Why Music Educators Choose Berklee's Graduate Programs Explore Berklees flexible master's degrees and certificate in music education, and get advice from working teachers and online learners who've studied here.By
John Mirisola
September 4, 2024
Music education students play in and conduct an ensemble.
Image by Kelly Davidson
Anybody whos ever benefited from a great music teacher knows the transformative role that music education can play in a persons life. Its one reason why so many musicians wind up becoming music teachers themselves-to share that love for music that somebody else nurtured in them.
But the decision to pursue a career in the classroom-to get a masters in music education, or to earn a graduate certificate-isn't always easy. Most working teachers can't leave the classroom to advance in their careers. And for others, maybe the program they're interested in is far from where they live.
If youre looking to get your masters degree in music education, or to earn a graduate certificate, Berklees graduate music education programs offer a flexible, contemporary approach to the music classroom that helps you to connect your teaching to todays culture and technology. With class formats built to accommodate working teachers, online and hybrid learners, and on-campus study, theres never a bad time or place to start your career as a music teacher, or to take the next step in your professional development.
In this article, well explore some of the key features of the graduate music education experience at Berklee:
Three world-class programs
Online, hybrid, and flexible classes
Contemporary and culturally responsive teaching
Customizing your graduate music education experience
Focused training for teaching students with disabilities
Well also hear from current students and alumni of Berklees graduate music education programs, and theyll share their advice on:
How to earn your music education masters degree or certificate while teaching
How to earn your music education masters degree remotely
Three World-Class ProgramsBerklee offers three graduate programs in music education:
The Master of Music in Music Education
The Master of Music in Music Education (Autism Concentration)
The Graduate Certificate in Music Education and Autism
Each program has been designed to fit the schedules and meet the needs of todays educators. Our Music Education Department is led by Cecil Adderley, the president-elect of the National Association for Music Educators, so students can be assured theyre receiving the most forward-looking and rigorous training available. And graduate students in these programs also have the chance to work with some of the worlds leading practitioners and scholars of accessible music education through the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education.
Read on to learn more about each program and the adaptive course structure that makes them work for teachers in every stage of their careers.
Online, Hybrid, and Flexible ClassesOne of the core values of graduate music education at Berklee is that each program should be able to serve working teachers. Thats why the programs are designed to ensure that teachers enrolled in these programs can keep their jobs while they advance their careers through graduate-level training. Courses are offered in the evenings during the fall and spring semesters, and students can enroll in two full-time sessions during the summer.
This program was flexible for me, a working teacher, which was a must, says Sarah Fard, who took one course at a time and completed her Graduate Certificate in Music Education and Autism in 2018. I had found myself working as a paraprofessional for students with autism early on in my career, before returning to the music classroom, and noticed that there was a lot that I had not learned in my pre-service education that directly impacted how well I was able to best teach various students. I wanted further training so that I could best support my students and also help other teachers do the same.
It is very important to enroll in programs that have you working with the materials that you use in the classroom, so that the work you are doing is purposeful.
- Sarah Fard, Graduate Certificate in Music Education and Autism
During the academic year, students can also participate in classes remotely using web conferencing and student-directed study formats-a model Berklees graduate music education programs have been refining for years before COVID-19 made online learning a necessity at other institutions.
Im teaching a class tonight where I have five students on the web and four students in the room, and we are all together having class, says Rhoda Bernard, managing director of the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education and the founder of all three graduate programs. Weve been doing hybrid and remote learning in graduate music education since long before it was sexy.
Contemporary and Culturally Responsive TeachingPeople today experience, consume, make, and interact with music in a wide range of ways, explains Bernard, and we have now access to music from all over the world and from all throughout time in ways that weve never had before, and it has to change how we teach.
While many music education programs still follow outdated models, graduate music education at Berklee is designed to help todays teachers engage with the latest pedagogical, cultural, and technological shifts shaping contemporary learning environments.
The real future of music is being made at Berklee because the institution is choosing to embrace today's culture for music, people, and music learning that exists in the world outside of the school, says Adam Calus BM '17, MM '21.
Ready to take the next step in your teaching career?
Learn more about applying to Berklees graduate music educat
