Policy as Practice

Sandra Stauffer, Professor of Music Education and Senior Associate Dean of Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Arizona State University Using a broad range of tools, stories, and examples, Schmidt unfolds policy work as innovation, as a space for music educators to reclaim, and as an opportunity for leadership and making a difference in the profession and in society. Music educators who seek not only to understand and engage with policy, but also to become catalysts for equitable and mindful change, will find this book incredibly useful.

Richard Colwell, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois In this remarkable text, Schmidt brilliantly knits together policy thinking and policy learning; policy is both an outcome and a process. Democratic discourse is needed to establish priorities where conflict exists among powerful forces in which policy goals have been replaced by government regulations.

Patrick M. Jones, Chancellor, Penn State Schuylkill With this much-needed, thoughtful, and practical book, Patrick Schmidt provides powerful theory and practical advice for music educators at all levels. This book should be required reading in pre-service teacher preparation programs and graduate music education courses alike.

Patrick Schmidt is Chair of Music Education at the University of Western Ontario. Schmidt's innovative work in critical pedagogy, urban music education, and policy studies is recognized nationally and internationally. His most recent publications can be found in the International Journal of Music Education; Theory into Practice; Arts Education Policy Review; Research in Music Education, Journal of Curriculum Theorizing; Philosophy of Music Education Review; Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education; ABEM Journal in Brazil; and the Finnish Journal of Music Education. Schmidt serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Council of Research in Music Education, Arts Education Policy Review, the ABEM Journal, the Revista Internacional de Educacion Musical published by ISME, and the Journal of Popular Music Education. He co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Music Education and Social Justice (2015) and Policy and the Political Life of Music Education (2017).

Preface Part I 1. The Impact and Importance of Policy in the Lives of Music Teachers 2. The Need for Theory: Developing and Engaging Music Teachers in Informed Leadership 3. A New Kind of Teacher Activism: Policy as a Form of Critical Pedagogy 4. Policy Beyond Traditional Walls: Learning from the Wider Community Part II 5. Small Actions Go a Long Way! The Day-to-Day of Policy-Minded Educators 6. The Music Educator as Policy Analyst 7. Becoming Part of the Policy Process: From Standards to Rules, from Research to Practice Resources References