Labuta, J.A., & Smith, D.A. (1997).  Music Education: Historical contexts and perspectives.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.  Pages 17-36.

MENC (1994).  The school music program: A new vision.  Reston, VA: Author.  Pages 1-7, 41.

 

SUMMARIZE:

Labuta & Smith

The National Period (1800-1880)

Ø       Music Education in Common Schools

·         Even before Civil War, music sustained through general education reforms

-          In South, singing schools and shape-note tune books were common

-          In North, educators looked for new challenges

·         Some were based upon German and Swiss models

·         Included support for vocal music instructions

·         William C.  Woodbridge, Elam Ives, et. al. paved way for Lowell Mason (“father of public school music”)

·         Lowell Mason

-          Born in MA, moved to GA

-          Became organist, then choir director at church

-          Published Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music in 1821-1822, and included some of his own work

-          In 1832, he co-founded Boston Academy of Music

·         Massachusetts

-          Academy teachers and citizens proposed to School Board to include vocal music in primary school curriculum

-          1838 – first time in USA music officially in schools

-          This spread across the country right afterward

Ø       Developments in Vocal Music Pedagogy

·         Pestalozzi’s philosophies began a change toward learning music by rote first, and then adding notation and symbols later

·         After Civil War, educators wanted the rote-song method to be changed to become more academic and skills-oriented

·         Began using sequential methods in school-level-specific books by the last quarter-century

·         Mason believed in “rote before note” teaching methods

-          Used tonic solfa (movable do)

-          Then moved to letter notation (first letter of each syllable, not traditional staff notation)

-          Eventually moved to C-major scale on staff

·         This kind of music was truly useful for little more than entertainment, but to appease school administrations, it was presented as “’a “scientific” subject with beneficial effects on mental training and health’”

·         Hosea Edson Holt (who worked with Mason for a time in Boston) began to use “readers” and to introduce sight-singing

·         National Education Association (NEA) formed in 1879 – Department of Music Education in 1883

·         Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC) formed, formally, in third meeting – in 1910

The Progressive Period (1880-1950)

·         America grew immensely in this period

·         Technological/industrial advancements – light, power, amusement parks, telephone, etc.

·         Population – 700% urban growth, many immigrants, many moved West

Ø       Developments in General Education

·         By 1915 – compulsory attendance mandates in all states

·         Segregation was real problem – white/black, Protestant/Catholic, etc.

·         First “high school” in Boston in 1821; first “junior high” in New York in 1905

·         Kindergarten, supplementary, and summer/vacation schools all began during late 1800s/early 1900s

Ø       Instrumental Music In Schools

·         Military band men returned from Civil War hoping to continue music as profession

-          Patrick S. Gilmore organized several ensembles, including “Peace Jubilees”

-          Younger contemporary John Philip Sousa – domestic and worldwide acclaim

·         One of biggest supporters of school instrumental instruction

·         Albert Mitchell started first school string ensembles after observing British classroom

Ø       Music Appreciation Classes

·         Access to musical performances (jazz bands, even concert bands broadcast on radio, later TV) created need for music appreciation classes

·         Frances Elliot Clark, singer and teacher, became head of Victor Talking Machine Company’s first educational department after she first implemented one in a music classroom

Ø       Music Contests and Music Performance

·         First contests held in Kansas in 1912

·         First national band competition in 1923

·         First statewide high school vocal competition held in Kansas in 1914

·         Music memory contests – musical guessing games

-          Kids would test each other by humming tunes

-          Radio stations would cash in by playing tunes that were slotted to be in a future competition

-          Eventually dwindled by late 1930s and early 1940s

Ø       General Education in the Late Progressive Period

·         During professional expansion (and simultaneous farming and industrial depressions) around the turn of the century, teacher training programs emphasized pedagogy more than scholarship and moved to teachers’ colleges from normal schools

·         By mid-1800s, control of school systems had moved from small boards to larger, city/town-related elected positions, often with political corruption

·         Administrators began cutting teachers’ pay because they felt that teachers didn’t know business

·         Teachers and administrators began to rift badly, so the American Federation of Teachers formed

·         National Youth Administration paid students to return to school (Franklin Roosevelt)

·         Civilian Conservation Corps (FDR also) had kids working for the country

·         Toward the end of the second World War, education began to aim toward skills needed for the aftermath of the war – jobs and other needs at home, such as home-related skills

The Space and Technology Period (1950-1980)

Ø       The Cold War and Civil Rights

·         By this time, US was world’s economic leader

·         Cold War-related fear of communism turned country inward; “domestic ideology” emerged

·         Family unit changed too, with younger and longer marriages and “baby boom”

·         14^th Amendment – equal rights/education (but separate still okay)

·         Brown v. Board of Education instructed schools to integrate “with all deliberate speed”

·         By 1965, 75% of country was still integrated; Civil Rights Act had been passed, but things weren’t all better yet

Ø       Schooling in the Post-World War II United States

·         Selective Service Act brought discussion of universal military training, but education was also needed to create people who could help in science, engineering, and math to help the arms race

·         Congressional amendments gave kids the choice between college and military if drafted

·         As college enrollment increased, teachers were criticized for anti-intellectualism

·         Russia’s launch of Sputnik confirmed the lack of intellectualism in America’s educational system

·         Federal government spending on education then went up tenfold

·         National Defense Education Act (NDEA) passed in 1958 to improve curriculum

Ø       Music Education after Sputnik

·         As academics expanded, some educators and philosophers stressed the need to not neglect artistic and creative expressions – such as music

·         Young Composers Project, funded by the Ford Foundation, began in 1959

·         Yale Seminar on Music Education (1963) gathered 31 music scholars and professionals

