Arts Education Policy Review

Today I received the news that I have been appointed to the editorial board of Arts Education Policy Review. Regarded by many as the leading arts education journal, AEPR is certainly among the oldest in the field, originally known as Design (1899 - 1977), then Design For Arts in Education (1977 - 1992), it has been known as Arts Education Policy Review since 1992 and is published with global distribution by Routledge/Taylor&Francis. The journal is now developing its 115^th issue, and its board members include specialists in dance, music, theatre and visual arts. I will post more information shortly about access to AEPR and upcoming special issues of this journal. 

Here is the journal description: 
“Arts Education Policy Review is a peer-reviewed journal published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Arts Education Policy Review presents discussion of major policy issues in arts education in the United States and throughout the world. Addressing education in music, visual arts, theatre, and dance, the journal presents a variety of views and emphasizes critical analysis. Its goal is to produce the most comprehensive and rigorous exchange of ideas available on arts education policy. Policy examinations from multiple viewpoints are a valuable resource not only for arts educators, but also for administrators, policy analysts, advocacy groups, parents, and audiences - all those involved in the arts and concerned about their role in education. Arts Education Policy Review does not promote individuals, institutions, methods, or products. It does not aim to repeat commonplace ideas. Articles show originality, probe deeply, and take discussion beyond common wisdom and familiar rhetoric. Articles that merely restate the importance of arts education, call attention to the existence of issues long since addressed, or repeat standard solutions are not published.”

Link: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/vaep20/current#.UosZaLSYnwx 

Music Lectures in North America and Asia

I will spend much of November of this year in North America for various music lectures and presentations. First, I will chair a session on “Teaching and Learning” at the Society for Ethnomusicology conference in New Orleans, and also attend the Historical Ethnomusicology meeting to discuss a book I am co-editing with Jonathan McCollum entitled Theory and Method in Historical Ethnomusicology (forthcoming, 2013, Rowman & Littlefield).

Later, I will give lectures based on my two books from 2012 (Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools and Patriotism and Nationalism in Music Education) at the following universities:

-University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, United States [Click HERE for a poster]

-Pacific University, Oregon, United States [Click HERE for a poster]  

-University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada 

-Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan

-Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo, Japan

-Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan [Click HERE for a poster]

-China Conservatory, Beijing, China [Click HERE, HERE and HERE for photos]  

*** Meetings also scheduled with scholars at University of Tokyo, Yamanashi University, and Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music, as well as commissioning editors with NTT publishing. ***

I always look forward to such opportunities to meet many other music researchers and share ideas. 

For spring of 2013, funding has been arranged for week-long residencies to teach master classes for universities in Sweden and Latvia, and plans are also at the beginning stages for a keynote lecture in Africa (Tanzania) at a conference during the summertime.  

Originality in Music

After a lengthy review process, I have recently learned that another of my articles on the institutionalization of popular music is soon to be published. It will be in Music Education Research International (vol.5), a fully-refereed scholarly journal edited by Professor Victor Fung and published in an online, open-access format, and I understand the volume with my article will shortly be available. I have also added a link to the right side of this website for a separate page with a full list of publications. Below is the title and abstract for my upcoming article in MERI:

Originality and Institutionalization: Factors Engendering Resistance to Popular Music Pedagogy in the USA

David G. Hebert

Abstract

The roots of much of the world’s popular music may be traced to blues and rock – styles that originated in the Southern Mississippi Valley in the early 20^th century – yet, when considered from a global perspective, performance of these genres has been especially slow to gain wide acceptance in schools of their homeland: the USA. This paper begins with identification of some inevitable challenges associated with institutionalization of novel artistic movements, and then contrasts these with factors perceived to have engendered resistance to the growth of popular music pedagogy (PMP). That PMP is increasingly accepted while genres such as blues and rock come of age (and stake a claim to cultural heritage) is no coincidence. This discussion illustrates the perennial educational challenges posed by originality and cultural diversity in music, as well as the need for research to more fully understand opportunities and risks associated with the array of PMP approaches currently advanced.

