Teachers in schools, colleges, and
universities who see merit in the arguments presented in this
paper can immediately incorporate the principle of transition
into classrooms and rehearsals, and into the course content of
teacher preparation programs. The principle of transition will
be most effective in music programs when (1) there is a general
consensus as to the long-term goals that are meaningful for most
students, (2) students are given frequent opportunities to participate
successfully in appropriate related school music experiences at
each grade level, and (3) students learn to make appropriate transfers
of skills and knowledge within and across grade levels. Transition
is also facilitated by ongoing collaboration and cooperation among
music professionals within the school and collaboration with members
of the community (teachers, artists, arts organizations, parents,
businesses, and other supportive individuals and organizations).
Individual music teachers have access to several sources of support
in the community, have skills to teach for transfer, and have
the freedom to develop music experiences for the same students
across several years. One teacher can influence the extent of
transition made by many students.
Procedures for designing music programs
focus around a few key ideas. Simply stated, once it is decided
what music experiences are valued for adulthood, similar school
experiences need to be developed for each grade level— experiences
that will then be defined and offered as a frequent and regular
part of classes and rehearsals. Frequency is a critical component
and consideration for each step in the process.
Transition requires frequent opportunities
for students to practice skills and knowledge in context. Although
several school experiences appear similar to adult experiences
(e.g., performing in a small ensemble; attending concerts of classical
music), these types of activities are infrequent occurrences in
the lives of students (e.g., performances may occur only in school
concerts, and field trips to concerts may occur once every few
years). Although they may be valued school experiences, they cannot
substitute for frequent, regular instruction and practice. Competent
instruction and frequent opportunities for contextual practice
will increase the probability that students will learn the skills,
knowledge, and attitudes to choose from, and participate successfully
in, a wide range of music activities.
The following is a summary of steps
useful for transition planning for school music programs:
Step 1. Decide what music experiences
are meaningful for adulthood and the general contexts in which
these experiences could occur.
Redesigning music classrooms and
rehearsals does not require abandonment or revision or current
district or state curricula, or the National Standards. It does,
however, require teachers to begin by identifying music experiences
for students that will be valued in adulthood and by giving priority
to these experiences in their classrooms and rehearsals. This
step is difficult for everyone because it requires making hard
choices. It is a critical first step, however, in order for teachers
to have the time to teach fewer things more thoroughly and deeply.
All current school activities must be evaluated, and some activities
will have to be eliminated or at the least reduced to less instructional
time (effort, money).
One way to approach this decision
is to choose music experiences that include skills and knowledge
that will occur in many other music experiences, now and in the
future. The experiences can be alone or with others; they may
be in the home or in the community (including public schools);
and they may range across many dimensions of music performance,
listening, composing, thinking and talking about music, and music
advocacy.
Individuals can also generate ideas
by thinking about a young child they care about and then thinking
about the kinds of music activities they would like this child
to experience as an adult. What do music teachers value for the
future adulthood of someone they really care about? I have found
that some music teachers want this young child as an adult to
sing songs to children, to sing or play holiday songs with family
and friends, to initiate the singing of "Happy Birthday."
They may want this adult to play an instrument or sing in a community
organization, to read music well enough to select and play new
music for his or her own pleasure at home, to attend school board
meetings when music is discussed, to encourage his or her own
children to study music, to contribute to music organizations
or do volunteer work, and to attend concerts in the community
and in public schools, even when the adult's own children are
not performing.
It is important to recognize that
long-term adult goals and many of the related school experiences
that are defined as meaningful should be those that are valued
for all students. The competent, sensitive teacher will
know when and how to make appropriate changes or adaptations that
will enable each student to participate successfully in an enjoyable
and meaningful way.
Since the music experiences of attending
concerts of classical music and performing music with and for
others in a small ensemble have been discussed in this paper,
and both appear to be valued by music educators, I have chosen
these two experiences to illustrate the next two steps. The process
of transition planning, however, can be applied to any long-term
goal.
Step 2. Identify and analyze the
adult music experience in context and identify related activities
and their component tasks, contexts, and functional prerequisites.
Attending a concert of classical
music is not a single activity—it is multidimensional in
that it consists of many related activities. Some of the activities
could fall within the scope and sequence of traditional music
curricula (listening to, analyzing, and describing music; evaluating
music and music performances; concert etiquette). Transition planning,
however, goes beyond goals and objectives and includes a thorough
analysis of the adult experience, including the identification
of related activities, tasks, and contexts. For example, attending
a concert most often involves watching the performers while listening
to live performances, reading concert programs and notes and relating
descriptions of music to the performance, and describing and evaluating
the music and performance when talking to companions during intermission
and after the concert. In order to talk intelligently about a
music performance, an individual may need to identify groups of
instruments by sight and sound, read descriptions of music and
identify events when they occur, and use conventional terminology
to describe and analyze music and discuss preferences with companions.
