An Apprenticeship Approach

Finding a practical method to provide hands-on experience to future band and orchestra directors has been a confounding problem for music schools across the USA. A number of experts in the field have suggested this lack of practical experience may play a role in the troubling exodus of teachers from the profession within the first five years or less. In any case, the current system of “trial by fire” simply may not be the best way to prepare a teacher for a fulfilling and successful career as a music educator.