A Strong, Unified Voice through Professional Organizations
Professional organizations have multiple func- tions within music education. Te strength created through the development of profession- al networks can advance goals within music education. Tis column is a call to action for music educators to connect with colleagues and become activists for music education through participation in professional organizations. Tis article will briefly discuss how professional orga- nizations influence policy change at the National and local level, and will conclude with examples of how individuals can become more involved with professional organizations.
Similar to labor unions like Te American Federation of Teachers and Te National Educa- tion Association, professional organizations are an integral part of the education policy making process within the United States (Oper, Young, & Fusareli, 2008). As one of the largest music ed- ucation professional organizations, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) has the potential to impact education policy-mak- ing. For example, in order to influence policies centered on teacher evaluation, NAfME del- egates met with congressional leaders in the Department of Education (Robinson, 2015). Te organization’s participation in policy develop- ment at the national level is possible because of a consolidated and extensive membership in all fiſty states.
In addition to NAfME, there are organizations at the local and state level that can influence music education policy like the Michigan Music Education Association (MMEA), Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MS- BOA), Michigan School Vocal Music Associa- tion (MSVMA), and Michigan Chapter of the American String Teacher Association (MASTA) through membership and teacher involvement. Tese organizations provide a platform in which to connect members through professional devel- opment and volunteer opportunities. Members of these organizations are able to attend and participate in a variety of conferences and work-
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shops. In addition, members can contribute to the profession by taking on leadership positions within their organization.
Professional organizations can impact decisions in policy making and community engagement to foster support of music education. In regards to advocating for music education, Michael Mark (2005) states, “We cannot expect policy makers, at least not all of them, to understand why the work that we do as music educators is important to our students, our communities, our nations, and to civilization.” If policy makers are unable to fully understand our needs as music educa- tors, then we must ensure that our voices are heard by being united within our professional organizations.
An example of how a unified and collective voice can impact music education can be seen in the response of state organizations and individuals to the proposed elimination of music education in Lansing. Due to budget concerns, the Lansing School District decided to drastically cut the art, physical education, and music education program in 2013, which sparked an outcry from arts organizations, teachers, community mem- bers, and parents as they sought to overturn the decision. Te Arts Council of Greater Lansing condemned the district’s decisions by stating, “… We believe the elimination of any highly quali- fied art and music educators to be unacceptable” (Shaw, 2015). Te Lansing School District super- intendent received several phone calls from arts groups from around the state inquiring about the drastic cuts (Wells, 2013). With increased district funds, the Lansing School District was able to restore their music education programs for 4th-6th grade students (Wolcott, 2017). Without pressure from concerned individuals, the Lansing community and statewide arts orga- nizations, the reinstatement of music education, at least in some capacity, may not have occurred. Te influence of professional organizations can also be seen in policy changes within our state. In 2017 the Michigan Department of Education
Policy & Advocacy
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