I went to the MENC at TCNJ convention with my bestfriend who is going to another University. As we went through our day and talk alot about our career goals, it became apparent that she was less prepared and even though I transfered from a County College and she went directly to a four year school, it seem that her school lacked her in preparing her mentally and preparing her in her resume. Although it does not affect me at all, it does concern me as to what are the futures of Music Educators in America.Since Music is so subjective and in the gray area, it is critical to have as much knowledge as possible but what if University are not doing this? It is like the article that we read with Dr. Abrahams on wed. Some people cannot afford to go to great Universities and sometimes because of the low pay in other University,sometimes the quality is not so great either. Is is the perpetuation of quality vs the money we can afford to lose to gain quality.
I Believe money plays a big role in education ( which is very sad) and reading the article reminded me of some expriences although brief, that I have shared. What are your thoughts about money affecting Music Education? What can we do to help and still making a living during recession( not to mention money for Gas, Food and Rent which are the highest cost of living nationally)?
Things to think about: Cost of private lessons, instruments, instrument repair, rentals, music, books, things to maintain instruments, health care ( this is most crucial for singers),etc. Although there may not be a "right" answer, we could find ways to cope.
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Money, obviously, is what makes the world go round, and to have a good music program that has the marching band and the show choir and the jazz ensemble and the annual trips to Disney and the tours in Europe would require great sums of money. I know people that have been part of those rich programs, and among them (excuse me for being condescending) are the worst musicians that I know. For me, the quality of a music education program is not directly related to the amount of money in its budget.
At my high school, we had a concert band that doubled as the marching band and a concert choir. Until my junior year, that was it until I founded a jazz band (which promptly floundered when I graduated). I don't mean to sound full of myself, but I would say that I am a good musician - much better than many that came from the rich programs that I knew. My point is that although money is a nice thing to have, it is not necessary to have an enriching and inspiring education.
I definitely agree with Chad. My school wasn't really even a school. We were an "alternative program" that the county recognized, affectionately called "Hippie High." We were given some funding from the county, but not enough. We had crappy books and crappy buildings, but it was funny because we were the happiest community out of the four high schools in the county.
The music program basically sucked until my choir teacher came to the school, a couple years before I got there. Because of this inspiring leader, fund raising programs and such things were started. He wanted to make the program better, no matter how much work it took, and now it's one of the best high school music programs in the state. What I'm saying is that just because it wasn't a rich school doesn't mean that it had to have a crappy music program.
I feel that if your heart isn't in what you are doing than no amount of money will be able to change a less than standard outcome. Priveleged students and those that go to the more run down schools both have the same chances in life. It will just be harder for the students in the poorer school to succeed, however, once they do so they will probablly be happier with what they have accomplished as opposed those that didn't push themselves as hard. Money is not everything. If that statement were false than how do you account for the "starving artist?"
I went to a "rich school." more or less... I don't really know what to say about it besides, it did give us really good oportunities. Our school's orchestra was one of the best in the state. We were one of the largest represented schools at districts and had numerous students continue to states in all music concentrations.
Because we were a wealthy school we were able to be picky about the staff and facilities and become a "blue ribbon school." Which basically meant we sucked up more of the state's budget for ourselves.
Ok, I'm ranting.
Basically what I meant to say is that even though we were a "rich" school with resources, we still pulled out some good musicians.
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BUT now that I think about it. all of the musicians I know from high school had PRIVATE LESSONS. hmm...
In the same statement that Chad and Molly noted, I'm in the persuasion that it is most definately plausible and possible to provide a great music education without the budgeted money for trips, etc. Coming from a public school that considered the arts and the athletics the "anchors" of he school, these things obviously help though.
That being said, I totally agreed with what Lucas Ciavatti said at one point during the O Passo weekend- "If you build it, they will come". As Lucas said, if you prove to the community/principal/board of ed/whoever the very best for the students (not specifically the best or the best performance wise), eventually funds will start coming in because the higher-ups will want to be involved. I can't help but think of the one parent of one of the kids from The Langely School walking into his kid's first concert, seeing how much his child was involved and completely absorbed in the music, and then changing his stance on the music program as a whole. Obviously, no one's going to turn the entire world on its head in one night or even a couple of years, but I do think that "building it" will bring positive attention to your program.
I think that part of being a good music teacher is being able to work things out on a budget. We need to budget our time and our resources. We need to be creative on how to raise funds for the things that we want to do be it a trip or buying better music for the classroom. It's all about being creative and working with what you already have. If you need something extra then you have to figure out how to get it on your own. Make friends with the parents. Once you have established strong bonds with them they should be willing to at least help fund raise for their child to go on a trip to perform at a competition. I just feel that as a music educator you should look at things through a different spectrum and make the best with what you have. I think that most of the time, because we are being creative, the students will be able to prosper.
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