About:

Mitchell Robinson is associate professor of music education, coordinator of the Music Student Teaching Program, and area chair of music education at the Michigan State University College of Music.

Prior to Robinson’s appointment at MSU in September 2003, he held positions at the University of Connecticut, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and was an instrumental music teacher and music department facilitator for 10 years in Fulton, N.Y.

Robinson was awarded the 1997 Reston Prize from Arts Education Policy Review for his analysis of arts education policy, and the 1999 Research Award from the International Network of Performing and Visual Arts Schools. He served as academic editor of the Music Educators Journal (2006-2010), and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Music Teacher Education (2006-2010), the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Education & the Arts, and Research and Issues in Music Education. His publications have appeared in Arts Education Policy Review, Music Educators Journal, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, American Music Teacher, and the American School Board Journal. Robinson co-authored a book, entitled Great Beginnings for Music Teachers: Mentoring and Supporting New Teachers, published by MENC: The National Association for Music Education in 2003, and contributed a chapter to Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom, Volume 2: A Guide to Survival, Success, and Reform. Robinson also served for two years as scholar-in-residence for music for the Connecticut State Department of Education, where his work focused on beginning music teacher induction and support. His current scholarship is focused on education and music education policy.

Robinson received B.F.A. degrees in music education and trumpet performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo, the M.M.Ed. from Hartt School of Music, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration from the State University of New York-Oswego, a Ph.D. in music education from the Eastman School of Music, and pursued post-graduate studies in music education and conducting at Northwestern University.

Publications include: 

• The Inchworm and the Nightingale: On the (Mis)use of Data in Music Teacher Evaluation and Music Education Research. Arts Education Policy Review.
• Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research in American Music Education (2 chapters)
• A Tale of Two Institutions: Or . . .Myths and Musings on Work/Life Balance). In On The High Wire: Education Professors Walk Between Work And Parenting. Information Age Press.
• Music Teaching and Learning in a Time of Reform. Theoharis, G. and Brooks, J. (Eds.), What Every Principal Needs to Know to Create Equitable and Excellent Schools.  NY: Teachers College Press.
• From the Band Room to the General Music Classroom: Why Instrumentalists Choose to Teach General Music. (accepted for publication). Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education in 2010.
• From Competition to Collaboration: Lessons from the “Second Chair.” Research Studies in Music Education, 30, (2), 202-208, in 2008.
• The impact of beginning music teacher assessment on the assessors: Notes from experienced teachers.  Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 164, 49-60, in 2005.
• A tensegretic theory of school-college collaboration in music education. Arts Education Policy Review, 106, (3), 9-18, in 2005. 
• Volume II of Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom: A Guide to Survival, Success, and Reform, published by MENC: The National Association for Music Education in 2006. Robinson’s chapter for this book focused on creating and sustaining partnerships between schools and colleges in urban settings.
• Great Beginnings for Music Teachers: Mentoring and Supporting New Teachers, published by MENC: The National Association for Music Education in 2004. Robinson wrote four chapters for the book on topics including alternative certification, high stakes testing, and matching new teachers to mentors.

Learn more about Mitchell Robinson at: http://mitchellrobinson.net