Food for thought.

Several years ago the Seattle Times published excerpts from the book Victory in Our Schools: We CAN Give Our Children Excellent Public Education, by Major General John Stanford, former superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools. The philosophical approach that he championed appropriately applies to MTNA and music teaching.

"We would stop focusing on adults and begin focusing on children." Our MTNA mission statement reads, "... to support music and music making to society." Our children are our future. That is a statement that has been made many times over. In fact, a variation of that statement is President Bush's educational theme, "No Child Left Behind." Sports enthusiasts realize that and are introducing sports to children at younger ages all the time.

The variety of sports activities in our country, such as soccer, and now lacrosse, has been increasing every year. In the lacrosse play-offs that our twelve-year-old grandson participated in last summer, there were more than twenty teams competing concurrently. And our four-and-a-half-year-old grandson already is playing soccer! However, he also has been involved with preschool music activities since age 2. Perhaps you have noticed, as I have, that children no longer know songs such as Freres Jacques. How can we music teachers remedy that? How can we have music students all across the country participating in musical events like they do in sports?

(Since Major Stanford was writing for public school education, his goals did not take into account the increasing retiree/senior segment of the population. In addition to focusing on children, MTNA also is focusing on the growing number of adults with available time for recreational or serious music making.)

"We would stop believing that some children would learn and start believing that all children would learn." Our competitions program is for the very dedicated and talented students, which is as it should be. Now, MTNA has added "Music for Everyone" programs to provide opportunities for all students in our studios. State and local associations have a wide variety of programs for students of all ages and abilities, including competitive and non-competitive events. Are we entering as many students as possible in these events to encourage their music making or only the very best? Remember the quote, "The woods would be silent if only the birds sang that sing the best." Yes, it is extra work for us teachers, but it helps build the importance of music and music making for all our students, not just a favored few. If students come to expect that they will enter musical events each year, they will more likely continue their lessons for longer periods of time. One of my students was extremely disappointed this fall because he was unable to enter Music Olympics due to his extensive football practice schedule and games. He was so busy that one week he even came to his lesson in his football uniform (I have the picture to prove it!).

"We would stop believing that students alone were accountable for their performance and start holding students, teachers, principals, parents and the community accountable." The MTNA Assessment Tools for Teachers and a revised Code of Ethics help us assess our studio programs and improve them, as well as follow high ethical standards in our relationships with colleagues and students. Our state association conferences and local association meetings provide us with opportunities to further our educations. The MTNA Certification Program challenges all teachers to become certified.

"We would stop believing that we could reach all students with our traditional curriculum and start diversifying our curriculum to meet all students' needs." Many children today have never heard of the three Bs: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, but through innovative teaching, we can increase their level of knowledge, performance and appreciation of classical music. MTNA partnered with the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) several years ago to create a Jazz Studies Guide to help teachers provide students with the necessary skills to improvise and play in jazz bands. Many teachers are now including composition as part of music study in their studios. Through the MTNA National Conference in Seattle, we can expand our expertise in many areas including group piano teaching and technology, which is absolutely necessary in today's society. We are partnering with the National Piano Foundation for the Group Piano Teaching Sessions and the International Association of Electronic Keyboard Manufacturers (IAEKM) for the Technology Sessions.

"We would stop abandoning teachers and start giving them total support." Through our local, state and national associations MTNA provides a strong support and mentoring system. The MTNA Certification Program provides an opportunity to become recognized as a professionally certified teacher who meets specific standards. MTNA now offers insurance and financial planning for teachers. We must continue to seek out teachers who are not members of a professional association and encourage them to join MTNA. A recent survey showed that most students decide to major in music while in high school. How can we mentor music students to enter the music profession? How can we help improve our working hours so that future teachers can earn a living?

"We would stop running schools bureaucratically and start running them entrepreneurially." Change the word "schools" to "studios." How can we manage and market our studios better as small business owners? Professional Studio Saturday at the Seattle Conference can help us find the answers. Many parents want their children to study music, but do not have any idea about how to locate a teacher. Many local associations have student placement services. My local association is advertising in school music and local theatre production programs as a group to promote the study of music. I received a recent mailing from the Conservatory for Music Education, LLC, which included a letter that shared the Conservatory newsletter and brochures about the Conservatory with various businesses and leaders in the community. We must speak up if we wish to be heard.

"We would stop hiding from the media and begin seeing the media as our partner." Each of us must publicize every recital event, every local association and state association event in which our students and teachers are involved. We must continually market our successes and demonstrate that students are involved in music studies. Why is soccer so popular? I believe it's the continual promotion, peer pressure, parental support, the excitement of winning and receiving awards.

"We would stop embracing the status quo and start embracing change." How can we meet the challenge of the twenty-first century concerning changing social values, technology and the changing status of the music teacher? We must continue to raise our professional standards, not just in our teaching, but also in our business management and in our physical studio space.

"We would stop serving children out of a sense of duty and start educating them out of a sense of love." Here we are the experts. I truly believe that our MTNA teachers love their students and their music teaching. None of us would work the hours that we do if we did not enjoy our teaching and our students and believe that we were making a difference.

"We would not expect the public to support us because they ought to." We provide a service to the public. Are we meeting the demands of the public market for music and music lessons? How innovative can we be? How much do we dare to do something radically different? How can we develop the ears of the public so that they desire to play and listen to classical music as well as other genres? Should we locate our studios in shopping areas or at local music dealers for easier accessibility for parents? Should teachers combine studios so that children could take a piano lesson and then a violin lesson? Or have siblings taking music lessons at the same time? How many times have you heard an adult say, "I wish I had continued my music lessons"? And I respond, "It is not too late!"

We must truly be advocates for music study and never miss an opportunity to promote the study of music. I hope that this provides you with much to think about, to discuss with your colleagues, to dream about and to disagree with. MTNA wants to hear your ideas. Go to www.mma.org and click on our new Online Communities Discussion Groups. Attend the national conference in Seattle, where there will be many opportunities to dialogue with colleagues and national leaders at the open forums for Independent Music Teachers, Local Associations, Arts Awareness and Advocacy, Collegiate Chapters, College Faculty and Collaborative Performance. See you there!

National Conferences

April 2-6, 2005     Seattle, Washington
March 25-29, 2006   Austin, Texas
March 23-27, 2007   Toronto, Canada