Denver-area public school music teachers will be able to learn more about the social and psychological factors that can promote, inhibit or delay musical development among K-12 students during a special Saturday seminar in April at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The CU-Boulder College of Music is sponsoring the April 21 seminar, to be led by Gary McPherson, a visiting University of Illinois endowed professor. The workshop is from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Imig Music Building, room E160, and will be free and open to all Denver-area K-12 public school music teachers. It is the last in a series of three this year.
James R. Austin, an associate professor and chair of CU-Boulder's music education department, said the program's goal is to provide public school teachers with opportunities to participate in a residential program.
Teachers who participate in the seminars are eligible to receive credit toward licensing renewal or one graduate credit hour.
The seminars give teachers an opportunity to learn from experts in the field in a dynamic, real-world environment as opposed to online, virtual programs considered marginally beneficial by many music scholars, Austin said.
"You're definitely swimming upstream when it comes to providing professional development opportunities that are provocative, substantive and have integrity when you're competing against things that are faster and cheaper," he said. "The response we've been getting has been highly positive."
The College of Music has organized public education seminars since 2002, enabling scholars from around the country to teach public school teachers and undergraduate and graduate students.
Saturday seminars held earlier this year included presentations by Mary Goetze, a CU-Boulder alumna who researches and develops multicultural teaching methods at Indiana University, and one on music teacher health and wellness by CU-Boulder music Professors James Brody and Susan Williamson.
Austin has been a visiting lecturer for seminars at other universities and believes that children who learn to play a musical instrument develop discipline and skills that can make them more passionate about learning in general. However, he cautioned against parents and teachers using music as a "handmaiden to other core subjects" in the mistaken belief that musical prowess will magically raise test scores. That conclusion would be far too simplistic, he added.
"Music is worth knowing in and of itself. It's a manifestation of who we are," he said. "It helps us see things in a different way."
To learn more about the CU-Boulder College of Music, visit .