MTNA Certification

Music teaching certification

As a music teacher, do you want to:

  • Improve through self-study and planning?
  • Achieve a higher level of competency and effectiveness?
  • Be encouraged to set a goal for personal professional achievement?
  • Increase your potential for earning power?
  • Improve your level of professionalism?
  • Be recognized by your colleagues and the public as competent?

MTNA:

  • Fosters excellence in music education through the development of criteria, standards, and guidelines for assessing educational competencies in performance, music theory, music history/literature, and pedagogy/teacher education.
  • Assures the educational community, the general public, and other agencies or organizations that the MTNA Professional Certification Program for music teachers has been clearly defined with appropriate standards.
  • Provides a national forum for the discussion and consideration of concerns relevant to the preservation and advancement of standards in the field of music and music education.
  • Develops a national unity and strength for the purpose of maintaining the position of music study in the family of fine arts and humanities and providing qualified teachers to guide that study.
  • Sets a uniform national minimum standard of achievement without restricting the development of new ideas, experimentation, or the expansion of personal standards.

Certification Philosophy

Certification is a process that validates an individual's qualifications for a specific field of professional practice. It demonstrates to employers, clients, and peers that which the individual knows and is able to do. It signifies commitment to continued excellence in professional practice. In addition, it increases visibility, builds credibility, provides a goal for personal professional achievement, and validates expertise for the individual and to those outside the field.

The MTNA Professional Certification program exists for teachers who teach music to students of any age level in private or group settings. Upon fulfillment of a set of standards which defines what a competent music teacher should know and be able to do, applicants are granted the MTNA Professional Certification credential with the designation, Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM). In order to maintain the MTNA Professional Certification credential and designation, NCTM must continue fulfilling the program's standards through the renewal process.

The credential and designation are granted without bias, discrimination, or favoritism between MTNA members and/or nonmembers or any other arbitrary differentiation. The MTNA Professional Certification program is objectively administered in a uniform manner to ensure fairness, accuracy, validity, and integrity. Due process for reconsideration and reinstatement is included in the program for certification candidates, renewal candidates, and for those who already hold the MTNA Professional Certification credential.

More Information

MTNA Certification Website

Find Certified Music Teachers in Georgia

For more information, please contact Robin Engleman, NCTM, GMTA Certification Chair.