-          Funded by US Office of Education

-          Grew out of Kennedy’s Panel on Educational Research

·         Which was, itself, a part of the National Science Foundation’s success

·         Tanglewood Symposium (1967) was put together by MENC with other organizations

-          Musicians, educators, corporate leaders, sociologists, scientists, and others

-          At Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood retreat location

-          They met to discuss music and the state of music and music education in America’s school systems and make plans for expanding awareness of the need for music education

·         Woods Hole Conference (1959 in MA) gathered experts from all general education areas and they discussed the general nature of teaching and learning

-          Came up with the spiral curriculum pedagogy, which stated that ideas learned young would be built upon until the students had “grasped the full formal apparatus that goes with them”

 

MENC

Introduction

·         “Goals 2000: Educate America Act” (1994) established arts as necessary discipline for kids

·         Improved quality and public awareness will improve likelihood of music education cutbacks

Ø       The Purpose and Use of This Publication

·         Intended for all with an interest in music education, it has three parts:

-          “To create a coherent vision of what it means to be educated in music”

-          “To provide a foundation for building a balanced, comprehensive, and sequential curriculum in music”

-          “To provide specific assistance in improving the music curriculum”

·         Nine voluntary content standards for all grades:

-          “Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music”

-          “Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music”

-          “Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments”

-          “Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines”

-          “Reading and notating music”

-          “Listening to, analyzing, and describing music”

-          “Evaluating music and music performances”

-          “Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts”

-          “Understanding music in relation to history and culture”

·         Specific standards will be up to the school and/or teacher(s)

·         Pre-K standards:

-          “Singing and playing instruments”

-          “Creating music”

-          “Responding to music”

-          “Understanding music”

·         These standards are primarily to be used as guidelines and a basis for curriculum and repertoire development

·         This publication deals with broad guidelines and suggestions for what students should learn in K-12 music in the 21^st century

Ø       The New Curriculum

·         The current music curriculum has evolved only slightly from that which was created in the 1930s

·         If America is to stay as a leader in the world, these standards need to change, in subtle ways, according to the following categories:

·         “Skills and knowledge as objectives”

-          Musical achievements need to be goals rather than just activities

-          These can be used to improve quality of the lives of the students

·         “Diverse genres and styles of music”

-          Genres/styles studied need to reflect diversity in the world

-          Musical stereotyping music be avoided

·         “Creative skills”

-          Improvisation and composition is important

-          Teachers need to be better trained in these areas

-          Electronics and computers can help, too

·         “Problem-solving and higher-order thinking skills”

-          Go beyond knowledge to synthesis – cooperate to educate, not merely entertain

·         “Interdisciplinary relationships”

-          Synthesis of music with all other educational disciplines is possible and important

·         “Technology”

-          Audio CDs, CD-ROMs, MIDI, and other technological tools can be used in the classroom

·         “Assessment”

-          Skills, not just knowledge, needs to be assessed

-          Assess the difficult-to-achieve and the difficult-to-assess – they can be most important

·         The following assumptions were made in developing these guidelines:

·         “Universal access to music education”

-          General music should be required through grade 8

-          Every student should have at least one year of elective performing or visual arts in 9-12

-          Other music-related opportunities should be available to all students, especially those who, for one reason or another, cannot participate in “normal” arts classes

·         “A comprehensive music curriculum”

-          Sequential series of planned activities to achieve a goal(s)

-          Every course should have ability to create, perform, listen to, and analyze music

-          Performance courses should include composition, improvisation, and analysis

-          Nonperformance courses should include making and listening to music, and discussion

·         “Opportunity to learn”

-          Schools need to provide adequate courses, teachers, materials and equipment

-          More info is available in another MENC publication

·         “Adequate support for music education”

-          Schools, public and private, need to provide sufficient financial support for music programs

-          In public schools, this should come from public funding, not fund-raisers

·         “Interrelatedness within the curriculum”

-          All these learning skills are applicable in all areas of education and the students should be expected to use all learning styles in all educational disciplines, not just music

·         “Provision for exceptional students”

-          Students with limited abilities should be provided with the same opportunities

-          Special efforts may be needed to meet their needs and, if so, should be taken

·         “Utilization of community resources”

-          Contributions of community’s professional musicians should be used to bolster music programs and instruction in the classroom

·         “New directions in teacher education”

-          Teachers need to take advantage of preservice and in-service opportunities

Ø       The Challenge

·         Now, teachers everywhere need to implement these standards as they develop curriculum and their programs

·         This will take the cooperation of all who value the arts

 

DISCUSS:

Most of the text in the Labuta & Smith portion was a history of music education, so there is not too much with which I can agree or disagree.  I do, at this point in time, agree with the philosophy that music should be taught starting young, with simple concepts, and then the kids can be graduated to “real” instruments later on and so forth.  The MENC text, however, is interesting for two reasons.  First, it is important because I will, no doubt, become a member of MENC very soon and so I should, at least, be aware of their suggested guidelines, whether I agree with them fully or not.  They are, if nothing else, a great starting place for developing my own ideas.  Secondly, I agree with most of the guidelines.  I just think that some of them will be difficult to implement in some cases.  Especially in the case of some of the “Assumptions,” I think that they may not necessarily be possible.  For example, getting sufficient funding entirely from public funds (and thus the school boards) is really not going to be very common.  Even in affluent areas, school boards are still not going to give enough money to the performing arts.  Fund raisers will, unfortunately, be needed in almost all schools with ambition to go anywhere or do anything beyond the norm.  These guidelines, however, are great to use to propose to non-believers in music education as to the general direction that music education is going.  With help from great teachers, most all of those goals can be achieved.