Here’s what’s missing in music education: Cultural and social relevance
Lee Whitmore is executive director of the Grammy Music Education Coalition, a nonprofit collective dedicated to expanding music education in elementary and secondary schools.
A former music teacher who says he was trained in “the traditional American way,” Whitmore explains in this post what he thinks is missing from too many music education programs in U.S. schools: social and cultural relevance.
According to the Grammy Music Education Coalition, 3.8 million preK-12 students in the United States have no access to music education and its benefits. Yet 89 percent of teachers and 82 percent of parents rate music education highly as a source for greater student creativity.
This post first appeared on the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. I was given permission to republish it.
By Lee Whitmore
I was trained and licensed to be a music teacher in the traditional American way.
My classes included all varieties of instruments. I sang and learned to conduct bands, orchestras and choirs. I played in ensembles. I took multiple semesters of musical technique, history and theory as well as music education methods.
Almost all of what I just described was traditional. Incredibly traditional. This training has served me well in many aspects of my professional and personal lives but, frankly, these techniques weren’t enough when I got to my semester of student teaching.
I first was assigned to an elementary school in a middle-class suburb of Philadelphia. I worked with young children, sang, moved and danced, and had a blast. Then I got to a middle school in the same district in a CONTINUE READING: Here’s what’s missing in music education: Cultural and social relevance - The Washington Post
