secondary general music
So What is Secondary General Music? A Survey, Some Data and a Little Analysis Eli Grover, WMEA State Chair, Secondary General Music
Introduction
Since starting as WMEA secondary general music chair in 2021, a question has been nagging me – What is sec- ondary general mu- sic in Wisconsin, anyways? For the
last five years I have known my own school’s take – an exploratory music class covering percussion, drum set, keyboard, guitar/ukulele, introductory technology and more in a survey format, with a mix of large group to individual music making. Some students excitedly select the class, and other students chose it as the lesser of two evils not really wanting to be in a music class/ ensemble anyway, and there is no direct high school counterpart. In July of 2022 at the summer WMEA Board and Council workday, the question came up again in our work session as we looked to conference 2022 on “Shifting Paradigms in Music Education.” As we discussed, we knew we needed to figure out what is happening in our state so the WMEA Council can plan, inform, advocate and educate around what is happening and where music education may be heading. So, Lee Stovall (WMEA technology chair) and I designed a survey, gathered some information, and digested the data to find takeaways and interesting ideas. Read on to find out more of what is happening in our state!
Questions and Response Groups
Our questions centered around course offerings, regularity of running courses, structures, confidence, experience teaching a variety of courses that could fall under the umbrella of secondary general from grades 6-12, including General Music, Music Ap- preciation, Music Theory, Composition/ Improvisation, Music History, Technology/ Production, Hip-Hop Studies, Ukulele, Guitar, Piano and “Other” classes. We
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had 52 responses, with 43 current educa- tors being the primary respondents. These educators ranged in experience from 1 to 34 years with 32 different school districts represented. Most educators had less than 25% of their contract FTE in secondary general music, with only 11% respondents having more than 50% FTE in general mu- sic. Three responses came from university professors/instructors, and five from col- legiate/pre-service teachers/students, and one administrator.
Course Offerings
The most common course offerings were Theory, General (mostly grades 6-8), Technology/Production, and Music His- tory. Theory was offered in nearly all districts, General in over half, and the remaining courses were offered in one- third or fewer of the districts. One of my biggest takeaways was the wide variety of interesting courses that fell in the “other” category. History of specific subjects such as: Hip-Hop, Pop, or Rock and Roll; Music in Film; World Music/World Drum- ming; Musical Theater; Music for Diverse Learners (Regular Ed students and Special Ed students connecting through music.); Modern Band/Hands-On Rock and Roll (Drum Set, Guitar, Bass, Keyboard), Music Instrument Lab – Learn a new instrument; Ethnic Music Ensemble (Polka Band) Sacred/Liturgical Music; Digital Music, and Advanced Music Course described as, "So you're thinking about being a music major? Take this course.” General Music was often described as covering elements of the other courses.
Required vs. Elective and Structure
Yet again there was a wide variety of responses. Most often general music is required for sixth grade, but beyond that general music is just an offering. Often in middle school (7-8) general music is for a quarter or semester class either daily for
a shorter term, or every other day over a longer time period. One response shared that students have four and a half week “Exploratories” on rotation, with music in this rotation. Often students are in general music if not in an ensemble. Some places all music is elective seventh grade on up, and in others a performance ensemble is required for sixth and seventh grade. Some schools offer general music-type offerings for anyone regardless of ensemble partici- pation, and others are barred from general participation if they are in an ensemble. Implication – there are lots of ways of scheduling for success!
Regularity of Running
Unsurprisingly, General Music runs regularly, mostly due to the required sixth grade or required-if-not-in-an-ensemble. Offered courses mostly run regularly, or at least irregularly, but few categories ran as regularly as they were offered. Piano and Guitar, as well as topical classes including the “other” category, had the best “run” rate compared to the other offerings. Most instances of a course not running can be attributed to teacher availability/staffing, or too few student requests, but Ukulele broke that rule- it is the only class that had more “requested but doesn’t run” but this is only in three cases. Implication – These results hint that a wide variety of deeply focused classes do run regularly (includ- ing the non-“other” classes!), so teachers interested in developing a new idea for their district should go for it!
Teacher Confidence
Teachers were asked to rate their confi- dence in teaching the classes they teach, and were most confident in teaching Gen- eral, Theory, History, Piano and Music Appreciation. Teachers were somewhat confident teaching Technology and Com- position, and not confident in Hip-Hop Studies, Ukulele and Guitar. The largest numbers of “teaching but unconfident”
January 2023
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