By Cecil Adderley
Beginning Our School Year — Leaders Emerge at Every Age
As we begin another academic year, we not only look forward to the days ahead for the music classes we will teach but also consider what we can do to improve the experience for those who learn from us each day. For many of us, some of the same students who were enrolled in our courses over the last few years are there for their next series of experiences. We lead students through various skill builders and witness the hard work they put in to meet the goals we’ve established for them and their communities. We are not just teachers. We are collaborators, advocates, and agents for how the potential future educators and arts professionals we identify in our music rooms can the future of the arts.
For those who teach in high school and who choose section leaders for ensembles, there is a tendency to select only students who demonstrate the organizational and motivational skills to encourage their classmates. We often praise these learners and communicate their dedication to music to our colleagues at colleges and universities as potential candidates for their degree programs. However, we can inspire and motivate potential future leaders and arts professionals of any age, with varying skill sets, and we should begin this process early.
Reshaping how we think of future innovators, educators, and music professionals provides multiple paths and options for these students for the many careers in the arts. If we think broadly, we can recruit from our current pool of students and welcome learners who were not enrolled in our assigned courses. Taking a close look at the variety of career paths in the arts, and at the potential of the students in our communities may help us find spaces for “new learners” to excel in creative classes in our towns. The broader the career options, the more valuable the arts are to our communities.
Extending Hands of Collaboration at Every Level
If we commit to elevating the importance of the elementary music educator as a strategic figure in “planting the seed” or introducing potential careers in the arts to their learners, we have an opportunity to nurture, support, and develop these leaders much earlier than during high school. Many of us remember our primary school days as moments of discovery through questions posed to us. You may have been asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and the answers varied: “police, doctor, lawyer, firefighter, etc.” All the careers were focused on how society defined appropriate professional paths for youth. Imagine if our elementary music educators spoke to students in their classes and told them, “I see your potential and believe you could become a fine composer for film and video games, a great music producer and audio engineer, an incredible music business executive, a compassionate music therapist, a thoughtful songwriter, or a wonderful music educator.”
Elementary music educators have access to untapped potential among all the students in a school and may have a better understanding of how these young learners respond to instruction. Some of these students might be overlooked or eliminated too early once they select or audition for specialized electives in middle and high school. Educators who teach the very young should communicate their findings to their colleagues in middle and high schools and even the local colleges and universities. This type of collaborative dialogue enables us all to contribute to how these learners should be educated for success.
All music educators should be able to provide guidance and mentoring to these future champions of the arts, and they deserve our support. When we expand and improve our course catalogs, we help these learners develop skills and experiences to let them lead and create with others. Through collaboration at all levels of education, we explore options to fulfill the dreams of these future leaders while enriching the musical experiences in their local communities. If more collaborative efforts between PK–12 and higher education were realized, creative educational experiences would better prepare the candidates to transition from PK–12 directly into a broader range of careers.
Elementary, middle, and high school music educators have spent years teaching students who could realize amazing careers in the arts, and specifically music, if goals were clear, objectives were outlined, and necessary tools were available to nurture the interests of all students. Higher education institutions have an obligation to their local communities to engage with those who host the students enrolled in their programs, with an understanding that a town’s needs may change over time. Interests and career choices change, and so should admission and curricular standards to address additional career options. Only through open and continuous dialogue and appropriate professional development will we enable more learners to expand the music space. If we want to explore options for all students to participate and explore various arts careers, we must engage in these types of discussions.
Partner, Plan, and Showcase
As you reflect on what your community does well to support the arts, music education, and related careers, outline how you can continue to partner, plan, and showcase what musical achievement and literacy can be beyond the traditional reading of notation. How would you improve improvisation, ear training, various vocal and instrumental styles/genres, or uses of digital audio tools in ways to provide creative paths for additional music learners? When we come together to strategize on new opportunities and plan additional avenues for entry into the classroom, community concert spaces, and beyond, we see similarities and unique qualities in how music makes our communities better.
Multiple lines of communication are key, leading everyone to feel connected as equal partners in the process, in how we bring students into music spaces, as well as how we identify future leaders, suggest career paths, and nurture the curiosity these young learners display while in our classrooms at every level. This level of collaboration can benefit every student who believes they have a contribution to make. Begin the process where they are now!
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