organizations of musicians alone. Participation in state and national organizations interested in the total school program is vitally important in these times. Organizations such as the International Conference for Exceptional Children and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development are with others concerned with music in the curriculum. They are interested in music and offer the music educator the chance to make a great contribution to his profession. I believe that one of the greatest contributions the late Peter Dykema made to music education was his contacts with other professional education groups. In his long career he was called upon many times to advise superintendents and curriculum directors because they had learned of him and had become acquainted with him at their meetings. If music is to be a dynamic force in the changing educational pattern we must show an active interest in the other organizations dedicated to the advancement of education. Perhaps we spend too much of our time trying to convince our colleagues in music education of the value and place of music in education. It behooves the teacher of music to have broad educational interests, both for the sake of his own professional growth and that of his music program. In the process such participation will not only make him a better teacher, but will also provide maximum benefits for the girls and boys for whom the school exists.
I have placed great hope in the teacher as being the key to greater things to come in the teaching of music to girls and boys. Good teaching is a high order of service to humanity. The teaching profession deals not primarily with things or commodities, it deals with human beings—human beings of varying interests, talents, and abilities. All of these humans look for guidance and inspiration. Through you music can contribute significantly to the life of the child and the adult, whether through an individual experience or through a social opportunity.
In the junior and senior high schools we work with adolescents whose emotional characteristics and rapid emotional changes must be sympathetically understood by the teacher of music. The teacher must be fully aware of the possibilities for the release of emotional tensions through music. Because of his understanding of his pupils, the teacher will select music with care and regard for the sensitivities of his pupils.
The adolescent needs to know that someone has an interest in him and is ready to help him in his successes and with his problems. “A child learns best when his failures are viewed constructively by a teacher who likes and respects him, and when appropriate remedial or corrective measures are worked out with him.” From an article by Camilla M. Low in the N.E.A. Journal, January 1955, pp. 17-20. The instrumental and choral groups and the General Music classes, under the guidance of teachers who cherish human service, can ideally provide for experiences in music which emphasize human values as well as musical values.
Human values and human resources are of the greatest importance in democratic education. One aspect of music work
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which is particularly dedicated to human service is the field of music therapy. The distinction between music education and music therapy is primarily one of purpose and consequent application. The contributions which music therapy can make to our knowledge of the effect of music on human beings is of vital importance to the music educator. I am pleased to report to you that music educators are becoming increasingly interested in music therapy and that we can look for things of importance in that field to be brought to our attention.
Dedication to human service by the teacher brings about stability in employment, for the teacher must stay with the job long enough to bring about the changes we strive for. In staying with the job the teacher of music becomes a respected member of a school team composed of administrators, teachers, students, and parents who unite to bring better things through music to boys and girls.
Teachers dedicated to the teaching of music have made music education. I think of Peter Dykema, Karl Gehrkens, Russell Morgan, Edith Keller, the Aikens, .Io Leeder, Mabelle Glenn, Edgar Gordon. There are many more. I mention these because some in the audience have had the opportunity to know these people and work with them. We need leaders in music education today, the leadership of many. I have no patience with those who feel that the era of personalities in music education is over and that it is good to be past that part of our history. When we have the enthusiasm for music education of our great leaders, when Susie Jones in the smallest of our schools realizes her true importance in music education, when Sam Smith working in the instrumental field realizes that he can do a great service to education through music, then music education in the total school program will become a dynamic force in the lives of boys and girls. Each of you has a great potential in this wonderful field of ours. What is better than to dedicate our lives to the teaching of music to the youth of this nation! The music education of boys and girls is in your hands. Approach it in a positive manner, approach it creatively, seek new and better ways of bringing music into the lives of the youth of America. Let all of us in this profession unite for the advancement of music in education. We are more than choral directors, orchestra or band directors. We are proud to be Music Educators.
personal attention
performance opportunities
www.wmich.edu/music
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