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Date Posted: 13:31:29 04/01/06 Sat
Author: Derek
Subject: Teaching to the Performance

One of the biggest issues "No Child Left Behind" has left for teachers to face is the fact that their students need to be ready for test after test after test. Education is no longer retained in the long run -- students simply study the material and churn it back out for the tests, and nobody remembers what they studied a week after the test is over. Teaching has become centered around taking tests instead of learning the material for the sole purpose of learning for learning's sake. We now seem to "teach to the test" more than ever before.

Something that has been on my mind for the past several weeks is the fear that music education will soon be led down that same path, and music teachers will soon be lost to that same style of teaching. Here's why:

1) In my junior block of teaching, I've observed specific events unfolding over the past several weeks at a particular school district in which the school board has decided to shut down an entire elementary school and cut teachers like crazy. The cooperating teacher I'm with teaches at one elementary school, and apparently there's another elementary school and a high school within the same district. Because of budget concerns and funding problems, the board has had to cut back considerably on jobs. The high school band director has been cut, as well as 11 or more teachers from around the area (I can't remember the numbers exactly, but I do know that one of the elementary schools will be shut down next year)... For my cooperating teacher, this means a lot of changes will have to take place within the next year -- including scheduling changes, job "expansions," and classroom re-arrangements. Luckily, the music program at that school is highly favored by the principal so there won't be too many problems for my teacher. (Basically, I think the board cut teachers according to their experience in the system, and seniority helped my teacher maintain that job.)

Here's my concern: Once we get out into the field, we'll come to the realization that schools all over are having budget problems -- and we'll have to do everything we can to maintain the prestige of our own music programs. Not all principals or school boards will be as supportive of the music department as the one I've just witnessed. Therefore, teachers will have to do everything they can to make their performances top notch. Am I right in thinking that we'll have to maintain support for the music department by primarily providing excellent concerts and performances??? Is that, in fact, the way most schools work nowadays??? If so, it's a sad state to be in, because we'll start teaching to the performance -- JUST like the other teachers teach to the test.

2) Even now, in the school that I'm at -- where there aren't any problems between the board and the music department -- it seems as though the rehearsals are geared primarily for the performance.

Here's my concern: No matter what we do or how well supported we are, I have a feeling that music education will continue to be looked down upon by the average school boards. In today's world, music teachers have to fight for their right to survive. Even though studies are coming out on how important music education is for the everyday child, the average principal will still base everything off of how well their music department performs. It's sad, but true. No matter what we do, won't people always judge us by our concerts????

How can we avoid this type of thinking in the future??? It's important to focus on performances, but it's just as important to focus on teaching the students music. Granted, if we focus on teaching our students the musical skills first, it'll carry over into the performances (it has to)... But how can we avoid the trap of thinking we need to "teach to the performance," especially if school districts judge how well we teach the kids by how well we perform the concerts? And if schools continue having financial problems, are we going to have to face changing our teaching philosophy just to maintain a career???

As bad as all this might sound, I fear that in about 40 years that's precisely where we'll be with music education if things don't start improving...

In short, what else is there to do? If everybody else in the world judges music education by how well we perform, how are we supposed to tell our students otherwise???

Say, for example, we teach our students various scales, proper balance, and intonation... the kids go home and their parents ask if the band or choir is ready for the performance next Friday night and the students tell 'em no, we're not really working on that right now. A lot of the parents are then going to wonder what we're doing teaching their kids... Is that a feasible scenario for the future???

WHAT DO WE DO? Teach to the performances? (I hope not)

Help me please... lol (there're just so many little things to think about now that I'm actually in the field... Ooyyy)

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Replies:

[> Re: Teaching to the Performance -- Devin Bramel, 09:29:13 04/03/06 Mon [1]

Derek, you bring up a number of good points that we as soon-to-be-educators will undoubtedly have to face. An idea that just occurred to me is that, in order for parents to actually see the learning taking place, we could hold open rehearsals that parents and community members could attend. This way, the community would have the opportunity to see the process of the learning, and not just the end result.
Another thought that occurred to me as I was thinking about this same thing is how the music teacher is in a unique position when it comes to community evaluation of their performance as a teacher. For example, math teachers do not have a special "performance" in which parents and community can come and evalutate the learning that has taken place. The only way to judge the performance of teachers in these areas is through assessment that does not involve observation on the part of the parents. Thus, the ordinary classroom teacher does not have to worry about an entire community evaluating their performance at a single time, as do music teachers.
Just some thoughts.


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[> Re: Teaching to the Performance -- Erika, 14:21:54 04/06/06 Thu [1]

I understand what you are saying about teaching and learning for tests. I also realize that in the future music could end up the same way. In my high school we actually had the open rehearsals that Devin mentioned. On certain dates our parents and other community members were invited to sit in our rehearsals and watch. We did this all four years that I was in school and we all became familiar with this idea. It was a good idea because everyone was able to see and hear us weeks before the concert and then hear us again at the concert. My parents said numerous times that they could see improvement in all the ensembles. I believe open rehearsals are one way we can let parents and the community see and hear the learning that is taking place.


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