The Beat Goes On

The beat goes on

Point expands fine arts offerings with addition of music education degree

BY SARAH HUXFORD

The benefits of studying music are well documented: the University of Southern California has found that as little as two years of music education strengthens children’s brains; The Wall Street Journal has documented the benefits of studying music for older adults; American Scientist has detailed the connection between music education and improved auditory processing. Of course, Christians also know the strong connection between music and worship.

Point has offered degrees in music ministry and performance for decades, and many alumni have gone on to become certified teachers after earning music degrees from Point. But until now, that achievement always required some extra education beyond the University.

That changes this fall, as Point officially launches a bachelor’s degree program in music education.

Andrew Harry, assistant professor of fine arts and chair of the Department of Fine Arts, says the time is right for Point to launch this program, especially as prospective students are looking to enter fields where they can be certain of finding a job.

“Education is a secure field right now, and there are a lot of people who want to study at a Christian institution, want to see this degree program at Point,” he says. “So I think it will be a draw for new students. And I think it’s exciting for a lot of the students that we’re recruiting.”

“We’re recruiting from a lot of public schools,” he adds. “And these are students who have been longing for a Christian community, but that doesn’t exist in their schools the way that it can exist at Point.”

Harry points out that the Department of Fine Arts, especially because Point is a small and close-knit community, offers music students a place to belong. They also have the opportunity to benefit from a great deal of one-on-one instruction with faculty musicians.

“A lot of people don’t understand musicians,” Harry says. “There are always the stereotypes in music programs for, you know, the weird choir geeks and band geeks. But that’s a stereotype for a reason. Oftentimes, there are people who connect with one another through music much more than they do through conversation, and it’s a release and it’s an outlet for people who don’t always know how to express verbally what it is that they think and feel and experience.”

The process of launching the new degree program began under the oversight of former Point professor Dr. Chapel McCullough. Harry is quick to praise the collaboration between the Department of Fine Arts and the College of Education, as well. Lynn Hoggard Wiseley ’90, director of the Teacher Media Center and instructor of education, was heavily involved in the approval process behind the scenes.

“Music faculty worked diligently to compile all of the initial groundwork, from the degree proposal to field experience guidelines to course sequences,” explains Wiseley. “My main role in the process was to ensure that all aspects of the music education program were aligned to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission standards, pull in any additional required pieces to meet the standards, and provide the data necessary to show that Point was ready to offer a degree in music education. We prayed, we sweated, we persevered, and we were approved with flying colors!”

“A lot of it was just the right people being in the right places at the right time,” says Harry. “It was a lot of work to get it launched over the course of two years.”

“The addition of a music education degree to the College of Education’s offerings diversifies the College and allows us to better meet student needs,” says Dr. Susan Ryan, dean of the College of Education. “While this degree will serve students in both the education and fine arts programs, it enriches the cultural offerings of Point as a whole: allowing for interdisciplinary collaboration while creating a richer academic environment.”

As far back as 2017, Point’s existing education degrees have had a 100% job placement rate and a 100% graduate school acceptance rate. No one expects that statistic to change with the addition of music education.

“It’s a field where there is significant demand,” says Harry. “The state of Georgia is always hiring new music ed teachers; they’re not filling all of their positions pretty consistently. And so there’s a lot of demand here in our own state, but then also nationwide. We see it as something that guarantees our students a quality job and allows them to enter the workforce right out of the gate.”

Students who graduate with a degree in music education from Point will be certified to teach in pre-K through twelfth grade, giving them even more job opportunities. The extended certification means students will spend time completing a practicum at each educational level.

“Point students will be in community schools as they practice and perfect their skills to teach music education, while making lifelong connections and impacts on the children they encounter,” says Wiseley. “The extraordinary truth is that these children will impact our Point students just as much, or even more!”

Point’s music education degree also includes the entire music core curriculum, so that graduates will be not only excellent teachers, but excellent musicians themselves. Students in Point’s program will be able to focus on band, choir or string music education, where most schools have narrowed the options to just one or two.

“We’re going to see our students delving a little bit more into music technology than has been the historic norm for music ed, because we’re seeing demand for that in the schools,” says Harry. “So I think that will distinguish our program a little bit in that we’re going to allow for more music technology learning opportunities.”

Most importantly, these qualified music educators will be sharing the love of Christ with their students. Christian educators have a distinctive and much-needed role to play in our society.

“Children are always watching and listening to everything in their environment as they learn to navigate through each stage of childhood,” Wiseley says. “Educators are often around a child more than parents or caregivers during the entire school year. This role puts Christian educators in a unique position to be the light of Jesus in a child’s life the entire school day. What an awesome responsibility!”

“I think our world needs music educators who have the worldview that we are teaching at Point, and even though it may not always be explicitly stated in the classroom – it depends on what kind of school they’re going into – that worldview carries over,” Harry says. “Point offers something that most programs don’t offer, that they can’t offer. And I hope that equips our students to really be able to speak into the whole person better than somebody else may be able to, because we approach this through the love of Christ, with a Christian worldview.”