Below are links to some of my other writings and projects that address related topics:

· Hebert, D. G. (2010). Jazz and Rock Music. In W. M. Anderson & P. S. Campbell (Eds.), Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, Vol. 1 (third edition). Lanham, MD: Rowman-Littlefield Publishers.

· Campbell, P. S. & Hebert, D. G. (2010). World Beat. In W. M. Anderson & P. S. Campbell (Eds.), Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, Vol. 2 (third edition). Lanham, MD: Rowman-Littlefield Publishers.

· Hebert, D. G. (2009). Musicianship, Musical Identity and Meaning as Embodied Practice. In T. Regelski & J. T. Gates (Eds.), Music Education for a Changing Society: Guiding Visions for Practice (pp. 39-55). Dordrecht and New York: Springer Press.

· Hebert, D. G. (2009). Rethinking the Historiography of Hybrid Genres in Music Education. In V. Kurkela & L. Vakeva (Eds.), De-Canonizing Music History (pp. 163-184). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.

· Campbell, P. S., Hebert, D. G. & Will, R. J. (Eds.) (2001). Around the Sound: Popular Music in Performance, Education, and Scholarship - symposium proceedings. Seattle: University of Washington & Experience Music Project.

· Hebert, D. G. & Campbell, P. S., (2000). "Rock Music in American Schools: Positions and Practices Since the 1960s," International Journal of Music Education , Vol. 36, No. 1 (pp. 14-22).

War on Whistleblowers Escalates: Implications for Educators

Public access to accurate information is prerequisite for a functional democracy, since accurate information enables a constructive debate of issues to be based on verifiable facts rather than mere assumptions and propaganda-tainted accounts. There may be valid arguments behind both conservative and liberal political views (and any variation thereof), but no perspective is valid if reliant on putative "facts" that turn out to be simply untrue. This is exactly why protection of whistleblowers is extremely important in any society that claims to be "free and democratic," for without whistleblowers many vitally important facts can never be uncovered and the decisions of voters are largely based on misinformation.

Unfortunately, truth is increasingly hard to find nowadays, and many employees associated with PR firms and "Psy Ops" units are charged with ensuring that sensitive information is not released to the public while a facade of legitimacy is maintained; in other words, such professionals are paid to to ensure distractions are in place so the whole truth is not exposed. Although news media have a public duty to thoroughly investigate and offer unbiased and accurate accounts of current events (thereby keeping voters informed), the mainstream news media in the USA is increasingly controlled by the agenda of corporate sponsors and compromised by the threat of legal action against whistleblowers, and is consequently passive, superficial, and complicit in the widespread dissemination of misinformation. This kind of misinformation ensures that the poor keep voting for politicians determined to maintain tax structures that make them only poorer, while soldiers continue to kill and die in wars that serve little purpose and offer no substantial benefits, all while sex scandals among politicians continue to attract more attention than the misuse and even disappearance of billions of tax dollars. [Note: Here is what 9 billion dollars looks like according to the standard format for indicating dollar amounts in the USA: $9,000,000,000.00 - It is surely among the largest sums of "misplaced" money in all of human history.]

Naturally, this kind of situation is frustrating for any thinking person who is genuinely concerned about the present and future state of the world, but it has traditionally still been possible for at least a small minority to stay fairly well informed by actively seeking out information that is less tainted by nationalistic and corporate bias. Propaganda on Fox News can be carefully compared with reports by expert researchers in the UK or Canada, for instance, to discern a more reliable account and understand how public perception of current events is manipulated. We may regret that so many allow themselves to be deceived (for they are well-intentioned but simply don’t know any better in most cases), but at least those with access to research by experts can be fairly confident in their understandings of what is actually going on.

