wisconsin advocates for music education
Strategies for Advocacy in a Changing World Kristin Tjornehoj, WAME Member, Hudson
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The New Normal Means Constant Change Teachers must reinvent themselves if they want to survive. Changing how you operate is a challenge and requires self-reflection and awareness. What are other teachers doing to communicate with students and parents, community members and colleages? Often a music teacher will focus solely on the students and the product with the thought that if the concerts are good, we have achieved success. Perhaps this worked in the days of solid economic stability and flourishing educational waves. These times are gone. The fanfare that kept music programs safe in the past has fallen flat. Performance
practices used to be assessed by the con- cert or product students presented for the school. This kind of assessment is not measurable or acceptable in the current educational climate.
What is a Teacher to Do?
Success depends at least as much on the quality of the communication and deci- sions leaders make and execute as it does on the quality of your program. Music is difficult, yet not impossible to sell to leaders in difficult economic times. It may be that the strategic priority for your school is to satisfy the required standards and simply survive this difficult economy. Music? Does the class that students enjoy
really have benefits worth the cost, time and effort? How do you justify the high school programs that serve only a small percentage of the student population? How do you advocate for music education?
Visibility is Key for Any Music Program Gathering creativity and innovation is crucial for all students but easily visible by music students. Improvisation is a key part of creativity as is composing and creating. How do you share this informa- tion? Do you have statistics to back up your experience and feelings? There was a time when music teachers celebrated the spirit of community and joy that can result with students and parents who witness the wholeness music provides. If there is only eight percent of the student body in your high school music classes, how can this matter? Survival today requires visibility. Where can you find this information with accurate and reliable data? Try the new and revised advocacy information on the Wisconsin Music Educators Association web site at
www.wmeamusic.org.
What Drives Your Performance? Does the curriculum drive your perfor- mance? Do you choose musical selections you simply love to teach? What kind of research is employed to create a long range quality plan that serves all students? Your organizational structure results in better performances only if it improves the ability to make others believe in your program. Do others believe what you offer is critical to the development of the stu- dents? Do your musicians serve the greater community and make the school proud of their accomplishments? What data have you gathered on the success of your graduates? If you were asked to justify your productivity, cost and effectiveness could you? Are parents, students, staff and community members surveyed to help you
42 January 2011
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