During the reading and discussion concerning music as a curricular subject, I found myself both agreeing and disagreeing with the rush to make music more like, say, mathematics. Certainly I agree that music should have educational goals and students should be assessed on whether they master specific skills, not just whether they show up to rehearsal and avoid talking. Music is a serious subject in this manner and should be treated as such.
However, the idea of making music something more integral to the "required" or "core" curriculum got me thinking about the idea of a core curriculum in general. In my experience, school curricula often operate according to class counts. You have to take X credits of math, Y credits of science, Z credits of fine arts, and so on. This seems kind of silly, given the curricular spirit of testing benchmarks and achievement. Perhaps a better strategy would be to establish level requirements, but then allow those who reach the level requirements more academic freedom. After all, if multivariable calculus were considered necessary for all high school students, then we would not be letting students graduate without it.
This would have many benefits, especially considering the fact that one cannot learn everything. I may think that music is important and that everyone should love it, but another teacher may feel this way about painting, another about literature, another about philosophy, and so on. Thus, it becomes difficult to establish a compelling argument that all students should be constantly studying music when it would hedge out other options.
However, by allowing students more freedom, we can, as educators, better serve our students. At younger ages, yes, all students should have some sort of music class experience, but by high school, students can choose at least some of their education. Furthermore, we know that music is an important part of our students' lives. They spend a lot of time with it. If the students have the freedom from class count requirements and we offer music classes relevant to their musical lives, I am confident students will choose to take music classes.
I think this offers many other benefits as well. Students might feel more in control and thus more invested in their education. There is more motivation for students to attempt to complete higher level material as well, even in subjects they may not like. If the reward for completing single variable calculus is simply a class in multivariable calculus to complete the four year math count for a student uninterested in math, this might be seen as fatalistic and deflating. However, if the reward for completing pre-calculus is scheduling freedom, it might at least been seen as a goal.
Ultimately, a lot of parties would need to work together to make this kind of change possible, most significantly, colleges known for their enforcement of the "Rule of 20." However, if change were enacted in this direction, it would empower students with regard to their education. It would also follow the philosophy of curricular education by judging students based on measurable progress and establishing well defined body of skills to be mastered.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Blog for 1/14
The qualities needed by a music educator can be enumerated almost endless, as class discussion shows. However, one might ask is these can be boiled down to larger qualities? Or perhaps one might ask if there are unique qualities needed by music educators but not needed by others. One cannot succeed as a music educator without showing up to work every day, but then this is true of most professions.
Music educators, unlike other educators, need to possess musical skill and knowledge. Ideally, this should cover multiple domains, including history, theory, performance, composition, and improvisation. Likewise, they need to be able to both construct and deconstruct their knowledge for the benefit of students, thus pedagogy. Educators also need to have the mindsets that will allow them to foster student growth: supportiveness, audacity, a knowledge of when to let students succeed or fail on their own.
One quality that is overlooked in particular in instrumental music might be a rational mind. For many, listening to and playing music is an emotional experience that occurs by feel. However, there is also much musical knowledge, both applied and theoretical, accessible through rational analysis. We often refer to good musicians as "talented" and good mathematicians as "intelligent." However, I do not see how an intelligent and inquiring mind could be anything but a boon as a musician. Music educators need to be aware of this so that they can help their students develop this aspect of their musicianship.
Based on my philosophy of music education, the goal of music education is for students to learn about their musical selves through reflection on musical experiences. Instrumental music is certainly an important type of music, and part of the instrumental music experience is playing an instrument, both alone and with others. Part of the task is giving the students the language for exploration, in this case, technique on the instrument(by this I mean the physical act of playing the instrument, not just right notes), ensemble skills, and so on. In order to have the experience of playing Holst's 1st Suite, one must be able to play Holst's 1st Suite. However, the technique is merely a tool. At the heart of matters, I want my students to be able, when they reflect on their musical experiences, to answer questions they find they have about the music and ultimately about themselves in relation to the music. Why is something good? Or sad? Or triumphant? The answers we arrive at tell us as much about ourselves as they do about the music in question. I want to give my students the tools to answer these questions for themselves and the music they encounter throughout their lives. In the case of instrumental music, this centers around the experience of participating in instrumental music.
Music should be included in the curriculum because it exists commonly in the world and is valued by people. It is difficult to say or demonstrate that music offers unique cognitive, physical, or social development that no other thing or combination of things offers. However, music is uniquely valued by people, and regardless of why, this makes it uniquely important. On a more practical level, whether unique or not, music education does offer many benefits. It prepares student to deal with music later in their lives by giving them tools to describe and explore music. Instrumental ensembles teach the important of both group work and individual responsibility. Music can promote Csíkszentmihályi's flow experiences. These are reasons that music education contributes to students' growth. However, it is also important to emphasize the things that music offers that cannot be replaced by something else: namely music. If music is valuable in the world then music education is valuable and should have a place in the curriculum.
Music educators, unlike other educators, need to possess musical skill and knowledge. Ideally, this should cover multiple domains, including history, theory, performance, composition, and improvisation. Likewise, they need to be able to both construct and deconstruct their knowledge for the benefit of students, thus pedagogy. Educators also need to have the mindsets that will allow them to foster student growth: supportiveness, audacity, a knowledge of when to let students succeed or fail on their own.
One quality that is overlooked in particular in instrumental music might be a rational mind. For many, listening to and playing music is an emotional experience that occurs by feel. However, there is also much musical knowledge, both applied and theoretical, accessible through rational analysis. We often refer to good musicians as "talented" and good mathematicians as "intelligent." However, I do not see how an intelligent and inquiring mind could be anything but a boon as a musician. Music educators need to be aware of this so that they can help their students develop this aspect of their musicianship.
Based on my philosophy of music education, the goal of music education is for students to learn about their musical selves through reflection on musical experiences. Instrumental music is certainly an important type of music, and part of the instrumental music experience is playing an instrument, both alone and with others. Part of the task is giving the students the language for exploration, in this case, technique on the instrument(by this I mean the physical act of playing the instrument, not just right notes), ensemble skills, and so on. In order to have the experience of playing Holst's 1st Suite, one must be able to play Holst's 1st Suite. However, the technique is merely a tool. At the heart of matters, I want my students to be able, when they reflect on their musical experiences, to answer questions they find they have about the music and ultimately about themselves in relation to the music. Why is something good? Or sad? Or triumphant? The answers we arrive at tell us as much about ourselves as they do about the music in question. I want to give my students the tools to answer these questions for themselves and the music they encounter throughout their lives. In the case of instrumental music, this centers around the experience of participating in instrumental music.
Music should be included in the curriculum because it exists commonly in the world and is valued by people. It is difficult to say or demonstrate that music offers unique cognitive, physical, or social development that no other thing or combination of things offers. However, music is uniquely valued by people, and regardless of why, this makes it uniquely important. On a more practical level, whether unique or not, music education does offer many benefits. It prepares student to deal with music later in their lives by giving them tools to describe and explore music. Instrumental ensembles teach the important of both group work and individual responsibility. Music can promote Csíkszentmihályi's flow experiences. These are reasons that music education contributes to students' growth. However, it is also important to emphasize the things that music offers that cannot be replaced by something else: namely music. If music is valuable in the world then music education is valuable and should have a place in the curriculum.
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