Notes
1 Must include one upper-division Music Theory course, one course in Music History, and one elective course. MHST 301 (Introduction to Music Research and Writing) is recommended.
2 Student teaching may be completed in either the first or second semester. In this program MUED 400 (Student Teaching and Seminar) is taken for a minimum of four credits, rather than 10. A part-time graduate student teaching project is required—see the Music Education Graduate Handbook.
Comprehensive Examination
A comprehensive final examination, both written and oral, is required prior to enrolling in Music Education 500 (Student Teaching). The nature of the examination and the membership of the Examining Committee are described in the Music Education Graduate Handbook.
Licensure
The curriculum enables students to meet the requirements for teacher licensure in Ohio and other states that have reciprocity with Ohio, providing the student elects those courses required for licensure. State licensure for teaching music in Ohio public schools comprises three areas of study:
1. Content Studies (Music). Oberlin’s music education curricula satisfy requirements in this area for all states.
2. Professional and Pedagogical Studies. Requirements include Educational Psychology and Principles of Education. Additionally, some music education courses satisfy requirements in this category.
3. General Studies (Liberal Arts). Students are to achieve “multicultural and global perspectives” in courses and experiences in eight academic areas: arts, communications, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, sciences, and social sciences. Occasionally, an EXCO course or Winter Term experience might qualify as a substitution for a regular course. Some required, non-music courses may be completed at other institutions and transferred to Oberlin if they are needed for graduation; courses taken to fulfill licensure requirements beyond those necessary for graduation need not be transferred. Questions concerning the acceptability of specific courses/experiences should be referred to the Director of the Music Education Division.
All students seeking licensure must participate in field experiences in addition to student teaching. At Oberlin, these experiences begin in the first semester with observation of outreach programs and continue throughout the curriculum in a sequence described in the Music Education Division Handbook. The sequence is designed to enable students to progress gradually through the skills and understandings necessary for successful student teaching in the final year. One of the three required Winter Term projects must be a field experience at a school other than the student’s home high school. With the exception of the Winter Term Teaching Project, students travel to their pre-student-teaching settings in cars provided by the Music Education Division and are expected to have currently validated driver’s licenses.
Prior to recommendation for licensure, the student must successfully complete the prescribed Ohio State Board of Education examination appropriate to the Music PreK-12 teaching license and satisfy fingerprinting and background-check requirements. Additional information about licensure requirements may be obtained in the Music Education Division Handbook.
Applicants for licensure must satisfy the writing, reading, and mathematics requirements detailed above and pass the State Board of Education Licensing Examination (portions of the ETS Praxis Core Battery) administered on several Ohio campuses and elsewhere on dates published annually. Applicants also must be fingerprinted in preparation for a background check by the FBI.
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