Advocacy: Use it or William W. Gourley
It seems the band or orchestra educator’s job is never done. Keeping up with budget, festival and association deadlines, preparing programs, booster meetings, repairs, moving chairs and stands, testing, grading and keeping the office and rehearsal rooms presentable fill the days. Where does one find time to promote the value of music?
In spite of the many successes a program enjoys, we cannot escape the importance of advocacy as an integral pillar of a successful music program. The music industry has realized its importance for over two decades. The Gemeinhardt Report of the late 1970’s emphasized the importance of keeping the community aware of the benefits of music participation. Instrument manufacturers have watched as music programs have come under attack throughout the country during the past 25 years and have sought to bring the advocacy message to the music education community.
The pressures on music programs across the country are varied. Increased core curriculum testing by states, a demand for higher academic achievement, our continual perceived diminished academic standing worldwide, a demand for more instructional time for core subjects, block scheduling, budget shortages; all affect music programs across the country as they do in Michigan.
Schools have had to make some difficult decisions that negatively impact music programs. In November I received a phone call from a middle school director in one of Michigan’s historically strong band programs. The district made the decision to have middle school band cut back to every other day to accommodate more instructional time in the core areas. The faculty and administration valued the music program but felt it was the only choice they could make to create more time for core classes hoping to improve their standardized test scores.
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Students with coursework/experience in music performance scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT and 39 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework or experience in the arts.
-Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, 1998.
Studying music strengthens students’ academic performance. Studies have indicated that sequential, skill-building instruction in art and music integrated with the rest of the curriculum can greatly improve children’s performance in reading and math.
-Martin Gradner, Alan Fox, Faith Knowles and Donna Jeffrey, “Learning Improved by Arts Training,” Nature, May 23, 1996
When researchers analyzed the NELS-88 database of the U.S. Department of Education, which tracked 25,000 students over a ten year period, they discovered that students who were involved in music scored higher on standardized tests and reading tests than students not taking music courses. This finding was consistent for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
-Dr. James Catterall, UCLA, 1997
Educated in the art of music making and teaching, we as music educators are unaware or reluctant to get involved in the business aspects of music education. We rely too heavily on music selling itself based upon its inherent artistic value. We understand it, so should the general public. Kids are happy, the band or orchestra sounds good, and the students do well at festivals year after year. We have a strong program, the community and administration support music so we feel we can let inertia continue its course. Marketing music is the modus operandi of the P. T. Barnums and Harold Hills of the world where the promotion is bigger than the product. We, as artists, are above that. We are about the art. So, we continue to produce fine programs feeling all is well. Inertia.
Remember what you learned in physics class about Newton’s first law of motion, inertia. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest, objects in motion stay in motion at the same speed and same direction, unless they are acted upon by another force.
We need to look to industry to help us in the continued success for music programs. Coca-Cola, McDonalds, General Motors, Disney, all enjoy the largest market share in their respective markets. They have inertia. Still, they market their products as if every day was the first day on the market for their product..
They constantly advocate (market) their product to varied audiences. Disney markets to children to introduce them to the product and to parents to remind them how much fun they had as children so they will take their children. They also market to older adults to remind them of the joys they had as children going to Disneyland, how, as parents, they enjoyed taking their children, and how great it would be to go on their own, without parents or children. GM doesn’t assume you know the benefits of their product over Ford or Chrysler. Coca-Cola and McDonalds continually market an image and the value of their products over the competitions’.
These companies all did well for the longest time until that acted upon by another force thing. GM’s inertia changer was the Japanese imports. Coke’s other force was Pepsi (remember that New Coke fiasco?). Mickey Ds’ is fighting off Wendy’s, Burger King, et al. The smart companies realize the importance of, not only product, but keeping their message out front. They were able to minimize damage because they marketed their product through good times to stay ahead rather than waiting until that Another Force thing came along to create rough times
Successful businesses understand the importance of developing and maintaining their message to the consumer. They know that attitudes are changed slowly, through
May/June 2011
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