Place-conscious educational theory made its way into music education scholarship through the work of . Both draw extensively form s critical place-conscious scholarship, but both have meaningful differences from one another. These differences might emerge in what is emphasized by each, and what is de-emphasized or even ignored. Stauffer’s place-conscious theory focuses the social, highlighting especially aspects of human narrative. Places become places through storytelling. This is true.             In contrast, Bates’s place theory emphas ..read more

While the publication of my book five years ago has generated some alternative expansions of what it means to teach music for ecoliteracy, (such as by Vincent Bates, Tawnya Smith, Atillio Lafont di Niscia) there have not been explicit objections to the idea of teaching music for ecoliteracy. One objection, sort of, that was made explicit came from Lise Vaugeois’s 2019 review of the book . Vaugeois is a senior scholar whose long body of work on sociology, social justice, colonization, and institutionalization in our field speaks for itself. And Vaugeois has put money-in-the-mouth, as the saying ..read more

New research from Tel Aviv University and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat found plastic additives were disruptive to the larval development of corals and other coral reef organisms in Eilat. ( ) The Eilat Coral Beach Nature Reserve offers an important site of recreation and ecology in Israel. While this (and many reefs) offer scuba divers access to natural beauty of a reef ecosystem, Eilat offers (human) visitors access to Wading pools, bridges for observing the reef, and other lookouts for observing wildlife. ( ) Coral reefs actually create their own music, which is ..read more

            What I mean when I say is that trees, in some way, converse with one another. The German forester, Peter Wohlleben, wrote a successful book (“Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate”) on the interconnected lives of trees living in a woodland. ( ) “Trees are far more alert, social, sophisticated—and even intelligent—than we thought.” Using evocative language, Wohlleben discusses “two massive beech trees growing next to each other. … ‘These two are old friends,’ he says. ‘They are very considerate in sharing th ..read more

This month I have worked with students at the University of Freiburg, as they enact eco-literate music pedagogy. I have always called for this to be a pedagogy on soil, following Ivan Illich’s call for a . By “on soil,” I mean radically place-based. Place-conscious. Place-responsive. Emplaced. As such, many of the most pertinent ecological challenges faced in Freiburg, Germany may differ from those here in Central PA, U.S. The musics, which are central to ecological action, that emerge in the grassroots of Central Europe are likely different than those that emerge in the grassroots of Central ..read more

Today I received a copy of The Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning edited by Janice L. Waldron, Stephanie Horsley, and Kari K. Veblen. At a risk of being obsolete by its release, the authors wrote chapters for this handbook exploring the following questions: 1. How do social media and social networking enable and support learning in diverse contexts. 2. How meaningful is the notion of participatory culture for thinking about social media and music education. 3. How are issues such as communication, mass self-communication, power, democracy, and identity negotiated in a networked ..read more

Today, I only offer a short post: a poem that I wrote this morning as a hummingbird floated in and out of my front-yard garden. How can we who teach music become and live if indeed, as I think, being ecologically literate is a way of life. Eco-literacy is more than merely a trendy (or more accurately untrendy) approach to teaching in schools. Echoing my thoughts, in a recent study, Dylan Adams and Gary Beauchamp champion children playing outside, which offers students " states of being and knowings that are not as accessible in schools. " How does being ecologically literate every day--conscio ..read more

“Chinese Ch'an Buddhism. a Mahayana movement, introduced into China in the 6th century a.d. and into Japan in the 12th century, that emphasizes enlightenment for the student by means of meditation and direct, intuitive insights, accepting formal studies and observances only when they form part of such means. … (Lowercase) A state of meditative calm in which one uses direct, intuitive insights as a way of thinking and acting.” Especially in the 20th Century, Zen (and zen) came to the U.S. in expanding Buddhist communities, in the art of beat poets such as Gary Snyder, and through the work of po ..read more

A black-and-white version of the image "The Essential Structure of Eco-Literate Music Pedagogy appears on . This tree is meant to represent the Self becoming ecological literate. The Self of the Music Teacher, the Self of the Student. Ultimately, the Self of any person. I argue, in my monograph, that understanding this structure will help a person become more ecologically literate. At the trunk, you see three words: Ecological, and above it Literacy (that can be read directionally as "Ecological Literacy," moving upward in the Self tree), and below it Consciousness (that is "Ecological Conscio ..read more

Touch, the chill seeps through the ground Leaves hold green past bush and tree But deep beneath their roots sense it Do they know what change will be? As a substitute teacher, I teach lots of subjects. As my neighbors aptly point out, though, I'm far too busy teaching my coursework at Penn State Altoona in the evenings, giving percussion lessons on Wednesdays, and substitute teaching at a local elementary school during the weekdays. The subbing job sort of reeled me in, to be fair, as there was a music teacher out for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the school year. But today, I'm teachi ..read more