However, recent developments raise some unprecedented concerns: if whistleblowing of any kind is to no longer be protected but instead aggressively prosecuted, if journalists even in other nations are hunted down as "technological terrorists" merely for daring to share truthful information about current events, the result of such a culture of fear will be that it is no longer possible for anyone – even professors and diplomats - to have substantial access to accurate information. What too few educators seem to fully understand is that the ongoing War on Whistleblowers in the USA is likely to have devastating effects on all who value truth, for it will surely impact both academic research and educational curriculum. If taken to its natural conclusion, the result will be that we are all kept ignorant - not just those who have neither time nor interest to devote the effort necessary to learn the truth about current events (and instead rely on Fox News and its ilk) – but absolutely everyone who is not directly working for military intelligence.

The current War on Whistleblowers is not something to be taken lightly, not a minor concern only relevant to the most radical of extremists or anarchists. Rather, the current crisis actually constitutes a very important moment in history, for all who value intellectual freedom and freedom of information, both of which are fundamental to the cause of education. Misinformation and unnecessary secrecy are a grave threat to democracy, for they prevent meaningful debate and informed decision-making among the citizenry. It is irrefutable that non-transparency is an enemy of democracy, yet the anti-transparency movement is very cleverly lobbied by powerful interest groups who claim that anyone who disagrees with their views is a threat to national security. Civil liberty is now on trial, and the effects of decisions regarding the legality of whistleblowing will be substantial and long-lasting for researchers and educators in the USA and its remaining allies.

Here is a link to James Risen’s recent affidavit, part of a monumental story that is receiving very little attention in American corporate news media:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/sterling/062111-risen115.pdf

Related links:

http://www.pri.org/politics-society/government/the-obama-administration-s-war-on-whistleblowers.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/us/25subpoena.html?_r=1

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2011/06/risen_quash.html

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/23/risen/index.html

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/obama_justice_department_subpoenas_new_york_times_reporter_in_cia_leak_case.php

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50103.html

http://www.thenation.com/article/161376/government-case-against-whistleblower-thomas-drake-collapses

Song for Japanese Following the Tsunami

American music educator Sean Ichiro Manes - a friend of mine - recently made the following video of his school students singing a song in Japanese, dedicated to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami:

Replacing Market Fundamentalism

According to renowned American economist and Nobel prizewinner Joseph Stiglitz, recent nondemocratic actions by the American government in response to the global economic crisis clearly indicate that “Market fundamentalism is dead.” Nevertheless, such a demise is hardly worth mourning, and indeed this may be an appropriate time to more carefully consider what can be learned from the economic models of other nations that enjoy a much higher quality of life, superior education, and increasing prosperity (regardless of whether the conditions of America’s wealthiest 5% are included in such comparisons). Nowadays, with repeated rejections of any new taxation - often due to understandable voter frustration regarding government corruption - many state governments in the USA are becoming bankrupt and increasingly incapable of effectively supporting arts programs, public schools and higher education. Meanwhile, international-comparative tests continue to demonstrate that assessable student knowledge in the USA has plummeted to academic levels inferior to most industrialized nations, jeopardizing the intellect of future generations, all while unnecessary wars are projected to cost 3 trillion dollars as well as an incalculable price in terms of damaged international relations. Rampant market fundamentalism has ensured that financial services, insurance providers, and military contractors attain unprecedented profits from exploitation of the most ignorant and vulnerable people, while media corporations (like Fox Broadcasting) offer "news" formats that promote distracting myths attuned to the agenda of corporate sponsors and serve to perpetuate market fundamentalist ideology, causing widespread frustration only to be combined with misinformation regarding the true source of these problems. Moreover, those who dare expose the truth are branded "unpatriotic liberals" or even "terrorists".

Even Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve (and a clarinetist), was eventually forced to admit that free market ideology is fundamentally flawed. Still, this ideology continues to be promoted by poorly educated politicians and entertainers such as Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, who enjoy remarkable popularity in the United States.