The music experience of performing
with and for others in a small ensemble also consists of many
related activities, some of which are part of traditional sequenced
music curricula (sing or perform on an instrument a varied repertoire
of music; demonstrate ensemble skills; read instrumental or vocal
scores) Again, transition planning requires attention to tasks
in contexts: various learning settings such as homes, classrooms,
concert stage and the social/cultural dimensions of those settings
that involve individuals such as peers, parents, teachers, and
others. Performing in large ensembles under the leadership of
a conductor who chooses the music is a different experience than
performing as a member of a small ensemble. Small ensembles often
do not have traditional conductors, and members are the ones who
are engaged in the related activities of selecting appropriate
music and programming, rehearsing, and performing for different
audiences (adults in concert venues, family concerts in the park,
friends in informal settings, or groups of elementary age students).
Again, related activities and prerequisite knowledge and skills
for the related activities should involve tasks that would traditionally
be associated with the activity (e.g., singing and playing with
technical accuracy and with a good tone in small ensembles, sightreading
ensemble music with several peers, demonstrating good practice
skills when working on ensemble music, maintaining a steady tempo
while performing with others).
Step 3. Develop a hierarchy of
appropriate experiences for students at each grade level that
are similar to the adult experience, related activities, and tasks.
Choose, develop, and structure experiences that will provide frequent
opportunities to practice and apply the same skills and knowledge
using numerous and varied examples in multiple contexts throughout
the school year at each grade level.
In order to keep the school experiences
as close to the adult experience as possible, it is useful to
develop experiences for the "exit" grade level first.
Ideally, twelfth grade should be the exit grade for music, although
the exit grade may be the last grade level taught by the same
teacher (e.g., fifth for elementary) or the last time music will
be a required subject for students. Activities for each grade
level, with age-appropriate modifications in task complexity and
contexts, can then be developed from the exit grade level to the
lowest grade level in a kind of top-down process.
Although school experiences will
vary somewhat from the adult experience of attending concerts
of classical music, it is important to keep the related activities,
contexts, and tasks as similar as possible to those that occur
in the adult experience and also to choose those that provide
frequent opportunities for practice. Occasional field trips to
concerts in the community may have some benefits for students
since they involve real concert venues; however, these experiences
are usually infrequent and lack opportunities for students to
practice skills and use knowledge that are important and valued
components of the concert experience.
Compared to field trips, opportunities
for practice and transfer of knowledge and skills are increased
when teachers structure experiences that focus on short performances
that are given in the classroom or rehearsals. Live "concerts"
can be given by the teacher, peers, parents, or other members
of the community. Professional videos of performances of great
artists and ensembles also provide excellent opportunities for
students to practice related activities that are associated with
concert contexts. Although the venue is not identical, teachers
now have flexibility to structure age-appropriate experiences
and frequent opportunities for students to practice skills and
tasks, and apply knowledge using numerous and varied examples
in multiple contexts (e.g., choice of music, length of music,
type of ensemble, performers, topics and music terminology for
discussion). For example, consider the related experience of adults
talking intelligently about music with companions during intermission
or after the concert. For a primary level experience, after students
listen to the teacher perform (on any instrument) several short
musical excerpts or watch and listen to a short performance on
video, they select at least two words from a list of familiar
music terminology and use those words to describe the music to
a partner (teacher monitors discussions and expands discussion
in class). Upper elementary students may use appropriate music
terminology in small-group discussions to explain their personal
preferences after listening to different short videos or live
musical excerpts, and older students may verbally identify and
explain the stylistic features of the musical selection and explain
some of the compositional devices that were used to evoke feelings
or emotions.
The complexity of the tasks and
contexts for school experiences involving small-group performances
will also vary for students at different grade levels. Again,
the experiences that are developed for transition should provide
frequent opportunities for practice and be as similar as possible
to those that occur in the adult experience. Year-end concerts,
holiday concerts, and performances of small ensembles at contest
may have benefits for students but, similar to the field trips
to concerts, these experiences usually occur infrequently and
may lack opportunities for students to participate in important
related activities and learn valued skills and knowledge (e.g.,
understanding the technical requirements of music and making appropriate
selections for performance; working cooperatively with other musicians
in making independent decisions regarding the music, interpretations,
programming for particular audiences, rehearsal schedules, and
rehearsal strategies; evaluating individual and group performances).
