Music Education Advocacy

Dear fellow teachers,

The best advocacy for music education is an outstanding music program in your school.

Music education faces many challenges these days, from over-produced, auto-tuned sounds on the radio to deep budget cuts in our schools. In many ways we teach a lost art (or at least a lost medium: acoustic instruments, voice included), and the best way to preserve what we love is to create the highest quality program possible for music instruction in our school systems. I recently asked a fellow band director and mentor how he gained parental support for the band program in his first years. He said, "Kid pressure is different from teacher pressure." If your students are loving band, choir, orchestra, or guitars, etc., they will be some of your best advocates. In short, he was telling me that the true key to success is plain good teaching in the classroom. Without that, you have nothing to advocate. Our first priority has to be the quality of our teaching and our programs.

Beyond our own teaching and programs, we can advocate music by taking it upon ourselves to do some of the following non-musical tasks:

1.) Educate administrators and faculty that music is recognized as a core academic subject. http://www.artslearning.org/files/Arts%20Education%20Letter%20Secretary%20Duncan.pdf
http://www.artsusa.org/networks/arts_education/arts_education_015.asp

2.) Give "informances" that teach audiences the benefits of studying music. Show the audience (parents) that there is more to your ensemble than just play, and they will have a greater appreciation for what you do.

3.) Give back to the community by playing music at rest homes and school and community functions.

4.) Help students use their talents as an asset when applying for college.

5.) Share your own reasons for loving music and being a music teacher.

The brunt of the effort of advocating music really rests on our shoulders - as it should! If you have any ideas, questions, comments, or requests concerning music advocacy in the SCKMEA district, please contact me with your input through advocacy@sckmea.org

Jordan Northerns