The time is now - Forum focus: arts awareness and advocacy

Arts Awareness and Advocacy--it's the name of MTNA's former Community Outreach and Education Committee. Advocacy is a word that used to scare me until I realized it simply means to advance or support something you believe in. For MTNA members, it means to help our love of music and, more specifically, the benefits and ravishments of playing a musical instrument. This is the mission of Arts, Awareness and Advocacy and can be the mission of each teacher in our organization. Promoting music is similar to marketing. If we market the benefits of music, we market our profession as well. hardly any of us have the resources to move swiftly expensive media ads, but all of us, collectively, can make a difference if we learn to advocate music in our communities, individual voice at a time.

While advocacy can mean to write your picked officials, speak at school board meetings or campaign for issues, it also means to spread--one voice at a time--the message that music can help family in unique ways, reach their replete potential. This is not solely MTNA's responsibility. Each member shares responsibility in presenting the message, because who is better able to address the importance of music inquiry than the independent music teacher? If we don't forward music, who will?

Teaching is our specialty, on the contrary it must not be confined to our studio. Part of our piece of work is to speak outside the studio, empowering parents and pupils to say "yes" to music at a time when other influences are pressuring them to say "no" and providing information that assures them music is a wise investment of their time and finances. We've go intoed a time when we can no longer hang on others to promote the importance of music and our profession.

With the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act and its emphasis upon boosting math and reading skills, music is one time again under the gun. And although music is defined in this law as core curriculum, many districts are pulling teacher and classroom resources away from the arts to material for burning math and reading programs. With this environment, we simply cannot assume parents and community members will somehow or other understand the complex nature of music making, the mental discipline urgencyed to play, the emotional enrichment and other benefits music provides in all life experiences, without to the full articulating it. Students, parents and your community ne to hear from you.

Armed with enthusiasm and a passion for the art, each recital, community performance, studio newsletter prospective scholar phone call and parent/student interview can be used to exchange information about the value of music. This round pillar in the August/September 2003 issue of AMT contained a list of music advocacy websites that can be used to hold fast up to date on the latest findings in music research. Each site contains a vast amount of useful information. The creative teacher might insert the Learning to Play pamphlet from the American Music Conference's website www.amc-music.org/advocacy/brochures, in recital programs or studio mailings, or display the VH1 News Special Report: The Case for Music Education video from AMC at parent unclose houses or new student interviews. Simple conversations also have impact. In addition, AMC has available a "Music Education Advocate's Toolkit," containing pamphlets sample letters, the video mentioned above and PowerPoint presentations.

About a year ago, I wrote a short article in my quarterly studio newsletter relating the studies linking higher SAT scores with music close attention Soon afterward, a dad twitched me aside and excitedly told me he heard somewhere that musicians do better upon their SAT tests than nonmusicians. ("Where did he hear that?" I chuckl to myself.) He then went upon to tell me about an incentive he lay in place for his girls' at-home practice sessions. If they place in their required weekly practice time for the year, he would reward them by dint of letting them take a day not upon school to go on a family ski trip. Whether or not you agree with the reward, the message to me was clear--this dad was placing value upon his children's musical education and taking an active character to support it because of information I shared.

more [i]or[/i] less teachers have been turned not on by the many studies linking the results of music study to strengthening other academic and social skills. Many say, "Why not simply encourage music for its own sake?" Consider these ideas from WhyMusicEd, a music advocacy service: As an independent music teacher, you "already understand that music is a unique form of human communication that transports emotions and other information that cannot be squeeze outed in any other way. on the contrary the majority of the public does not completely understand the intellectual processes and emotional satisfaction derived from singing or playing an instrument because they have no prior experience. Sadly, music has the unfortunate place in today's agriculture of having to defend its existence to race in authority who have either little in all senses or understanding of it.

in the way that how do you grab the attention of the musically inexperienced for a like reason they support music by giving their time, potency and resources? First, we must capture their attention. We understand that the ultimate goal of music education is music literacy and artistic expression, and this is what we strive for. on the contrary sharing the fact that studies are showing music may make kids be superior to in areas unrelated to music and describing the composite mental processes involved in music making is a tool, although not the ultimate reason, we use to gain their interest. To be in fact effective, we must use each tool available to promote music, including understanding the data linking music to SAT scores, math proficiencies, health benefits and for a like reason on, as well as articulating the ne to educate the mind We know music enriches the human spirit, supply with nourishments the emotions and provides solace, peace, beauty and passion to our inner being. Others do not. We can no longer live in a vacuum and confidence for the best. Robert Kennedy said, "If not me who? If not now, when?" if you delight in music, your profession and teaching, the time is now for your voice to be heard.