Daniel Abrahams is an Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville. A native of Massachusetts, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Temple University, a Master of Music degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in music education from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.
As a music educator, Dr. Abrahams is the inaugural recipient of the Jupiter Band Instruments Award for Excellence in Teaching Concert Band presented by NAFME: The National Association for Music Education and the 2010 Nebraska VFW Citizenship Educator of the Year. He has presented seminars at the national meetings of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME); presented a seminar in Critical Pedagogy for Music Education at the Conservatorio Brasiliero de Musica in Rio de Janeiro; presented a seminar on Reciprocal Teaching at the 2nd European Conference on Developmental Psychology of Music, London, England; and presented seminars on Reciprocal Teaching and Informal Learning at the 29th International Society for Music Education World Conference, Beijing, China.
Dr. Abrahams frequently writes about the use of reciprocal teaching, sociotranformative apprenticeship, and learner agency in the music classroom. His article on the impact of reciprocal teaching on the development of musical understanding in high school student members of performing ensembles is published in Visions of Research on Music Education and reprinted in Keith Swanwick’s Music Education: Major Themes (Vol. 3) published by Routledge. His most recent research examines the acquisition of learner agency and the integration of music and STEM education through Minecraft. Before coming to the University of Arkansas, Dr. Abrahams taught middle and high school instrumental music in the Omaha Public Schools.
Abrahams is a contributing author in Perspectives on Music in Urban Schools published by NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, The Child as Musician, 2nd edition, the Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy, and the Music Technology Cookbook published by Oxford University Press; and, Aligning Music to STEM published by GIA.
Scheduled Teaching
MUED 2552 Class Strings
MUED 4273 String Methods
MUED 4031 Seminar for Professional Entry into Music Education
MUED 5881 Curriculum Design in Music
MUED 5983 Psychology of Music Behavior
Student Internship Supervision
Publications
- Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): What Every Music Teacher Should Know, Understand, and Be Able to Do. Unpublished manuscript.
- Designing Countour in Music Through Minecraft in The Music Production Cookbook – Oxford
- Aligning Music to STEM Through CompositionCraft in Aligning Music to STEM – GIA
- Choral Pedagogy and the Construction of Meaning in The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy – Oxford
- Fostering Musical and Personal Agency: Considering the Conductor in The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy – Oxford
- The Child as Musical Apprentice in The Child as Musician 2nd Ed. – Oxford
- Impact of Reciprocal Teaching on the Development of Musical Understanding in High School Student Members of Performing Ensembles: An Action Research in Music Education: Major Themes in Education (Vo. 3) – Routledge
- Differentiated Instruction in the Choral Rehearsal: Strategies for Choral Conductors in Urban Schools in Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom – Rowman and Littlefield
CompositionCraft – A Minecraft Modification
CompositionCraft is a tool for school music teachers to connect to the ideals of STEM education and 21st-century skills of collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and creativity. Using CompositonCraft fosters the ability to pose and solve problems, build communication skills, work collaboratively on real-world problems, explore multiple solutions, and express creativity in significant and meaningful ways. These skills are not only important in STEM education but are inherent to the discipline of music.
CompositonCraft provides interaction between students and teachers in authentic and meaningful experiences, which are acknowledged by both of them. It enriches changes within the knowings and understandings that students and teachers have as individuals and as musicians. The result is an enlightened vision of what is important and adds value to the music classroom.