secondary general music Secondary General Music:


Ripe With Possibilities for Inclusion Anthony Cao, WMEA State Chair, Secondary General Music


“I don’t really like music,” said a stu- dent who was not a part of the music program at my high school. I responded to his statement with a smirk of disbelief. How could this be true for any teenager


at any time? After a little more prodding, the student revealed that he was passion- ate about hip hop and made beats in his spare time. He read my facial expression this time and interrupted before I could say a word... “I mean I don’t like school music.”


My smirk turned quickly into a disap- pointed frown filled with wonders and worries. I wondered what he was missing or did not yet understand about “school music.” I wondered how we had created an environment where this bright, musical mind did not feel included. I worried for the sake of the program as I thought about what we might be missing in our course offerings, our content or our pedagogy. I worried for the sake of students like him without a chance to leverage their love of music in a formal educational setting to help them to better understand the world around them and their place in it. Finally, I thought about my own story – which was quite different – one where my powerful school music experiences in band, choir and orchestra really shaped me into who I am today.


My story may be a more familiar one to many music teachers, but it is not the only one. My not-yet music student’s story is actually not all that uncommon. When middle- and/or high-schoolers finally get a chance to choose how they would like to be involved in the arts at school, some elect not to be involved at all. How are we envisioning our music programs to better


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include these musicians? At one time, young people not drawn to large-ensemble music-making in high school were left with very few other musical choices. Now, however, innovative teachers have been creating dynamic general music op- portunities to reach students of diverse backgrounds who have traditionally been left out of our programs. Wisconsin School Musician is now dedicating a space to general music at the secondary level in particular, and I am looking forward to contributing to the process.


Don’t get me wrong! I am a choir teacher too, and I know that our ensembles con- tinue to be meaningful and dynamic for tons of young people. But I have loved teaching general music as well because of the freedom to create entire courses to be more inclusive and relevant to students’ interests and lives. Dream big! I did, and a supportive administration allowed me to start teaching Hip Hop Studies, where young people who mostly have not been part of the music program write raps, freestyle, beatbox, produce beats, dance and dig deep into questions of identity and culture. In more familiar terms, we create, refine, perform, evaluate and analyze mu- sic with the same level of critical thinking as any other more traditional music class but in a way that helps to engage some students (yes, like our friend from the first paragraph) who thought they “didn’t really like music.”


I also have loved the freedom to shape con- tent and try new pedagogical approaches to include student voice in every learn- ing opportunity. My Pop Music History class, for example, always seemed “sort of interested” and performed “just fine” on listening quizzes as we studied cover songs from the 1950s. However, they have become much more engaged as we left the confines of solely an early rock and roll phenomenon and entered the much larger


“At one time, young people not drawn to large-ensemble music- making in high school were left with very few other musical choices.”


picture of taking someone else’s material and making it your own. This has become our unit focus instead of a narrower, linear concentration on the 1950s. This more inclusive approach has allowed students to also discuss music immediately relevant to them, from sample-based hip hop to YouTube covers. Each semester they gain a new perspective on the musical world around them as they examine it with the lenses of ethics, aesthetics, cultural appropriation and copyright law. Every time I make students’ prior knowledge an important part of the curriculum, the results amaze me.


I am excited to be able to share some thoughts and experiences in Wisconsin School Musician, but I hope that this col- umn can be an inclusive space as well. So many of you are doing innovative things under the umbrella of general music, and I would love to hear and tell your stories! In what ways are we challenging our vision of music curriculum to be more inclusive? In what ways are we expand- ing the possibilities for more students to call themselves musicians? I can’t wait to hear from you.


Anthony Cao teaches vocal and general music at Madison West High School. Email: acao@madison.k12.wi.us


January 2018


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