MusTech.Net!

We all can “talk the talk” when it comes to supporting Fine Arts Education among our friends, but what about really doing something about it on a local level?  Can we do anything at all?  To quote Bob the Builder… “Yes, We Can!”.

Local School Board meetings are not just for conducting the day-to-day affairs of the school districts, they also provide a public forum for discussion.  Literally, there is mandated time, in all school board meetings for guests, visitors, and residents of the district to express their opinions, concerns, and praise for the the anything related to the school district.  You have the right and quite possibly, the moral obligation to go to these meetings when something concerns you about your school district.

Recently, I was asked to sign a petition about the perceived lack of FINE ARTS facility space in a proposed new middle school building of a local district.   When I became aware of this, I immediately started to gather what information I could about the subject.  Fully realizing, that I may not have all the pertinent information, I decided to draft a letter to the school board and present it, personally, to the school board when they met next. 

Thankfully, the school board was comprised of well-meaning, intelligent folks who really do have the interest of the children and their education in the fore-front of their minds.   After a chance to speak for about 5 minutes about the importance of Music/Arts Education in our schools (in a meaningful and non-threatening way), the school board responded to me with more questions for me and at the end of the meeting took the time to go over the plans of the proposed new building, personally, with me and other interested parties.  

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Attending a music conference regularly is a must for any educator; it gives time for reflection, reinvention, relaxation, and… RECHARGING!   The PMEA convention held in Hershey PA, did just that for me and the thousands in attendance.  

While at PMEA, as always I had a chance to speak with numerous band directors, choir directors, general music education teachers, vendors, music experts, and technology experts.  There were a number of interesting conversations that I had this time around and I thought I would share them with you to see if you all had any opinions on what was purveyed to me by various folks:

1. Music education in the U.S. is predominantly performance oriented… This one has been going around a long time…are we still so focused on performances in America that we totally miss what making music is all about?   
2. Freeware music products take the food out of the mouths of people writing and supporting software for a living… This one came from a software vendor… to be honest it caught me by surprise.  While I can certainly understand the “cause and effect” that could be construed here in this context…is it a threat or a sales pitch?  What about the schools that can’t afford multi-hundred dollar software? 
3. A school principal told a band director that they were very frustrated and disappointed in the music program and was sabre-rattling about the destruction of the program AFTER giving, said band director, four straight years of GLOWING reviews and verbal approvals… What is this all about? 
4. How does an ensemble director deal with a district that will take students out of their classroom for any reason, any time, and it’s TOUGH LUCK for any time lost to the student’s music instruction.  This one strikes home to many of us.   Are we teachers? Does our class(es) matter? Is our discipline important?  Why not take them out of social studies, health, spelling…dare we say, math or reading?   While I’m sure that a student will most likely never be removed from a class for one of the three “R’s”, what does the action of removal from music really say about the, seemingly universal, underlying thoughts behind these actions?

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Maybe you missed it…

Harris Interactive released the results of their Music Education Poll mid-November of last year.  Here’s a summary:

• Music education is associated with those that go on to higher education.
• Music education is also associated with higher incomes.
• Music education has some influence on people’s personal level of fulfillment.
• Music education is important in giving people the ability to strive for individual excellence.
• Music education is important for providing a disciplined approach to solving problems.
• Music education is very important in teaching how to work toward common goals.
• Music education is very important in creative problem solving and helping people to be flexible in work situations.
• Music education equips people to be team players in their working environment.
• Music education provides a sense of organization to people.

There is much more in this report.  To view the whole report click here.

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I joined the International Society of Music Educators (ISME) mid-last year.  I did this to become part of a larger music education community.  One that transcends national boundaries.   As many of you know, I am trying to get as many musicians and educators talking about what they do, why they do, and join a “global conversation” about our field.  ISME is trying to do just that…

Part of the ISME website includes a list to a number of FANTASTIC music advocacy articles.  There are over two dozen articles written by some of the finest music minds of our time.  These articles are free to download and view and you do not need to be a member of ISME to access them.  Reading articles like these will provide a real basis for music educators and musicians to be able to answer the questions posed to us as to why music is important!

Others and I have written a lot about music advocacy here on http://www.mustech.net.  View our advocacy and advocacy related articles here and page back through them, you will find a lot of “great stuff” in those articles:
http://www.mustech.net/category/music-advocacy/

Become an advocate yourself and join our 100 ME Bloggers campaign.  You have what it takes to talk to the world about what you do best!  Don’t wait, just do it! We’ll help!

Here are the titles and authors of the music advocacy articles that can be found at ISME:

1: Music Education as a Powerful Stimulus for Brain Plasticity     
Eckart Altenmüller: Full professor at the Institute for Music Physiology and Musicians’ Medicine University for Music and Drama, Hanover, Germany

2: Brief Comments on Music Education Advocacy     
Wayne Bowman: Professor, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba Canada 

3: Road Rage and Musical Community     
Nicholas Cook, FBA: Research Professor of Music, University of Southampton, UK 
 
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