IU South Bend has given me the opportunity to be involved not only at school but also in my community.
Program Overview
At IU South Bend, you will have the opportunity to learn and apply pedagogical practices from some of the top educators and musicians in the field. Our program emphasizes hands-on experience and our students are prepared and confident to teach after graduation. Additionally, we are fully accredited at both the state and national levels, and our degree leads directly to an Indiana teaching license.
As a student at IU South Bend, you will leave with a broad and comprehensive understanding of: musicianship; music theory; composing, arranging, and improvising; history, literature, and culture; conducting and choral/instrumental repertoire; performance techniques; and music pedagogy.
To the latter, students will learn the current best practices and pedagogies to teach the students of today and tomorrow at multiple levels: elementary, middle school, and high school. As a performer, you’ll take one-on-one studio lessons every semester from our skilled and well-respected faculty members, which will culminate in a senior recital—an opportunity to show your individual skills and talents following seven semesters of private study.
At IU South Bend, we believe the best way to prepare for teaching is to teach. After taking K-8 General Music Methods and Choral/Instrumental Secondary Music Methods, you will have taught well-over twenty lessons in our classes. We provide a supportive environment and immediate, individual feedback from our music education faculty. In our two-semester conducting sequence, you will conduct in nearly every class meeting, which means our students conduct roughly sixty-four times in these two courses alone. Once completed, our students are confident teacher-conductors and well-equipped ensemble directors.
Music education is a constantly changing field due to ongoing research and cultural, social, and economic changes. At IU South Bend, our students learn how to adjust and adapt according to the times. Our music education program will prepare you to become a successful teacher and leader in the field.