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In the face of disconcerting survey
and assessment data and many of the informal observations of a
large number of adults and children in our communities and schools,
many teachers may be willing to entertain a different approach
when teaching students-one guided by a principle of transition.
Transition, defined earlier as the movement of individuals across
a variety of school and nonschool environments throughout life,
is a valuable principle that can guide curricular and instructional
decisions and increase the probability that meaningful school
experiences will continue in adulthood.
If all people are to be involved
in meaningful music experiences throughout their lives' all students
must first participate in realistic school music experiences that
are grounded in the principle of transition. Planning for transition
requires music experiences in school that are directly referenced
to contexts for music experiences valued for adulthood. What would
happen if, in order to teach for transition, we engaged students,
on a regular basis, in activities that were similar to these music
experiences valued and performed in adulthood? Consider some of
the possible outcomes for the following situations:
For some teachers, playing the recorder
is considered a "pre-band" experience—an early
experience playing music from notation and one that may motivate
students to play an instrument in succeeding grade levels. For
others, recorders offer unique opportunities for students to acquire
music knowledge and performing skills. The purposes may be admirable
but it is unlikely that traditional practices will result in these
outcomes. In reality, the elementary teacher, pressed to include
everything in the curriculum, often limits students' recorder
experiences to a module of several weeks in the fourth grade and
limits the repertoire to ubiquitous B, A, G songs. After the recorder
module, do students continue to play their recorder at home for
family and friends or play with others in ensembles? As adults,
do they join the Recorder Society and perform in the community
or play at informal gatherings with friends? Do we see recorder
as a skill that is just "good for students," hoping
that the experience will transfer to other types of music learning
and participation in instrumental ensembles? What are the expectations
for students as a result of several weeks playing a limited repertoire?
If recorder playing is a
highly valued adult music experience and transition is the basis
for decisions, many of the school experiences involving recorder
would be different. Consider outcomes from classrooms where students
are regularly engaged in activities that are similar to the musical
activities of the members of the community Recorder Society (play
arrangements of Renaissance tunes with tambourines and drums,
sightread simple tunes, discuss music literature, listen to performances
by well-known artists and ensembles). Also, what results would
occur if students experienced ongoing collaboration with members
of the local Recorder Society throughout their years in the upper
elementary grade levels and middle school, playing with adult
mentors and performing quality ensemble music with peers? Would
these types of experiences in school make a difference in attitudes,
knowledge, skill, and their choices as adults to participate in
these types of experiences?
Consider another situation that
involves adults' singing. If singing (accurately and expressively)
for others (younger children, other adults) is a highly valued
music experience, and transition is the basis for decision making,
then school experiences must involve more than those related to
traditional concerts. Of course, students must frequently be engaged
in enjoyable singing experiences where they are learning to sing
accurately and expressively, but singing for others should occur
as an integral part of those experiences. Perhaps, as an ongoing
part of the music program, older students could learn to select
and perform a repertoire of songs appropriate for younger students
in the same school. The older students would actually learn to
choose the music and sing the songs for the younger children,
on many occasions, in informal settings, either in small groups
or one-on-one. Given these kinds of frequent experiences, would
students have more positive attitudes about singing, would they
sing better, would they serve as positive role models and mentors
for younger children, would they want to continue to sing for
others, would they recruit lower grade level students into choir,
would they sing for their younger siblings or their own children
as adults?
In yet another situation involving
community ensembles, what would occur if, on a regular basis,
students in middle school and secondary school served as public
liaisons and advocates for community performing groups and collaborated,
interacted with, or performed with the adult members of community
groups on a regular basis? Would these school experiences, which
are similar to those of adults who are members of community organizations,
lead to an increase in the number of students who participated
in community performing organizations or who attended the concerts
of these groups? Would more of these students contribute their
time and money to benefit community (including school) music organizations
when they become independent adults?
If students, as a part of most classes,
reviewed program guides for their local classical radio station
and selected dates and times for listening, would they, as adults,
be more likely to listen to that station and lend financial support?
What effects would we see if, beginning with kindergarten and
continuing throughout the elementary grade levels, students shared
responsibilities for turning on the radio and finding the public
radio station so that their class could listen for a few minutes
at the end of each day of singing and music making?
If students left elementary school
and middle school having had a choir (band/orchestra) "big
brother" or "big sister" for several years and
had, on several occasions each year, performed with the older
students, would they be more likely to join and stay in their
ensemble? If elementary students spent most of their class time
actually learning to sing a repertoire of songs in-tune and singing
for others, would our adult survey and NAEP data look more positive?
Would we informally observe more friends and members of the community
engaged in music activities? And, would we hear more political
speakers talk about their successes making music?
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