These are very complicated times in the United States, and it will be especially interesting to see over time how the challenges of this ethos are reflected in the music of such a turbulent era. Will the Britney Spears model survive, or will there be more interest in musical and lyrical substance? What effects will recent economic shifts have on the production, marketing, and distribution of music recordings? What forms of music will survive in American public schools? As market fundamentalism dies, we must envision what can arise from its corporate ashes, how this will affect other nations in the world and America's role among them, and whether - despite the pervasive meddling of anonymous campaign financiers - a transparent and egalitarian democracy might manage to prevail over exploitative globalization and predatory free market capitalism. With the demise of market fundamentalism, the feeble foundations of utilitarian educational policies are increasingly exposed, which surely leads to wider recognition that new approaches are needed, engendering new possibilities for the musical future of the United States.

End of Institutionalized Prejudice in Military Bands

For decades, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and preceding policies have reportedly been a difficult challenge for many American musicians serving in military bands and studying music in military academies. While there has often been a gap between official policies and actual practices, these anti-gay policies have surely promoted bullying and discouraged some highly talented wind and percussion musicians from studying and teaching in military academies across a period of many years. Now military policies will be modified according to changing views regarding sexuality, social justice, and human rights.

Today the American government voted to repeal the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, one consequence being that military musicians will no longer be automatically discharged simply due to their sexual orientation.

The article linked below offers details on this story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121801729.html

Musical Instrument Grants

The NAMM Foundation (National Association of Music Merchants) has recently announced its WannaPlay grants opportunity, which provides musical instruments for community and school ensembles in the USA that are in need of additional instruments.

In order to qualify for these grants, ensemble supporting organizations must meet the following criteria (quoted from the NAMM website):

• “Public schools serving low-income students; percentage of free and reduced lunch data required
• Community organizations servicing low-income students and students with special needs; community demographic information required
• Schools and community programs that have made a commitment to hiring and retaining high-quality music teachers and providing standards-based, sequential learning in music”

An online grant application is available here: http://www.nammfoundation.org/grant-information/apply-grant-and-scholarship.

Music in Southern Mississippi

Back to the USA . . . I have been offered a new position in the United States as Associate Professor with the School of Music, University of Southern Mississippi. My job will be leading the school’s PhD program and teaching graduate research methods seminars and other courses. USM is a state funded institution located about 80 minutes north of New Orleans that has a strong history for music programs (including winds, jazz, and music industry studies), is nationally designated as a research-extensive university, and has a tenure (permanent employment) system. The School of Music at University of Southern Mississippi is the only doctoral-degree granting music school in the state, and the university is considered a leading research institution of the Gulf South region. In this position I will also plan development of a unique research center to support the music education PhD program, focused on the theme of originality in music, including globally-significant genres that first originated in the southern Mississippi region, such as blues, jazz, and rock and roll.

MISSISSIPPI is actually a very important place for music, as the source of innovative performers that have forged new styles and made a substantial impact on music in much of the world. Musicians from Mississippi include leading blues performers Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Bo Diddley, W. C. Handy, Howling Wolf, John Lee Hooker and B.B. King, pioneers of rock and roll Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, jazz legends Lester Young, Hank Jones, and Gerald Wilson, contemporary jazz masters Tom Malone, Mulgrew Miller, Mose Allison, and Cassandra Wilson, pioneers of country music Jimmie Rodgers and Charley Pride, renowned songwriters like Jimmy Buffett, and even revered art music composers such as William Grant Still and Milton Babbitt.

University of Southern Mississippi is ideally situated - in the original heartland of American musical innovation - for studies of American music traditions that will be of interest to musicians and educators in other parts of the USA and the rest of the world. For anyone interested in the roots of blues, jazz, or rock, this is a perfect setting for research.

Recently, Mississippi also seems ripe for new initiatives in the areas of educational and cultural policy that could be supported by music education research. For decades, the state has experienced economic and educational challenges, with the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in the USA and low ratings for basic educational achievement. Music education research studies may help to turn this situation around by developing more effective ways of capitalizing on the rich and unique cultural heritage of this area, which has impacted much of the world through music. Research in music education may also inform the development of innovative, culturally relevant forms of education that motivate students for higher levels of academic achievement.

