Music Stands Alone

Music Stands Alone

by Brent McClain

AS AN ADMINISTRATOR, I have to determine how each subject, program, and decision effects the entire learning community. Music education is often debated as to what role it plays in the big picture of education. Is it just a supplement to the objectives of TAAS? Does music serve only to enhance the other subjects or can it stand alone? Is music a public relations entity, or does it have a curriculum that is as important as any other subject? I believe you probably have an idea of where your administrator aligns his/her options to these questions. Allow me to speak of some of the insights that I have learned behind my mountain of TAAS scores and budget items. I trust they may help in your relationship with your principal and in the development of your students.

An administrator’s worth is often based on the school’s performance on the TAAS test. Therefore, administrators are always planning and analyzing ways to raise the scores. There are some schools that align all subjects to the teaching of the TAAS. In those schools, during a scheduled amount of time, certain TAAS objectives are picked for teaching and assessing. Every teacher of every subject is then required to show how they taught those objectives. The art, library, computer, P.E., and music teachers must teach the TAAS objectives, even though the objectives are based only on the discipline content of mathematics and linguistics. Although to an administrator, this philosophy sounds good, it is detrimental to the development of the whole child. If we sequence the concepts and the music to fit the objectives of TAAS, then our students will never learn the skills needed to succeed as a musician. The music curriculum must stand alone. Yes, music enhances a student’s understanding of the TAAS objectives and develops higher thinking skills. Brain research continues to demonstrate that music is a major influence on higher thinking skills. The most recent study, “The Mozart Effect,” presented major findings that music helps to create mental circuits between neurons. The College Board prints yearly SAT scores of students who are involved in a music curriculum and compares their scores to the national and state average. Musicians consistently score higher than the average. Research supports what many music educators have known all along. Music is valuable, not as a supplement to a test, but as a major component to a complete person. Therefore, I encourage all music teachers not to subjugate the curriculum to meet the needs of a single test.

If you tell an administrator that the music curriculum stands alone, then you must be sure that the curriculum is of the highest quality and that the administrator knows what quality is. We expect our administrators to know what a second grade student should be capable of doing in math and reading. Therefore, he/she should understand which age-appropriate concepts should be learned for each grade level in music. If they don’t know, it is imperative for you to tell them and show them. Otherwise you continue the ignorance and uncomfortable feelings that are often evident in administrators who do not know about music and its worth. Often administrators shy away from the music room because they feel insecure in evaluating something for which they feel unqualified. You must overcome their insecurities and make them qualified. You will gain more respect for your hard work and more support when an administrator understands what is expected in the curriculum and your classroom.

The music curriculum should incorporate the teachings of Kodaly and Orff. The most recent textbooks include strategies from both approaches that require active participation from both students and teachers. If an administrator walks into the music room and consistently sees the students sitting in chairs with books in their hands and the taped music playing, then he/she should begin to doubt the worth of the music program as an enhancer to the whole school program. Your administrator should see teaching that is participatory. The students should be singing a capella, as is traditional with folk music. Singing should rarely be accompanied by a soundtrack. Administrators will find value in your program when they see rhythms created, instruments played, folk music danced, quality music heard, and play parties partied. Concepts should be masterfully linked to one another so that the students’ progress is an age-appropriate sequence that is exciting and meaningful to the student. If your music curriculum is sequenced to the objectives of TAAS and consists of mostly educational songs that go along with the subjects studied in the classroom, then the need for a full-paid music teacher is lessened and questioned.

A trained administrator can tell the quality of their music curriculum based on the PTA programs. I have seen two kinds PTA programs: those that are purchased from a book and contain special parts, costumes, and taped music; and those that are developed out of the classroom curriculum. Both programs are capable of bringing in a large crowd of parents, but they have a different effect on the students.

As an administrator, I have always viewed the programs developed from a book as a public relations show. These are the large-scale programs that are often dazzling and cute. The programs take away valuable class time in order to prepare. The songs often require voice leadings or rhythms that are not age appropriate for the students’ development. The performances are usually aided by taped music. The students have little control over the quality of the music, since they are not making the music but merely following the music. The leading roles go to the students that have a “natural” talent for music, while the other students are used for choreography and singing. During and after a “store bought” performance, I notice the faces of parents. Their facial expressions are ones of happiness and admiration. I usually hear comments like, “That was a cute show,” or “Those kids sure can sing.” The show may be a success in the eyes of parents, but will it prepare them for singing four-part harmony in their high school choir?

The PTA program that is developed from the classroom curriculum has a completely different focus or vision. Since the program is developed from a Kodaly or Orff-based curriculum, the instruction and development of age-appropriate concepts do not have to stop. Musical concepts are still presented in sequence. Students simply perform a concert demonstrating the skills they have mastered in the classroom. The students play the rhythms, dance the dances, and sing the songs. Taped music is never used. Instead, the students joyfully make music on their own. During the performance of this style of program, I also watch the parents. I again see facial expressions of happiness and admiration. Yet, the comments are different. “I am amazed at the ability of these children to play instruments, or sing in harmony, or do complex rhythms and dances.” I also hear, “I didn’t know my Johnny had such a talent for music.” There is pride in the parents’ language. Johnny may not have a “natural” talent for music, but he was trained through a logical sequence of concepts which enabled him to master the musical objectives. If the curriculum has a purpose and a vision, then the program will show evidence of the quality instruction that is taking place in the classroom.

Administrators need to be surrounded by people that have a clear mission. You are the only one that can reveal the importance of music to your administrator. You are valuable. Be proactive and train your administrator. Do not lessen yourself, the curriculum, and most importantly, the child in order to teach a test. The music curriculum stands alone. All children deserve an opportunity for success. You are their developer. Create a whole child.

McClain is Assistant Principal at Effie Morris Elementary in the Lake Worth ISD and a former elementary music teacher.

References:

1. Campbell, Don (1997). ”The Mozart Effect: Trapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit,” New York: Avon Books.

2. College Board Profile of College Bound Seniors, 1997.