as intern teaching and video advocacy. The speakers were ad- ept at bringing the real world to campus, and engaging students in various stag- es of the degree program in dialogue concerning important professional is- sues. The importance of the Convoca- tion model became apparent when stu- dent music education groups, NAfME, ACDA, and ASTA, used this same kind of format in their jointly sponsored in- formational series, “What you didn’t learn in methods.”


Partnerships that benefit the community and enrich the curriculum can be formed among faculty in different departments on university campuses.


In examin-


ing ways to enrich the curriculum of a diverse learners and music class, I de- cided that adding a field-based compo- nent similar to practicum experiences in methods classes would be ideal; how- ever, it wasn’t feasible given a variety of scheduling challenges. I came across online video footage of sensory-friendly concerts for families of children with autism and decided these limited ex- posure events were feasible and would be beneficial to both university students and families in the community. While I did not have a network of contacts in the autism community, I partnered with fac- ulty in the Psychology Department, who helped connect me with area autism sup- port groups and provided assistance in designing the concert experience. The support groups, in turn, notified their


33


members of the concerts, and the re- sult was a standing-room-only turnout. The Sunday afternoon concerts allowed families of children with autism to share a musical experience designed with the special needs of their children in mind, and also provided the university music education majors an opportunity to per- form for, and interact with, extremely appreciative audience members.


One final experience involves partner- ships among university faculty, but also involves community guest artists.


As


coordinator of our summer graduate music education degree program, I’ve wanted to provide an opportunity for the inservice music educators who take summer classes with us to gain a greater awareness of global music. Some of the graduate students have taken undergrad- uate coursework in multicultural music, but none have done so in a music educa- tion context. Through a partnership with a musicology colleague, we were able to offer that course this summer. Each class lasted for three hours and began with my musicology colleague lectur- ing on global music concepts. Supple- mented by selected readings and You- Tube videos, students gained a greater appreciation for the music and musical practices of others. The second hour of class was designed to be experiential. Guest artists, including a geosciences professor, a South Indian drumming artist, and an adjunct music performer/ artist, engaged the students in active music-making, including


playing the


Didgeridoo, and participating in South Indian and Taiko drumming. Under the leadership of one of the guest artists, the students also formed a global music ensemble, presenting an end-of-class public concert. I coordinated the music education component of the course dur- ing the final hour of the class, where the graduate students gave demonstrations of global teaching lessons, reported on music education practices in various parts of the world, and created resource collections to take back to their work settings. Students from a summer camp program for students with special needs, another community partnership, joined us for the teaching demonstrations.


It seems that new partnerships are al- ways on the horizon.


At the end of


Spring semester, I was contacted by one of our graduate students concern- ing age-appropriate choral experiences for students in the young adult special education program she is working in. I hadn’t thought about it before, but find- ing age-level peers in the public schools for students in this program, who are in the 18 to 26 age group, would be im- possible. Consequently, we’re planning some meetings to bring both groups together, to focus on developing her students’ choral singing abilities and my students’ experience with individu- als who are considered cognitively im- paired. And as luck would have it, I heard a choir from another young adult special education program performing at an Art-Hop event, so the partnership may be expanding.


Writing


this article has given me a unique opportunity to share informa- tion about partnerships I’ve developed at the university level. The models I’ve described, and issues surrounding them, are far from the only ones that exist in higher education.


My partnerships all


grew out of a desire to provide more for my students than I was capable of do- ing on my own. Consequently, partner- ships, and their benefits and challenges, will differ depending on the needs that are being addressed. But the benefits are well worth the energy it takes to develop a program that will musically enrich both students and teachers who participate in such community partner- ships.


David Smith has been a Professor of Music Education at Western Michigan University for the past 18 years. Before that he held a music education faculty appointment at the University of Geor- gia, and was an inservice music educa- tor in both Florida and Michigan school systems. His educational degrees are from Greenville College,


Michigan


State University, and Florida State Uni- versity.


His recent publications have


been in relation to older adult learners and community music.


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