In recent decades, music educators have become increasingly aware of the English Language Learner (ELL) population due to mainstreaming and inclusion policies. Meanwhile, the need for adequately preparing pre-service music teachers has become a focal point for music teacher preparation programs in the United States. In this article, I will 1) discuss the importance of developing pre-service music teachers’ empathy for ELL students; 2) offer suggestions for developing empathic pre-service music teachers; and 3) describe how a classroom cultural immersion experience can help pre-service music teachers to develop their empathy as well as increase their awareness of effective teaching strategies for ELL students. Through a short-term classroom cultural immersion experience, pre-service music teachers in the U.S. learned what it was like to be an ELL; as a result of their experience, they became more culturally and linguistically responsive. They deepened their level of empathy for ELLs, and expanded their knowledge base of techniques for effective music teaching.
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