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Outstanding Teachers - Professional Website Review - Professional Development Plan
Professional Website Review
Visit the MENC Homepage
About the MENC
Contact the MENC
Picture Courtesy of www.menc.org
The website I chose to review is the website of the National Association for Music Association (www.menc.org). I chose this organization because it seems to encompass a lot of different aspects of music educations, and resources for today’s music educator. The mission statement of the MENC is to “advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by all.” They also believe that music enriches people in physical and emotional ways.
At first, the website is overwhelming and hard to navigate, but as you begin to explore links on the navigation bar on the left hand side of the page, it becomes easier to find what you are looking for. Even though I was not able to access the “member-only” section of the website, there is a blue box on the left hand side that contains a plethora of articles and links pertaining to various subjects such as emerging techniques in music education, concert etiquette, and teachers guides. Below the light blue box, is a darker blue navigation bar, where I could access links to all kinds of music education resources such as blogs, podcasts, books, and other products.
On the same navigation bar, there is a link entitled “Advocacy Central.” I envision this to be a crucial resource for today’s music educator. While the government places a larger emphasis on testing, it seems as though the arts are beginning to take a backseat. This section of the website has advocacy guides and lists of benefits of music education. They outline how music can lead to success in society, school, learning, developing intelligence, and general success in life.
It appears that one of the main functions of the website is to compile a database of links to resources for music educators. The initial organization of the website is daunting and the links are not well organized, but if you have the time to spend navigating the website, then there are many valuable resources.