Abstract
Prepare to Handle Multiple Roles
Emily Dawn Slaton’s piece on the budget crisis in music education [September 2012 Music Educators Journal] was most interesting to read, particularly from one so young. Slaton states that there are “fewer schools hiring music teachers and that very little is being done at the university/college level to combat the problem facing our schools.” She is correct in her assessment. She asserts that “music teachers are losing their jobs because schools cannot afford to keep them.” My observation is that many schools cannot afford to keep a vocal teacher, an orchestra director, and a band director. Here is where, I believe, that some teacher training institutions are failing their music students. If colleges are preparing music education majors in the same way that they were a dozen years or more ago, then that may be the problem.
Principals and superintendents assume that if one has a music degree, then he or she can teach music, much like the mathematics and history teachers can teach their respective subjects. The attitude that “I can’t teach vocal music because I am an instrumental major” or “I can’t teach instrumental music because my major was in vocal music” has no place in today’s education market.
If you are a music education major and you really want to be marketable, then you must have piano skills. I recently visited a school that has installed a piano lab so that all K–8 students can attain some working knowledge of the keyboard. The teacher also taught instrumental, vocal, and general music. There are other schools that offer guitar classes, music theory, and composition classes using appropriate instructional software. In addition, the teacher needs to be familiar with choral techniques, languages, and diction. Today’s prospective teachers need to know orchestral and band literature, something about jazz, how to put on a musical, and how to teach general music to all age-groups. This sounds like a lot, and it is! Those colleges/universities preparing music educators that really want to see their students land a music position need to design their curricula so that students have these skills. Students should not be permitted to graduate until they are proficient in the mentioned areas.
There is much more to teaching music than directing a band, orchestra, or choir. My advice to music education majors is this: Get as much experience in all of these areas as you can if you truly want to work. To limit oneself to only one of these specialized music areas is to also limit your chances of landing a job. There are already too many arts people working in areas for which they had little preparation simply because they could not find work in their very narrow area of specialization.
Most colleges and universities are preparing their students the best that they are able to with the faculty and resources that are available. It would seem, then, that the student has some responsibility in his or her own music education. In today’s world, it isn’t enough to just be an instrumental or vocal major. School administrators are looking for teachers who can do it all. Students must avail themselves of as many musical experiences as possible. Do not follow one narrow path that will probably lead you nowhere when interviewing for a music position.
Slaton quotes columnist Dave Kindred as suggesting that our great universities are cutting corners in favor of athletics over academics, and this may be happening in grade schools as well. I’m not certain that this is true. Many school systems have dropped physical education requirements, curtailed arts classes, and cut vocational subjects. I do agree with Slaton’s suggestion that community advocacy is important in support of the arts. Arts teachers can foster this support by speaking to parent and community groups. As Slaton so aptly states, “we as individuals and members of the public have to take it upon ourselves to bring the benefits of music education to the attention of lawmakers and administrations alike.” Most of today’s curricula help students to get along in the outside world. The arts and, more specifically, music, help nurture our inner self—our emotional self. Heaven knows, we need that today more than ever.
Professor emeritus,
Cuyahoga Community College,
Cleveland, Ohio;
A Good Question …
Thank you for printing the challenging and thought-provoking article by David Elliott in the September issue of MEJ. Elliott brings up many good points that we, as music teachers, should be constantly considering. Questions about why we teach our subject and what we hope our students take from us should always be on our minds if we are to be truly effective teachers. I have read a number of Elliott’s writings in the past three years and have greatly benefited from asking myself some of the questions posed by him and others of like mind.
After reading the article, I was a bit taken back by the editor’s note at the end, stating that the views expressed “may not concur with those of NAfME.” As a member, I am curious—which ideas presented by Elliott are not in alignment with the views of NAfME?
Band, choral, and general music teacher,
Hardyston Middle School,
Hamburg, New Jersey;
MEJ Academic Editor Patrick K. Freer Responds:
Hello Jeff,
Thank you for your note and for reading MEJ so carefully! I am pleased that you found David Elliott’s article to be useful. The statement that followed Elliott’s article is the same as has appeared in the first few iterations of our new column “Another Perspective.” I can see how you had the reaction that you mentioned, but I assure you that no such conflict has ever arisen. In fact, members of the MEJ review committees are specifically instructed that they cannot reject a manuscript based on the point of view alone.
