Shaping Music Education Policy through Insight, Collaborating, Deliberating, and Strategizing

Policy capacity in music education can be enhanced through understanding the policy-making process and state governmental policy. Three examples of engagement in state-level policy action are used to explore agency, negotiation, and visioning as important dispositions for advancing music education policy goals. First, influencing state-level policy necessitates knowledge of how state government informs policy action, and this knowledge can be used to advance policy thinking. Second, policies change through both incremental and dramatic processes, often requiring different policy strategies. Third, policy is influenced by random and unpredictable factors. State associations can enhance agency and policy capacity through timely and informed communication and provide meaningful opportunities for music educators to deliberate problems and possibilities as a means to move music education policy forward.