Advocacy from the Start Kevin Tutt
Advocacy, an oſten used word in arts education. Many music educators are frequently asked by various stakeholders to develop advocacy plans, advocate for their programs, or defend against funding cuts through advocacy state- ments. Tose requests can come at the very last moment in response to sudden changes in local, state, and national politics that threaten to eliminate support for the arts. Te best ad- vocacy, however, starts at the beginning, before decision makers implement changes to existing programs. Our recent policy focus as an associ- ation has been on state and national events that relate to music education, but our members continually report challenges with local sup- port. Tis column is intended to provide some suggestions for local advocacy initiatives. No advocacy plan will be perfect and unchanging, but successful plans will have some common elements. Te ideas presented here should not be seen as ordered steps, but rather interdepen- dent components which every music educator can adjust, improve, and implement throughout her career.
Be a good musician. Students must receive accurate content and see appropriate models of musical excellence as appropriate to the genre of music they are studying. Setting a positive, accurate model of all music genres is essential to our instruction being valued by society. We need not be active performers, but we should be knowledgeable about what we teach, and constantly seek to increase or refine our mu- sical understanding and abilities in order to benefit our students.
Be a comprehensive educator. Know the prac- tice of education. Speak the language of fellow educators, and be able to describe your con- tent to them in that language. Be prepared to address current issues in education, including government policy initiatives which impact educational quality. Know your school’s mis- sion, goals, and philosophy and have a personal understanding of how your music classes fit into and address those priorities.
Have a clear message. Make sure you can plain- ly define what your goals are for students in music and how your instruction helps students attain those goals. Make sure that you can tie those goals and instructional techniques to pro- fessional standards in your school and beyond, in both the discipline of music and the general practice of education. Your reasoning should be based on appropriate data, educational knowledge, and grounded beliefs about music, teaching, and music teaching. Be able to explain to others why music study is important to your students, the school, your local community and society at large. Be absolutely sure your mes- sage provides a clear answer to the questions of “Why music?” and “How music?”.
Te previous items are the core parts of an advocacy plan, as the quality of what we do cer- tainly influences the level of support we receive. We acknowledge, however, that quality music instruction is not always valued without some advocacy on behalf of that instruction. Com- municating our successes and needs to a wider audience should help strengthen local support for music education while increasing awareness of state and national concerns. Te subsequent elements of this column are suggestions on how to achieve that goal and develop the support for music education from everyone.
Create a network of supporters. Identify those individuals who are crucial to program support. Tis network should certainly include engaged and successful students, who have enjoyed and benefited from your music instruction, and their parents/guardians, who have first-hand knowledge of your students’ triumphs, oppor- tunities, and delights in studying music. Te building principal, superintendent, and school board members are undoubtedly important to your network, but so are your non-music colleagues, your local and state government officials, community members, and members of the media. Alumni of your program – at any level – can also be very influential, as they can share unique stories of how elements of your program were beneficial to them as students and in subsequent aspects of their lives.
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Advocacy & Policy
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