Beginning with the December issue, the statement accompanying the “Another Perspective” column reads: “Note: Contributions to the ‘Another Perspective’ column are invited by the Music Educators Journal Academic Editor and are reviewed by the MEJ Editorial and Advisory Committees.”
Associate professor of choral music education,
Georgia State University in Atlanta;
Music Therapists’ Contributions
I was excited to see so many articles in the September 2012 Music Educators Journal addressing topics surrounding having students with disabilities in the music education classroom. With the push toward inclusion, it is vital for all music educators to be knowledgeable of the resources available within their professional organizations and school districts and of how the law can support them in their efforts to provide the least restrictive environment to their students. I was somewhat disappointed with Joseph Abramo’s article “Disability in the Classroom: Current Trends and Impacts on Music Education” (Vol. 99, No. 1, Sept. 2012). I am assuming that in his research to find resources and answer questions about working with students with disabilities, he disregarded music therapy as a profession and the role that a music therapist can play in a public school setting.
Music therapy is defined as the “clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program” (American Music Therapy Association, 2011), has been sanctioned by the National Association of Schools of Music, and has passed a national board certification examination. This specialist uses music to benefit individuals from birth to end of life using the elements of music to reach nonmusical objectives related to the individual’s needs. In addition, IDEA lists music therapy as a related service to assist with achieving education goals if the student has music therapy listed in his or her Individualized Education Program (IEP). Music therapists can also act as consultants to teachers, administrators, and other professional staff in a school environment. It is evident from Abramo’s article that he has not worked with music therapists, nor is he knowledgeable about their area of expertise.
Music therapists are employed throughout the United States, assisting not only classroom teachers, but music educators as well in a joint effort to enhance the music-learning experience of students and to provide more comprehensive benefits to those with disabilities in the school setting. For more information about music therapy, your readers are welcome to visit the American Music Therapy Association website at www.musictherapy.org.
(Music Therapist–Board Certified)
Neurologic music therapist;
Ohio University graduate assistant;
Athens County (ATCO) vocal choir director,
Athens, Ohio;
Author Joseph Abramo responds:
I am pleased to find a response to my article “Disability in the Classroom: Current Trends and Impacts on Music Education” (Music Educators Journal, Vol. 99, No. 1, Sept. 2012). I appreciate Stephanie Morris’s comments, as they provide an opportunity for me to clarify and expand upon some of the issues I wished to raise with my article.
Music therapists are valuable members of the medical, musical, and educational communities. As Morris points out, they provide unique services that are for the betterment of young and old with and without disabilities. They unselfishly devote their vocations to individuals who need attention and support.
Despite these positive contributions, I consciously did not attend to music therapists’ role in education for several reasons. First, although collaborations between educators and therapists are beneficial, unfortunately the large majority of schools do not employ music therapists, making collaboration with educators difficult and often impossible. Music educators also have little decision-making power in the hiring of music therapists. Second, the American Music Therapy Association defines music therapy as a “health profession” (http://www.musictherapy.org/about/quotes/) and notes that its modern origins are in World War II veterans hospitals and that contemporary music therapy continues mostly in medical facilities (http://www.musictherapy.org/faq/#41). As I hoped to convey in my article, I wanted educators to imagine and explore “social model” definitions of disability rather than the prevailing “medical model” of disability. This is not to say that music therapists don’t care deeply about the social issues that surround disability, but to acknowledge that modern music therapy is founded on medical definitions of disability.
It is my hope that music therapists and educators will continue this dialogue. As Morris and the many other professionals who wear both hats suggest, each field can learn much from the other.
Assistant clinical professor of music education,
Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut,
Storrs;
Letters to the Editor
Were you inspired, entertained, or annoyed by something you read in Music Educators Journal? MEJ academic editor Patrick K. Freer would be interested to know what you think. Please send your comments to him at