Thanks for posting this, Joe - very thought-provoking, and I will certainly take time to read some of the other articles you pointed to when I'm done embedding silly videos in my own blog.

For me, advocacy is really a means of self-preservation. If my program dies, I have to get another job. However, I do honestly feel that what I do (elementary strings) is of great potential value to the students and to the community. I don't believe that real performance practice can be replaced by technology, and I think that not providing the opportunity for children to develop through the practice and performance of music is doing them a great disservice.

I love orchestral music, I love playing strings, and I try my best to pass that on to the kids I teach. However, there is definitely a disconnect between the importance I place on the subject and the importance placed by other teachers, administrators, and families. If I stop advocating, the program dies, in other words. It may die anyway, who knows how soon?

The thing is, well-heeled communities always seem able to keep their programs, it's teachers who work with the "children of the poor" who always have to do the "advocating".

At least, that's the way I see it. . .

Dear Erin, Leisl, and Brian,

Thank you for considering this point of the importance of music advocacy. And Leisl - I completely agree - it must be a mindset. Teacher, Motivator, Advocate, Conductor, Musician - they all need to exist in you. When you become a teacher, you also take on the mantle of music advocacy leadership in your community. Yes you are an ethical/moral role model (like it or not), but you are also the role model for music as well.

Brian you make great points. The journey continues each day for all of us. We have a choice to make a difference in our society through our role as a music educator or to let apathy and cynicism beat our profession down. I am encouraged that all three of you recognize these trappings that are out there. Continue on the journey, continue to teach everything that is great about music.

Dr. Pisano - thank you again for getting this message out, and providing all of us with a good forum to discuss it!

Sincerely,

Travis J. Weller

Hello all,

Thanks for your posts. I am glad that you are begining to see the divide over our very profession. These are great questions, many that only have better alternatives and no correct answers. Is music only entertainment? Is music simply an aesthetic? Is music just another mathematical tool? Why does the performance seem to matter more than the journey for some? Are music educators simply going to be sub-standard performers because of other demands? Do we really need to be a performer to be a music pedagog? Can performers talk to educational issues as well as those trained in pedagogy? There are so many opinions about these things. We must continue to have civil discourses about these very important topics and challenge ourselves to be better informed about what we say regarding the future of our profession...

Jason Heath posted an EXCELLENT article that wraps into some of these things... Check it out here:

http://www.doublebassblog.org/2007/09/you-can-t...

Join his conversation and continue the discussion about this "global topic".

J. Pisano

The problem is that too much is demanded of us as music education students and I can imagine, after reading Mr. Weller's blog, that it only gets worse when you enter into a teaching situation. As a college student in the music education program, I desire to spend at 2 hours a day practicing piano and voice. With credit and extra-curricular ensemble rehearsals, musical rehearsals, not to mention classes in the music department which require a significant time investment as well, the music student is busy to begin with. Now add on countless papers and projects in the Education department, plus humanities and other liberal arts courses... the demands quickly become overwhelming. I'd compare this to Mr. Weller's dilemma, "at 3:15, class is just beginning." One can spend hours and hours in music rehearsal situations, which aligns directly with the primary responsibility of a music educator, as far as I'm concerned, and struggle to maintain the GPA required for a Pennsylvania teaching certification because their not getting straight A's in their Biology, Math, and Civiliation of Literature requirements. As an educator, one can endeavor to bring one's students into a deep understanding of the aesthetic beauty of music as an artform every day in class and perhaps gain success to some degree, albeit doubtful considering the teenaged expectation of the amount of "pop" that should come before culture. Even if one does manage to achieve some success, it would be a success that is immeasurable. So the only logical conclusion, in the eyes of administrators, is that the study of the discipline of music is not as valuable. There's no PSSA for music so why are we wasting our time studying it? You don't get a grade for being part of the touring choir, (the best vocal group on campus in my opinion) and it takes time away that could be spent studying, so why would you want to be a part of it? I don't have time for any more of this idle discourse, I have to go write a paper for my Literature class.

I too found this post interesting. I have found myself wondering lately how prepared I will be to teach music. It seems that while being dragged down by education requirements, "other" classes, and attendance at various things, my own development as a musician has been placed on the back burner. Why is it that I can talk myself out of practicing when I'm busy or tired? Shouldn't that be the only thing I'm not talking myself out of? Though others may not think recognize it, we know the value of music education. Perhaps we, or I rather, need to refocus on the music part, so that music advocacy isn't just an act, but a mindset.

I found this post to be very interesting, although I already realized that the global support for music education isn't exactly at its' strongest. But, as a music major, where all we is sleep, eat, and breathe music, it is good to have this kind of a wake-up call from time to time to remind us that in the real world, it is going to be difficult for us as music educators to prove to some the importance of music. So thank you for the reminder!