Foundations of Music Education

I've worked with this book since I was a freshman in college, and I'm now about to finish my master's in music ed while teaching full-time at a public school. My copy of this book is extremely well highlighted, with lots of notes in the margins. This is the book that I usually go to first if I want to start research on some topic within music education. My only problem with this book is that it is somewhat dated, and hope the authors will do a revision in the near future. In the meantime, this book is still a great resourse.

The content of this text makes it a fine supplement to any "nuts and bolts" textbook for pre-service music teachers. While the authors do not address important topics such as rehearsal planning, teaching skills, and behavior management; they do address several other topics not usually treated in detail in secondary texts -- topics such as music education history, philosophy and aesthetics, psychological and sociological foundations, curriculum development, research competencies, assessment, and current issues in teacher education. I use this as a library reserve item, asking students to present in-class reports on its various topics. An extremely useful supplement that leads to professionally oriented in-class discussions.