Hopefully the experiences of developing intercultural music programs in Europe, indigenous/minority music education in New Zealand, community music in Japan, and online doctoral education in Boston may aid as I work with others to envision some new possibilities for music education in Mississippi, as well as opportunities for effectively sharing the important musical achievements from Mississippi with the rest of the world. USM has outstanding facilities, and will be an excellent place to host conferences and symposia on such topics as music education, sociology of music, popular music pedagogy, American music studies and ethnomusicology.

This is an exciting new opportunity and I am eager to work with the students and world-class music faculty at University of Southern Mississippi.

Southern Roots of World Music

A common observation made by travelers to various parts of the world is that American music seems to be encountered virtually everywhere – not just the most recent popular songs, but classic recordings of early blues, jazz, and rock and roll, as well as the vast array of newer genres with roots that are traceable to these original traditions.

It is striking how much of the music enjoyed in so many parts of the world today has been influenced by sounds that may be traced to the southern Mississippi region, the original birthplace of blues and jazz.

Music may be rightfully regarded as the most significant American cultural export, since even Hollywood movie production is increasingly rivaled by regional industries, such as India’s Bollywood genre and Hong Kong’s action/martial arts films, as well as enormous multi-national productions (like Avatar and Lord of the Rings, which were partly made in New Zealand), and we must not forget that many Hollywood movies also feature American roots music as well as themes derived from American music.

Blues, jazz, and early rock and roll pioneered the use of highly danceable, groove-based song forms structured with chordal harmony as a backdrop for sophisticated improvisation by both vocalists and virtuoso instrumentalists. While some would still insist that aspects of European art music are more highly developed, it cannot be denied that each of these American genres - particularly jazz - clearly served as some inspiration to the majority of major European art music composers (as well as popular music performers in much of the world) during the twentieth century, and the value of this music is increasingly recognized worldwide by musicologists in the twenty-first century. Further research is needed on how the richness of this unique musical legacy – and its global impact – is effectively taught at all levels of formal and informal education.

Below are links to some of my writings and projects that address related topics:

· Hebert, D. G. (2010). Jazz and Rock Music. In W. M. Anderson & P. S. Campbell (Eds.), Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, Vol. 1 (third edition). Lanham, MD: Rowman-Littlefield Publishers.

· Campbell, P. S. & Hebert, D. G. (2010). World Beat. In W. M. Anderson & P. S. Campbell (Eds.), Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, Vol. 2 (third edition). Lanham, MD: Rowman-Littlefield Publishers.

· Hebert, D. G. (2009). Musicianship, Musical Identity and Meaning as Embodied Practice. In T. Regelski & J. T. Gates (Eds.), Music Education for a Changing Society: Guiding Visions for Practice (pp. 39-55). Dordrecht and New York: Springer Press.

· Campbell, P. S., Hebert, D. G. & Will, R. J. (Eds.) (2001). Around the Sound: Popular Music in Performance, Education, and Scholarship - symposium proceedings. Seattle: University of Washington & Experience Music Project.

· Hebert, D. G. & Campbell, P. S., (2000). "Rock Music in American Schools: Positions and Practices Since the 1960s," International Journal of Music Education , Vol. 36, No. 1 (pp. 14-22).

Free Improvisation and Performance Anxiety Among Piano Students

Today, Dr. Robert Allen successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at Boston University, a multi-faceted experimental study entitled FREE IMPROVISATION AND PERFORMANCE ANXIETY AMONG PIANO STUDENTS.

Here is the abstract:

The sensations of a dry mouth, perspiration, knot in one’s stomach, lump in one’s throat, or that tingling feeling referred to as the “butterflies,” are phenomena generally referred to as symptoms of “performance anxiety.” The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of anxiety that students experience according to whether their public performance consists of a free improvisation or a repertory piece. This was based on the assumption that a free improvisation instructional strategy might aid in reducing levels of performance anxiety among school aged piano students, and should therefore be systematically evaluated for its potential to offer improvements to music education.

