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Carlesta Elliott Spearman is professor emerita
of music at Keene State College, University System of New Hampshire.
Today, two of the most influential phenomena
of life in the United States and the world are the societal and
technological forces at work in our human existence. Even more
important to this reality is how much one is affected by the other.
Indeed, innovations in technology provide a useful backdrop for
viewing the milestones of social changes, while at the same time,
developments in sociological actions and thoughts are propelling
technology
forward. It is important, therefore, that
MENC—The National Association for Music Education, in
keeping with its mission to provide musical knowledge, skills,
and understanding to people of all ages, take a very hard look
at developments in those two phenomena as we approach the next
millennium and beyond. This overview is necessary in order for
MENC to prepare for the new century and make wise decisions regarding
the appropriate path toward achieving its mission most effectively.
This is no small task, but it is one that would not be possible
at all without such proactive steps.
Societal forces are many-faceted and far-reaching.
Culture, environment, geography, economics, politics, medicine
and health, religion, and education are all major societal forces
that interact in very complex ways. In the past, we in the United
States focused our attention on these important events as they
concerned only our nation's social institutions. However, as the
farthest reaches of the earth have become more accessible through
technological advances in mass communication and transportation
technology, a study of the larger world and our society's place
in it is required.
Moreover the dominant position of our country
in the larger world system demands that focus. John
Macionis, a noted social scientist states,
Human lives do not unfold according to sheer chance, nor do
people live in isolation relying on what philosophers call "free
will" in all our choices and actions. On the contrary,
while individuals make important decisions everyday, we do so
within a larger arena called "society"—a family,
a campus, a nation, an entire world. The essential wisdom of
sociology is that the surrounding society guides our actions
just as surely as the seasons influence how we dress and the
kinds of activities we engage in. And, because sociologists
know a great deal about how society works, they can predict
with a good measure of accuracy how we all behave.1
Sociology, then, is the scientific study of human
social activity. Music teaching is both an art and a social activity.
A classroom is a social structure. Therefore, an effective teacher
of music must combine knowledge of each student's sociological
context with knowledge of music in order to develop successful
teaching strategies within that social structure. Indeed, for
teachers, the practice of "thinking sociologically"
opens the way for appropriate academic and social interaction
in any and every classroom circumstance. This treatise takes a
diagnostic and prescriptive exploration into the future in an
effort to provide a background regarding the cultural factors
and sociological changes that will affect the teaching of music
beyond the year 2000.
Recently, many within the United States have
attempted to face the challenges of multiculturalism and promote
an educational program that recognizes the cultural diversity
by advancing the equality of all cultural traditions. Yet what
does multiculturalism really mean?
Social scientists (contrary to many others within
our society) use the term "culture" to refer to all
elements of a society's way of life, realizing that cultural patterns
vary throughout a population. It would seem that this understanding
is critical to the teaching profession. Our nation contains striking
cultural diversity. Heavy immigration over the centuries has turned
the United States into the most multicultural of all industrial
countries. Between 1820 (when our government began keeping track
of immigration) and 1990, more than fifty-five million people
came to our shores from other nations. A century ago, most immigrants
arrived from Europe; today, a majority of newcomers arrive from
Latin America and Asia.
The Census Bureau's
most recent population profile indicates that children born in
the 1990s may well live to see people of Asian, Hispanic, and
African ancestry as a majority of this country's population. The
United States is truly becoming a microcosm of the world's people.
With that reality in mind, proponents see multiculturalism as
needed preparation for living in a world in which nations are
increasingly interdependent. Our national economy is certainly
reflecting this condition. Teaching global connectedness will
probably be easier through education that includes music of the
world's people. The
National Standards for Arts Education address this reality
emphatically in the following statement:
The cultural diversity of America is a vast resource
for arts education and should be used to help students understand
themselves and others. The visual, traditional, and performing
arts provide a variety of lenses for examining the cultures and
artistic contributions of our nation and others around the world.
Students should learn that each art form has its own characteristics
and makes its distinctive contributions, that each has its own
history and heroes.... Subject matter from diverse historical
periods, styles, forms, and cultures should be used to develop
basic knowledge and skills in the various art disciplines.2
The 1997
Population Profile of the United States, published by the
U.S. Department of Economics and Statistics Administration, contains
data that have significant implications for education in general,
and for music education in particular. According to that report,
the U.S. population is projected to increase to 394 million by
2050; this is about 50% larger than today's population. This growth
will be concentrated among the school-age population, people in
their thirties and forties, and the elderly. It is predicted that
the average age of the population will be older than it is now.
During 1996, growth rates were highest for the Hispanic (of any
race) and for the Asian and Pacific Islander populations. The
African-American population is projected to reach 40 million by
2010, and 61 million by 2050.
