Maggie Harrigan is currently a general music and chorus teacher at Fox Hill Elementary in Burlington, MA. She graduated from Gordon College in 2013 in Music Education and recently graduated from Eastman School of Music with a Masters in Music Education. Her research focuses on playful learning in music in elementary age children. She has shared her work and presented at several conferences including the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and the upcoming online 2021 NAfME Research Conference.

In addition to teaching in the public school setting, Maggie also accompanies various local ensembles and teaches private piano lessons. She is an avid runner completing several marathons in 2020 raising money for charity as a participant. She enjoys hiking and camping with her husband David when she is not focused on her teaching and music!

If you want to contact Maggie, you can reach her at [email protected].

In her podcast discussion, she mentions several resources that you can access via the following citations! 

Berger, A. A., & Cooper, S. (2003). Musical play: A case study of preschool children and parents. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51( 2), 151-165. doi:10.2307/3345848

Elkind, D. (2007). The power of play: Learning what comes naturally. Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Pres.

Koops, L. H. & Taggart, C. C. (2011). Learning through play: Extending an early childhood music education approach to undergraduate and graduate music education. Journal of Music Teacher Education 20(2), 55-66. doi:10.1177/1057083710373578

Valerio, W. H. (1997). Surprise! Music development means music play for adults as well as

children. Early Childhood Connections, 3 (4), 7-14.

Songs in Their Heads