This study had two objectives: 1) examine the relationship of students’ levels of anxiety to free improvisation and repertory pieces during a performance, and 2) examine the effectiveness of free improvisation as a treatment for the reduction of performance anxiety. This research used the following instruments for data collection: 1) Spielberger’s State–Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, 2) Musical Anxiety Report Scale (designed by the researcher), 3) Subject Interviews, 4) Parent Questionnaire, and 5) Performance Video. Thirty-six elementary, middle school and high school students from a private music teaching studio were selected from a list of potential subjects available to the researcher. Participants were selected based on age (7-18 years) and years of training (1-3), as well as to comprise a gender balance of 50% boys and 50% girls. They were then randomly assigned to three equal-sized groups, with 12 subjects per group. Subjects within the treatment 3 group(s) developed a free improvisation during weekly individual sessions, administered and observed by the researcher over a period of six weeks.

Sample criteria required that all subjects who participated in the study 1) play the piano, 2) claim to have experienced music performance anxiety, and 3) have not received any previous psychological or pharmacological treatment for their music performance anxiety. Each participant was taught applications of scale, harmony, and rhythm elements from which to construct their free improvisations. Results from this study validated free improvisation as a treatment for significantly reducing anxiety during the public performance of a musical work.

Congratulations to Dr. Bob Allen!

It was a pleasure to serve as supervisory professor for this doctoral dissertation. The study also greatly benefited from insightful comments by committee members Andrew Goodrich and Diana Dansereau (of Boston University).

Rethinking College Music Theory Pedagogy

Yesterday, Dr. Nancy Rosenberg successfully defended her doctoral dissertation at Boston University, an extensive academic study entitled FROM ROCK MUSIC TO THEORY PEDAGOGY: RETHINKING U.S. COLLEGE MUSIC THEORY EDUCATION FROM A POPULAR MUSIC PERSPECTIVE.

Here is the abstract:

Popular music today permeates American youth culture and society at large to an unprecedented extent, disseminated through information technology and a vibrant concert and club culture. Nevertheless, the subject of popular music remains slow to infiltrate mainstream academic music discourse, especially discussions of music pedagogy. In the case of music theory, there is a discrepancy between popular music discourse on one hand, and pedagogical practice that excludes popular music on the other. In the absence of relevant training and materials, instructors desiring to include popular music in music theory curricula do so in relative isolation, often casually, and/or to a very limited extent. Along with practical concerns, unresolved philosophical questions further impede development of a coherent vision for including popular music in the undergraduate music theory curriculum.

This philosophical study explores numerous issues around the intersection of popular music and beginning music theory education. Its three parts progress from the general to the specific. Part One considers current music theory and theory pedagogy through an historical lens, clarifying reasons for the disciplines’ neglect of popular music.

Part Two grapples with major issues around popular music’s inclusion in today’s college music theory. Traditional textbooks serve to introduce primary themes relating to music theory content and methodology, as philosophical perspectives on popular music’s role in music education are considered. Turning to current practice, several theory textbooks that include popular music content to varying degrees are examined, along with relevant research on the pedagogical implications of popular music and its learning processes.

Finally, Part Three offers original lessons and ideas for approaching core theoretical concepts through popular music. Throughout, areas of convergence and divergence between classical and popular styles are explored with the aim of developing fresh, experientially based approaches to presenting popular music alongside art music repertoire in teaching beginning music theory. While this study focuses primarily on past and current rock-influenced popular music, it will serve as a useful tool for music educators wishing to expand the boundaries of traditional music theory pedagogy to include any and all styles of popular music as a means of imparting core music theory concepts.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Dr. Nancy Rosenberg is a prolific composer and music educator who has taught at Brown University and Emerson College for many years.

Dr. Rosenberg’s dissertation is the first major study to focus on the role of popular music in music theory pedagogy, and may also be the first academic study to examine the field of music theory from the perspective of music education philosophy.