In October 1995, 69.6 million people were enrolled
in school. Among 3- and 4-year-olds, 44.9% were enrolled in nursery
school. The number of elementary and high school students was
lower in 1995 than in the peak years of the early 1970s but higher
than in the mid 1980s. At the college level, there were 14.7 million
students in 1995, 41% of whom were aged 25 and over. About 5.4%
of all students in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades dropped
out of school in the one-year period from October 1994 to October
1995. Among people aged 25 and over in 1996, 81.7% had completed
high school and 23.6% had completed four or more years of college.
High school completion for people aged 25 and over stood at 82.8%
for Whites, 74.3% for Blacks, and 53.1% for Hispanics. Racial
differences in educational attainment continued to narrow noticeably
between Blacks and Whites. Since 1980, African Americans have
made remarkable educational progress, with the proportion of Black
adults completing high school rising from half to almost three-fourths,
nearly closing the historical gap between the two. Between 1980
and 1995, moreover, the share of African American adults with
at least a college degree rose from 8% to 13%. But, at the college
level, there remains striking racial disparity. African Americans
have attained little better than half the national standard when
it comes to completing four years of college. These data will
have an impact on the faculty make-up of the next century, which
will be discussed later in this paper.
Among the states, California had both the largest
number and percentage of foreign born; i.e., eight million people
or one-fourth of California's total population. Most of the rapid
population growth states were located in the West and South. Some
states, such as California and New York, were gaining many new
residents from international migration while losing even larger
numbers through net out-migration to other states. By 2025, nearly
one billion people are projected to move interstate. The most
populous states in the South will continue to grow fairly rapidly.
During 1994, Texas replaced New York as the third most populous
state, and it is expected to remain in that position throughout
the projected period. Florida is projected to become much larger
by 2020. Demographic changes typically transform some parts of
the country more than others.
Between 1995 and 2025, California, Texas, and
Florida expect the greatest state population gains, more than
six million people to each state. Each year from now to 2050,
the race/ethnic group adding the largest number of people to the
population will be the Hispanic-origin population. After 2020,
the Hispanic population is projected to add more people to the
U.S. every year than will all other race/ethnic groups combined.
By 2010, the Hispanic origin population may become the second
largest race/ethnic group. Thus, the already-apparent problem
of high Hispanic school-aged dropouts may be the most critical
issue in the educational system in the next millennium. Also by
2025, young people are expected to make up less than 25% of the
population of most metropolitan areas. In more than one-third
of the states, the elderly are projected to double their share
of those states' total population, with metropolitan areas showing
the greatest rate of growth.
Considering these changing demographics, other
issues need clarification. Our nation is officially committed
to the credo that all men are created equal, yet race and ethnicity
will continue to permeate the lives of men, women, and children
in many ways. We might develop a better understanding of these
two categories by considering how social scientists define them.
Ethnicityis a shared cultural heritage.
Common ancestors, language, and religion confer a distinctive
social identity. Race is a category composed of men and
women who share biologically transmitted traits. While some people
classify each other socially based upon physical characteristics
such as skin color, hair texture, facial features, and body shape,
racial features have nothing to do with being human. As human
beings we are all members of a single biological species. Over
the course of history, human migration spread genetic characteristics
throughout much of the world. No society lacks genetic mixture,
and increasing contact among the world's people ensures that racial
blending will accelerate in the future.3
Interracial births have doubled since 1980. Moreover,
when completing the 1990 census forms, almost ten million people
omitted checking a racial category. The Census
Bureau is likely to respond to the growing racial complexity
of our society by adding a new "multicultural" option
in the near future.4 The term "minority"
has usually connoted a category of people who are socially disadvantaged,
who have a disability, and/or who are underrepresented in the
economic and professional arenas. With the demographic numbers
forecast herein, that connotation will have to change as well.
In the next millennium, because of the blurring of lines of racial
and ethnic identities, we in music education will have to adhere
to a more egalitarian posture that urges us to refrain from being
judgmental or guilty of racist behaviors and unfounded assumptions.
Although there are several controversial issues
that cause divided opinions among educators regarding cultural
diversity (i.e., ethnocentrism vs. eurocentrism; divisiveness
vs. unity; separatism vs. universalism), our demographic forecast
for the next millennium mandates that our nation's schools, teachers,
and administrators find a workable solution to these problems.
Indeed, our students are not the problem, and they deserve that
we "work it out." We must provide solutions that give
them a chance for a better life in which music literacy matters
and is an integral part of who they are. It is central to our
vision that we remember that culture is ever changing, and while
these changes sometimes function as a constraint, they also serve
as a continual source of human opportunity, enrichment, and growth.
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