Teachers can structure numerous
age appropriate experiences and provide frequent opportunities
for all students to learn and practice performing in small ensembles
in various informal contexts with friendly audiences. Some students
will also perform in more formal concert venues. For a primary
level experience, teachers can, on a regular basis, choose several
students to sing (and/or play) familiar songs with or without
accompaniments in class. Throughout the month, perhaps several
students who are demonstrating good progress in singing and playing
in class ("improving during rehearsal") can be selected
to evaluate music as ready for performance, select a few short
pieces, and perform them at the principal's office or for peers
and teachers in other classrooms. Similar experiences can be structured
for students in upper elementary, middle, and high school by simply
varying the music, audiences, and the complexity of tasks that
involve independent and small-group decisions regarding selecting
and programming music. Teachers who rehearse large ensembles can
structure experiences for older students where students select
group members for a small ensemble (with some supervision from
the teacher) and perform current repertoire for students in lower
grade levels. This type of experience provides students with additional
opportunities for decision making in the selection of members
who will perform critical voice (instrument) parts and perhaps
in creating appropriate arrangements.
Creative teachers will find many
ways to extend the experiences of attending a concert of classical
music and playing with and for others to other meaningful music
activities performed by adults. It is important, however, that
principles of transfer (e.g., learning something well, frequent
opportunities for practice) are applied to any new experience.
The key components of school experiences (in these examples of
attending concerts of classical music and performing with and
for others) must be age appropriate and yet remain as similar
as possible to adult experiences. Principles of transfer must
be applied in situations in order to increase the probability
for transfer and for successful transition across grade levels
into adulthood.
Inspiring, beautiful words have
been written (many of them in this book) about music and its value
in the world. Music and music making are valued by a large majority
of individuals in our society, many of whom have experienced only
a few years of formal music education. Music and music making
were integral to the lives of individuals in societies before
the discipline of music education, and no doubt will remain in
future societies should the profession of music education vanish.
How will the quality of life of future generations change, and
for the better, as a result of children's attending required or
elective music classes with competent music educators today? How
will music education change so that all people will continue to
be involved in meaningful music participation? What good can music
education do?
The idea of deciding what is important
and meaningful for others is difficult. Many people may want educators
to "expose" children to different music experiences
(all valued and good) and let children decide for themselves.
Competent music educators understand the importance of time for
practice and study, key ideas supported by transfer research and
applications in all disciplines. The success of education is based
on deciding what is important to learn and structuring frequent
opportunities for practice and learning to occur over time. Who
better to decide what music experiences are important and meaningful
for students and adults than music teachers?
Many music teachers across this
country every day provide pleasurable, enjoyable, creative music
experiences for their students. Yet, it appears that many children
and adults do not choose to continue many of these music experiences
outside of school. Perhaps we need to plan more directly for the
future musical lives of students. Curricular and instructional
decisions must be based on the reality that students leave school
and that the frequency of their successes in school will greatly
influence their opportunities for choice outside of school.
Transition planning begins with
thinking about the future and the music experiences of generations
of future adults. Decisions focus on how to bring adult music
experiences that are most valued into school music programs and
how to structure and implement a sequence of age-appropriate experiences
for children at each grade level, beginning at the earliest possible
age. All of the principles for competent instruction remain as
students become more skilled, knowledgeable, independent, and
confident within enjoyable learning contexts that are age appropriate
and similar to those valued for adulthood.
As children and adults we experience
many transitions in life. Whether transitions are seen as planned,
capricious, or just an inevitable part of time and growing older,
many transitions bring different responsibilities, decisions,
and choices requiring different skills and knowledge. In order
to make these transitions smoother, many forward-thinking adults
engage in transition planning for retirement, medical and health
care for their families, college for their children, vacations,
and "rainy" days. We should do no less when planning
for the musical lives of future generations of children and adults.
What good can music education do?
Much good, if good means preparing students for transition and
successful participation in the kinds of music experiences valued
by professionals in the discipline of music education. And much
good, if good means designing meaningful school experiences that
will increase opportunities for individuals to make real choices
in their musical lives and participate in experiences that would
not be available to them otherwise. How will the quality of life
of future generations change for the better as a result of children's
attending required or elective music classes with competent music
educators today? We'll begin to answer that question by observing
the adult musical lives of each graduating class. We'll need to
ask the class of 2020.
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