Classroom management is a common concern for preservice teachers and can be a key to success for in-service teachers. In this article, I discuss six strategies for classroom management: design and lead engaging music activities, employ music-rich transitions, balance familiarity and novelty, plan for success, communicate clear expectations, and practice mindfulness. For each strategy, I share examples and considerations drawn from early childhood music classes from a variety of settings. Music teachers often teach many levels of students, and it is important to calibrate our classroom management style to our learner’s developmental level.
BaileyR. A. (2015). Conscious discipline: Building resilient classrooms (2nd ed.). Oviedo, FL: Loving Guidance.
2.
BennettP. D.BartholomewD. R. (1997). Songworks I: Singing in the education of children. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
3.
BradyK.FortonM. B.PorterD. (2011). Rules in school: Teaching discipline in the responsive classroom (2nd ed.). Turner Falls, MA: Center for Responsive Schools.
4.
ByoJ. L.SimsW. L. (2015). Classroom management in music education. In EmmerE. T.SabornieE. J. (Eds.), Handbook of classroom management (3rd ed., pp. 220–238). New York, NY: Routledge.
5.
CampbellP. S.Scott-KassnerC. (2013). Music in childhood (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Schirmer.
6.
CartledgeG.LoY.VincentC. G.Robinson-ErvinP. (2015). Culturally responsive classroom management. In EmmerE. T.SabornieE. J. (Eds.), Handbook of classroom management (3rd ed., pp. 411–430). New York, NY: Routledge.
7.
EvertsonC. M.WeinsteinC. S. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of classroom management: Research practice, and contemporary issues. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
8.
FayJ.FayC. (2016). Teaching with love & logic: Taking control of the classroom (2nd ed.). Golden, CO: Love & Logic Press.
9.
GordonE. E. (2013). A music learning theory for newborn and young children. Chicago, IL: GIA.
10.
JenningsP. A. (2015). Early childhood teachers’ well-being, mindfulness, and self-compassion in relation to classroom quality and attitudes towards challenging students. Mindfulness, 6, 732–743. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0312-4
11.
KoopsL. H. (2017). The enjoyment cycle: A phenomenology of musical enjoyment of 4- to 7-year-olds during musical play. Journal of Research in Music Education, 65, 360–380. doi:10.1177/0022429417716921
12.
ParkerE. C. (2014, April). An intrinsic case study of six southeastern public school music educators’ classroom management development. Poster presentation at NAfME Music Research & Teacher Education national conference, St. Louis, MO.