Congratulations to Dr. Nancy Rosenberg!

It was a pleasure to serve as supervisory professor for this innovative doctoral dissertation. The study also greatly benefited from comments by committee members Andrew Goodrich (Boston University), Lee Higgins (Boston University), and Ben Bierman (CUNY).

Music and Changing Generations

Below is a link to an interesting report just released from the Pew Research Center entitled “Forty Years After Woodstock, A Gentler Generation Gap”. The report describes changing perceptions regarding both generational differences and music preferences in the United States. Such studies may contribute to evaluations of the relevance of music education programs in contemporary society.

http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/739/woodstock-gentler-generation-gap-music-by-age#prc-jump

NAEP American Arts Education Report Released

The National Center for Educational Statistics (U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences) has just released its report “The Nation’s Report Card” National Assessment of Educational Progress, Arts 2008. It has been a decade since its last assessment of the state of arts education in American schools.

While this report contains some interesting findings, it seems important to keep in mind that in the past such reports have tended to generate controversy due to both their content/methodology and the ways in which they are misinterpreted for various political purposes.

Here is a link to an announcement of the report:

http://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/commissioner/remarks2009/6_15_2009.asp

Here is a link to its results:

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2008/2009488.asp

According to the executive summary of this report, its most significant finding is the following:

Racial/ethnic and gender gaps evident in both music and visual arts

Although the results for music and visual arts are reported separately and cannot be compared, some general patterns in differences between student groups were similar in the two disciplines.

• Average responding scores in both music and visual arts were 22 to 32 points higher for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students than for Black and Hispanic students. The creating task scores in visual arts were also higher for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students than for their Black and Hispanic peers.
• Average responding scores for female students were 10 points higher than for male students in music and 11 points higher in visual arts. Female students also outperformed male students in creating visual art.

Citation:

Keiper, S., Sandene, B.A., Persky, H.R., and Kuang, M. (2009). The Nation's Report Card: Arts 2008 Music & Visual Arts (NCES 2009–488). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson, one of the most popular music performers of all time, died yesterday. Upon hearing the name Michael Jackson, all kinds of images run through one’s mind, although it is quite difficult to separate fact from fiction. Many people long to become famous, but perhaps we should all be thankful to have never attained the kind of fame that tortured Michael’s personality and led to such a complicated and unhappy life. Michael became a kind of living icon, symbolic of so many different issues, including the role of shock and empathy in the construction of mass-mediated stardom. It is impossible to imagine what it would have been like to be him, and difficult to know whether he will be remembered more for the hints of artistry on stage or the tragic symptoms of unbalanced stardom in his personal life. It seems there is much to learn from a careful study of Michael Jackson's life, yet it may take many years to attain an accurate and balanced understanding of who he really was, and the impact he had on American society and popular culture in much of the rest of the world.


Links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8119993.stm

R.I.P. Freddie Hubbard

. . . one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time passed away today.

Among Freddie Hubbard's fine recordings is his unforgettable solo on the title track to Herbie Hancock's album Maiden Voyage (1965, Blue Note Records). In the same period he also contributed some highly innovative playing to Eric Dolphy's landmark avant garde album Out to Lunch (1964). In recent decades, some of Freddie Hubbard's great recordings have been from live performances in Japan with the group V.S.O.P.

Link for more information:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/30/AR2008123002881.html

Why Become a Music Professor?

It can seem at times that the path to becoming a music professor is quite long and difficult, and that in the end it might even turn out to not be worthwhile. Why is this so?

