Jackie Wiggins

Jackie Wiggins is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance at Oakland University. She served as professor of music education at Oakland from 1994-2018, as head of the music program from 1998-2004, as chair of Music, Theatre and Dance from 2004-2017, and as Founding Director of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance from 2017-2018.

Internationally known for her work in constructivist music education and children’s musical creative process, Wiggins’s professional work includes more than 60 publications, more than 200 presentations, and invited keynotes on four continents, including the National Conference of the Australian Society of Music Education (2009), the International Conference for Research in Music Education in Exeter, UK (RIME, 2011), the Asia-Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research in Taipei (2011), and the Conference on Music for and by Children: Musichildren ’17 (Portugal, 2017).

Professor Wiggins’s book, Teaching for Musical Understanding (3^rd edition, 2015, Oxford University Press), is used by music educators around the world. A Chinese translation of the book was published in China in 2020.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Wiggins, J. (2015). Teaching for musical understanding (3^rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Chinese Translation:
Wiggins, J. (2020). Teaching for musical understanding (3^rd ed.). (Trans. by Leung, B.-W., Han, R., and Su, Y.). Beijing: People's Music Publishing House.

Wiggins, J. (2009). Teaching for musical understanding (2^nd ed.). Center for Applied Research in Musical Understanding (CARMU).

Wiggins, J. (2001). Teaching for musical understanding (1^st ed.). McGraw-Hill. (Book and CD).

Chapter 3 reprinted with permission:
Wiggins, J. (2002). “Teaching music through problem solving,” in B. Hanley & T. W. Goolsby (Eds.), Musical understanding: Perspectives in theory and practice. Canadian Music Educators Association.

Wiggins, J. (1991). Synthesizers in the elementary music classroom: An integrated approach. Music Educators National Conference (MENC, invited).

Wiggins, J. (1990). Composition in the classroom: A tool for teaching. Music Educators National Conference (MENC, invited)

Book Chapters

Kondo, S., & Wiggins, J. (2019). Learner agency in musical creative process and learning. In Tsubonou, Y., Tan, A.-G., & Oie, M. (Eds.), Creativity in music education: Creativity in the Twenty-first Century (pp. 17-33). Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-2749-0_2

Wiggins, J., & Espeland, M. (2018). Creating in music learning contexts. In G. McPherson & G. Welch (Eds.), Music learning and teaching in infancy, childhood and adolescence: An Oxford handbook of music education (pp. 121-140). Oxford University. (updated reprint of 2012 chapter). doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199730810.013.0021

Wiggins, J. (2016). Teaching music with a social constructivist vision of learning. In B. Gault & C. Abril (Eds.). Approaches to teaching general music: Methods, issues, and viewpoints (pp. 49-72). Oxford University. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199328093.003.0004

Wiggins, J. (2016). Musical agency. In G. McPherson (Ed.). The child as musician: A handbook of musical development (2^nd ed., pp. 102-121). Oxford University. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198744443.001.0001

Wiggins, J., & Medvinsky, M. (2013). Scaffolding student composers. In M. Kaschub & J. Smith (Eds.), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition (pp. 109-125). Oxford University. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199832286.003.0006

Wiggins, J., & Espeland, M. (2012). Creating in music learning contexts. In G. McPherson & G. Welch (Eds.), Oxford handbook of music education (pp. 341-360). Oxford University.

Wiggins, J. (2011). When the music is theirs: Scaffolding young songwriters. In M. Barrett (Ed), A cultural psychology for music education (pp. 83-113). Oxford University. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214389.001.0001

Blair, D. V., & Wiggins, J. (2010). Teaching for musical understanding: A constructivist approach. In J. Ballantyne & B. Bartleet (Eds.), Navigating music and sound education (pp. 16-30). Cambridge Scholars.

Wiggins, J. (2007). Compositional process in music. In L. Bresler (Ed.) International handbook of research in arts education (pp. 453-470). Springer.

Wiggins, J. (2003). A frame for understanding children’s compositional processes. In M. Hickey (Ed.), How and why to teach music composition: A new horizon for music education (pp. 141-166). Music Educators National Conference.

Wiggins, J. (2002). Creative process as meaningful musical thinking. In T. Sullivan & L. Willingham (Eds.), Creativity and music education: Research to practice, Volume I (pp. 78-88). L. Bartel, Series Editor. Canadian Music Educators Association.

Wiggins, J. (1995). Where does technology belong in the general music classroom? In S. L. Stauffer (Ed.), Toward tomorrow: New visions for general music (pp. 93-98). Music Educators National Conference.

Refereed Articles

Wiggins, J., & Bey, T. (2022). Music learning as life in an African American family:  The story of Charlie Gabriel in New Orleans. Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Special Issue: Sankofa: African American Music Education, 43(2), 115-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/15366006221083707

Wiggins, J. (2015). Constructivism, policy, and arts education. Arts Education Policy Review, 116(3), 115-117. doi: 10.1080/10632913.2015.1038673
(As guest editor of this issue, my introduction to the collection of invited articles.)

Wiggins, J. (2015). Constructivism, policy, and arts education: Synthesis and discussion. Arts Education Policy Review, 116(3), 155-159. doi: 10.1080/10632913.2015.1038674
(As guest editor of this issue, my response to the collection of invited articles.)

