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[steinwaychopin]

Hi
First of all, I want to apology for my poor English writing.  English is not my native language.  

I have BM, MM, and DMA in violin performance degree and I have been teaching in public high school as a music teacher for five years now.  Recently I had a chance to talk to one of my old friend who is an education professor, she suggested me to go back to school to get PhD. d in music education which will help me to become more marketable later.  I do see her point and I am aware of the fact that there are not enough jobs out there for music performance major.  My ultimate goal was to become a violin professor at small liberal arts college but honestly, I don't know at this point.  I would like to know if having another PhD.d in music education could be more marketable since I already have DMA in performance major and five years of public school teaching experience.  I also have two years of international school teaching experience too.  
I would really appreciate if any music educator can give me an advise on this matter.  
If PhD.d in music education would be good idea for future, which schools I should look into their curriculum?  

[merope]

Although I'm not a music educator, I do know several professors of music education. I don't know what the system is in your country, but in North America, music education, as you likely know, concentrates mostly on elementary and secondary school music education -- that is, students from the ages of 5 to 18, in a school environment. If you are interested in researching and thinking about this type of environment, then I think you would enjoy the process of completing your Ph.D. However, I don't believe a Ph.D. in music education would necessarily make you more marketable as a violin professor, unless you thought you might apply to positions which blended a violin studio with teacher preparation. I do expect there would be very few of those positions open at any one time. In any case, if you are thinking of applying to North American Ph.D. programs where English would be the primary (or only) language, I would strongly advise you to improve your English writing skills, since you will need to produce a document of considerable length (200-400 pages) to complete a Ph.D. degree.

If you are simply interested in a career as a violin professor, I would encourage you to increase your performing profile, as schools are often willing to overlook writing deficiencies in an instrumental instructor who has a reputation as an important and well-respected performer.

Best of luck in your search.

[lenniel]

I am a music educator, having performance degrees as well as a PhD.  My doctorate is not in music education, as those degrees generally are focused on education methodology, curriculum development and some pedagogy. Though I am not against the idea of a PhD in music ed, if you have already gotten experience in the public school system as well as abroad, you shouldn't discount the value of practical experience.  I've seen an increase in the number of ads for applied faculty that want people with such experience.  In fact, I have a colleague who owes their current university job to having K-12 teaching experience.

The first big question is what, ultimately, do you want to do with this degree?  Merope's advice is very sound here, and I agree that a music education degree will not help you land a university gig as a violin professor.  Your teaching experience, where you got your degrees, if you have a good network for placing students, student success (competitions, jobs, festivals, etc.) and performance record will.  (I think I know perhaps one applied prof with a PhD in education, though I know there are more.  Almost all have DMAs or DMs, some with a sub specialty in education.)

If you were to pursue a PhD, you will need to focus mostly on writing and research, leaving limited time for performance.  Also, take into account the time and cost: it could take years, and take you away from your current music network.  If you have been teaching in public school have you been doing so in the US?  Are you certified?  Do you want to continue to teach K-12, or teach at university? And, are you still performing or have a specialty? 

When you decide which direction you want to go, not only with that help you target likely jobs but programs if you decide to pursue a related degree.  There are other musicians here, probably with better advice than mine so hopefully you will get some more ideas.  Feel free to send me a message as well.

Good luck!