Editorial & Table of Contents - Volume 3 (2009)

Editorial:

Welcome to the third volume of this growing refereed online research journal. I have the privilege to work with the Executive Board members of the Center for Music Education Research (Jack Heller, William Lee, Janet L. S. Moore, Carlos Xavier Rodriguez, and David A. Williams). I appreciation the contributions of the reviewers from the International Review Board who ensure that papers published in this journal are of high quality scholarship. I also would like to acknowledge the technology systems staff of the College of The Arts, University of South Florida, where this journal resides. Without the efforts of Monica W. Li, we would not have been able to provide the Chinese abstract at the end of each paper starting in this volume.

This annual volume includes five outstanding studies, two of which are authored by the inaugural award recipients of the Outstanding Emerging Researcher Award: Daniel Isbell and Peter Miksza. I would like to commend them for their excellent research that sheds new lights in the field. Isbell’s study helps us to understand the impact of socialization on students’ decisions to be music education majors. Miksza’s study explores one of the most desirable qualities of music teachers: creativity in the teaching practice. In addition to the normal blind review process for consideration to be published in this journal, both of these studies went through a rigorous round of blind review by the Executive Board of the Center for Music Education Research, who identified these two award recipients. The award is aimed at honoring music education researchers at an early stage of their careers producing high quality research.

Although all authors in this volume are based in North America, the contents of these studies have taken us to Japan and the Celtic region. Groulx’s article offers insights on how cultural exchanges between the United States and Japan have benefited the development of bands in Japan and presents possible lessons to be learned by Americans. Waldron’s study investigates ways in which adult learners in Canada learn Celtic traditional music. In addition, one study is built on the successes of a local music composition event for young students: Randles’ study offers insights through 16 young composers’ perspectives on the context of creativity and on themselves as composers.

We aim to disseminate recent research that contributes to global views of music education, which contains two different meanings. First, a global view pertains to various peoples, musics, or activities in music education worldwide. It cuts across geographic, cultural, political, and international boundaries. Second, a global view is a comprehensive view in music education. It refers to a broad definition of music education, in all settings (e.g., community, home, school, individual, group), at all age levels from prenatal through the entire lifespan, and with regard to all aspects of music. I sincerely hope that you will find this and future volumes of the journal invigorating.

C. Victor Fung
Editor, Music Education Research International

Table of Contents:

Timothy J. Groulx
American influences on Japanese bands (pp. 1-12)

Dan Isbell
The socialization of undergraduate music majors in the United States (pp. 13-28)

Peter Miksza
An exploratory study of a confluence model of preservice music teacher creativity (pp. 29-43)

Clinton Randles
Student composers' expressed meaning of composition with regard to culture (pp. 44-56)

Janice Waldron
How adult learners learn Celtic traditional music: An exploratory case study (pp. 57-71)