Wiggins, J. (2011). Feeling it is how I understand it: Found poetry as analysis. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 12(LAI 3). Retrieved [date] from http://www.ijea.org/v12lai3/.

Wiggins, J. (2011) Vulnerability and agency in being and becoming a musician. RIME Keynote published in Music Education Research 13(4), 355-367. doi: 10.1080/14613808.2011.632153

Wiggins, J. (2009). Improvisation: Making space for students’ musical ideas. Musicworks: Journal of the Australian National Council of Orff Schulwerk 14(1), 7-11. (invited)

Wiggins, R. A., & Wiggins, J. (2008). Primary music education in the absence of specialists. International Journal of Education and the Arts 9(12). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v9n12/

Wiggins, J. (2007). Authentic practice and process in music teacher education. Invited for a special focus issue of Music Educators Journal, 93(3), 36-42. (Issue focus: music teacher education.) doi: 10.2307/4101537

Wiggins, J., Blair, D. V., Ruthmann, S. A., & Shively, J. L. (2006). A heart to heart about music education practice. The Mountain Lake Reader: Conversations on the Study and Practice of Music Teaching, 4, 82-91.

Wiggins, J. (2005). Fostering revision and extension in student composing. Music Educators Journal, 91(3), 35-42. doi: 10.2307/3400074

Wiggins, J. (2004). Letting go––Moving forward. Mountain Lake Reader: Conversations on the Study and Practice of Music Teaching, 3, 81-95.

Wiggins, J. (2002). Answers to commonly asked questions about composition in the elementary classroom. Michigan Music Educator, 40(1), 23-31. (invited)

Harwood, E., & Wiggins, J. (2001). Composing a lesson. The Mountain Lake Reader: Conversations on the Study and Practice of Music Teaching, 2, 32-41.

Wiggins, J. (2001). The heart of the matter. The Mountain Lake Reader: Conversations on the Study and Practice of Music Teaching, 2, 42-43.

Wiggins, J. H. (1999/2000). The nature of shared musical understanding and its role in empowering independent musical thinking. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 143, 65-90. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40319013

Wiggins, J. (1999). “On becoming a community of learners,” “On ‘Music should be fun for kids,’” and “On seeing the world small and seeing it big.” The Mountain Lake Reader: Conversations on the Study and Practice of Music Teaching, 1.

Wiggins, J. (1999). Teacher control and creativity. Music Educators Journal, 85(5), 30-35. doi: 10.2307/3399545

Wiggins, J., & Bodoin, K. (1998). Painting a big soup: Teaching and learning in a second-grade general music classroom. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46(2), 281-302. doi: 10.2307/3345629

Wiggins J., & Wiggins, R. (1997). Integrating through conceptual connections. Music Educators Journal, 83(4), 38-41. doi: 10.2307/3399040

Wiggins, J. (1996). On music teacher education at the turn of the century: The road ahead. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 6(1), 23-28. doi: 0.1177/105708379600600105

Wiggins, J. (1996). Electronic media in the general music classroom. The Resource Guide for Music Educators, 2(2), 4-5 published by SoundTree, educational division of Korg USA.

Reprinted with permission in:
Michigan Music Tech, 4(2), 2-3. Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association.

Wiggins, J. H. (1995). Building structural understanding: Sam’s story. The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning, 6(3), 57-75.

Reprinted with permission in:
Visions of Research in Music Education, 16(6), Autumn, 2010). Retrieved from http://www-°© usr.rider.edu/~vrme/

Wiggins, J. (1995). Learning through creative interaction with music. General Music Today, 8(3), 11-15. doi: 10.1177/104837139500800304

Wiggins, J. H. (1994/1995). Teacher-research in a general music classroom: Effects on the teacher. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 123, 31-35. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40318687

Wiggins, J. H. (1994). Children’s strategies for solving compositional problems with peers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 42(3), 232-252. doi: 10.2307/3345702

Wiggins, J. (1993). Interactive learning in the music classroom. General Music Today, 7(1), 15-19. doi: 10.1177/104837139300700106

Wiggins, J. (1993). Elementary music with synthesizers. Special Focus Issue on Keyboards in the Classroom, Music Educators Journal, 79(9), 25-30. doi: 10.2307/3398630

Wiggins, J. (1990). Synthesizer ensembles at work. The Music and Computer Educator, 1(8), 36-37.

Wiggins, J. H. (1989). Composition as a teaching tool. Music Educators Journal, 75(8), 35-38. doi: 10.2307/3400295

Reprinted with permission in:
W. Atterbury (Ed.) (1992). The best of the Music Educators Journal: Elementary general music (pp. 113-116). Reston, VA: MENC.

Papers selected for published conference proceedings

Bartel, L., Cameron, L., Wiggins, J., & Wiggins, R. (2004). Implications of generalist teachers’ self-efficacy related to music. In P. M. Shand (Ed.), Music education entering the 21st century, pp. 85-90. Nedlands, Australia: International Society for Music Education.

Wiggins, J. (1995). Creative process as a vehicle for musical growth and understanding. In the proceedings of Kunstfagkonferansen i Stavanger 1995 (an international arts education conference) Stavanger, Norway, August 17, 1995.