Here, for example, is a link to Sarah Schmalenberger’s brilliant review of musicologist Henry Kingsbury’s recent book that paints an unprecedentedly bleak picture of the field of ethnomusicology (p. 38):

http://www.rds.hawaii.edu/counter/count.php?id=24

Regardless of the extent to which Kingsbury’s account may (or may not) turn out to be very reliable, his tragic reflections provide unusually penetrating insights into the kinds of formidable challenges that are too often encountered during the early stages of an academic career in music. Such writings are certainly not for the faint of heart, and should be approached with the same kind of cautious skepticism reserved for other books in a similar vein, such as Mozart in the Jungle. Still, there is something to be learned from this genre, as long as it does not inspire prejudice or paranoia among its readers, especially for those who would otherwise enter academia with naïve expectations. This genre also provides important food for thought as one strives to envision improved policies and procedures for academic governance, management, and evaluation that might prevent the recurrence of perceived injustices, whether real or merely imagined. All devoted music teachers should be given good reason to feel genuinely appreciated by their superiors and peers, and all should also give (and be given) the benefit of the doubt, rather than allowing differences to turn into destructive hostility.

It seems best to keep in mind that despite the kinds of challenges discussed by Schmalenberger and Kingsbury (from different perspectives), there are obvious signs of improvement within higher education music programs throughout much of the world, and many find that after enduring some difficulties the teaching, performing, and researching of music becomes a highly enjoyable and fulfilling profession. There are still many good reasons to become a music professor, and many prospective colleagues in the field of music who are genuinely admirable people.
* Music professors make a positive difference by helping others to better understand music and enjoy participation in musical activities, as well as by advancing their art form.

* Music professors also expand musical knowledge through research, and devise new ways to more effectively create and share music.

Here is a link to a helpful article on "employability" in the field of music:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/subjects/palatine/Enhancing-Employability-in-music.pdf

Here is a link to an article that, although a bit simplistic at times, makes some useful points regarding the process of becoming a music professor. Its contents are particularly relevant to prospective teachers of music performance:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/434252/how_to_become_a_college_music_professor.html

Slatkin and Music Research

A recent article in the Detroit Free Press celebrates renowned American conductor Leonard Slatkin’s premier as Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on December 11, 2008: http://www.freep.com/article/20081212/ENT04/81212013/1039/ent

In the article, Slatkin, who is acknowledged as “one of the leading American conductors of his generation,” is quoted as saying, “I don’t want to hear about the impact of music education on SAT scores.” Why would Slatkin make such a statement regarding music and standardized tests? Searches through international music research databases reveal only one notable publication that discusses the impact of music education on SAT scores:

Music makes the difference: Music, brain development, and learning. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference (MENC) 2000.

Slatkin’s remarks may be interpreted as a subtle rebuke of those who disseminate dubious and irrelevant research claims as part of their “advocacy” efforts on behalf of American school music programs. But why should the unique problems of American school music advocacy be of concern to leading musicians? It is important to recognize here that some music educators consider budget cuts to school music programs to constitute an emergency situation for which an “anything goes” approach to advocacy is acceptable. If research can be found that suggests, for example, that students will die of scurvy if they do not receive a daily dose of music education and cod liver oil, some would probably use it as a basis for their advocacy efforts to “save” music.

Slatkin seems to understand the fundamental reasons why this regrettable kind of “advocacy” is only encountered in a very specific and localized field. Most teachers of history and mathematics have never had to consider the idea of using research to justify their existence, and many music teachers in the vast majority of nations outside the United States have never heard of “music advocacy” and would probably have difficulty comprehending what it actually means in practice.

Rather than placing so much effort on advocating outdated traditional school music programs on the basis of unconvincing claims, surely efforts are better spent on transforming music programs into centers of relevant, lifelong musical activity valued by the local community.This is where researchers and music organizations should be focusing their attention.

Slatkin understands that music education is much too important to be justified on the basis of its potential to instill patriotism, to enhance test scores in mathematics or reading, or to improve the brain development of students. Slatkin also seems to recognize that some forms of music advocacy are misguided, useless and even destructive. While music research sometimes only serves to increase the division between theory and practice, it is best conducted with an awareness of the “bigger picture,” informed by the broader insights of social critics and historians, as well as expert artists and practitioners. In this way research may lead to insights that empower positive transformations, so music education is valued naturally without the need for aggressive advocacy campaigns.