Monday, May 11, 2009
Inquiry paper abstract
This paper was a study of the effects of instrumental study on students’ musical identities. We have found little discussion of this subject within the music education community. We interviewed four students in the instrumental music program and the instrumental music teacher at East Side High School in Newark, New Jersey. We found that studying an instrument has significant effects on students’ musical identities. Music became more important to the students, they liked a wider range of music, and they demonstrated an ability to analyze and evaluate music on several different levels once they began studying an instrument. Students’ music listening experiences changed from a passive activity into one in which the students actively analyzed and thought about what they heard. Based on our findings, we feel the subject of musical identity is one which deserves further research and discussion within the music education community and the education community as a whole.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Poverty in NJ
2. The Brindle and McAllister families would face large difficulties living the welfare payments these families receive would not meet their basic needs. The Essex County self-sufficiency wage for an adult plus a preschooler and school age child (as in the Brindle family) is $22.10 an hour without any support. For Atlantic County, which is slightly below the Essex County figure, even with all available support, the self sufficiency wage is still $9.73, something neither of these families would meet as the mothers are not working, and might find difficulty meeting even if they are working, as the minimum wage at the time of the report was only $7.15. The working class families, the Taylors, Drivers, and Yanellis, would still have trouble meeting the standard, as none of them make the Essex County self sufficiency wage or receive public support.
3. The two families on welfare, the Brindles and McAllisters, are both headed by single mothers. Both LSNJ reports state that poverty rates are higher for single mothers, and especially single mothers of color. Especially for Ms. Brindle, who has a preschool age child, the difficulties would be harder. The studies attributed lack of work to lack of access to child care during work hours, something Ms. Brindle would need for her youngest. As neither of Ms. McAllister’s children are working age, it would be difficult for her to support the family on her own. This could be compounded by her race, as the finding in both reports state that poverty is much higher among non-whites.
4. This information has limited use in the classroom. The most use would simply come from understanding the issues working class and poor families have. As an instrumental music educator, I might have to understand that some students would not be able to practice at home. This could be because of their living situation. For example, a student living in the projects or other apartment building might not be allowed to practice because the neighbors would complain. Or students might not want to take their instruments home, because they might not come back. In a family like the McAllisters, there would be a concern that the aunt might steal the instrument for money. So staying after school so that students who want to practice can would be an almost necessary thing, as would changing my assessments to reflect this reality. Another thing I might have to understand is how expensive playing an instrument can be. Many families simply would not be able to afford supplies such as reeds, practice pads, or valve oil. These are things I would have to put into my budget that educators in more affluent districts might not have to. From an pedagogical standpoint, however, I can’t see how this information might help me as a teacher. I feel that the way I teach my students would be same, but expectations and assessments might change. My goals for what I want the students to learn, however, would be the same.
3. The two families on welfare, the Brindles and McAllisters, are both headed by single mothers. Both LSNJ reports state that poverty rates are higher for single mothers, and especially single mothers of color. Especially for Ms. Brindle, who has a preschool age child, the difficulties would be harder. The studies attributed lack of work to lack of access to child care during work hours, something Ms. Brindle would need for her youngest. As neither of Ms. McAllister’s children are working age, it would be difficult for her to support the family on her own. This could be compounded by her race, as the finding in both reports state that poverty is much higher among non-whites.
4. This information has limited use in the classroom. The most use would simply come from understanding the issues working class and poor families have. As an instrumental music educator, I might have to understand that some students would not be able to practice at home. This could be because of their living situation. For example, a student living in the projects or other apartment building might not be allowed to practice because the neighbors would complain. Or students might not want to take their instruments home, because they might not come back. In a family like the McAllisters, there would be a concern that the aunt might steal the instrument for money. So staying after school so that students who want to practice can would be an almost necessary thing, as would changing my assessments to reflect this reality. Another thing I might have to understand is how expensive playing an instrument can be. Many families simply would not be able to afford supplies such as reeds, practice pads, or valve oil. These are things I would have to put into my budget that educators in more affluent districts might not have to. From an pedagogical standpoint, however, I can’t see how this information might help me as a teacher. I feel that the way I teach my students would be same, but expectations and assessments might change. My goals for what I want the students to learn, however, would be the same.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Inquiry progress
We have been exploring the question "How does music shape students' identities and how does this musical identity shape their experience in music education?" To this end, we interviewed four students and the instrumental music instructor at East Side High School in Newark. And as we are coming at this from the point of view of music educators, we have tried to find existing literature on this subject within the music education community.
The first thing we've found is that there is an extreme lack of discussion and research on this subject within the music education community. There has been some research done on students' listening preferences, but none we could find that asks about the role music plays in students' lives. Discussion with teachers and academics has revealed mostly an assumption that music would be important to students in a high school music program. This is perhaps because of the fact that in the great majority of high schools in New Jersey, students entering high school have had instrumental music in elementary or middle school. This is not the case at East Side High, however, so we were interested in exploring how important music was to high school students just starting an instrument.
One thing that was common to all the students we interviewed was the large role of family music preferences on their own preferences. All the students expressed a generally positive view of the music they heard growing up. All of them also told us that music was listened to a great deal in there homes. They all used the phrase "all the time" to explain how much music was listened to in their homes. This phase was also used to explain how much they listened to music themselves.
Another thing we were surprised at was the variety of music students listened to. Based on discussions with the teacher, we assumed all of them would listen to hip-hop or rap the most. This was not the case. All the students listened to various Latin musics. One student liked classic hard rock and"screamo," a very hard style of rock music. Three of the four listed jazz as a music they listened to, and two of them listened to Western classical music.
Based on the limited research we were able to find, high school students tend to show stronger opinions about music than students in grades 4-8, which are the grades when most students begin playing instruments. All the students we interviewed expressed strong opinions about music, especially when talking about music they liked. However, they all said that playing an instrument made them like and appreciate music more. Moreover, playing an instrument fundamentally changed the way they thought about and listened to music. While they all stated that music was important to them before they started playing, all the students said that music became an even larger part of their life once they started playing. This was true whether they had been playing for four years, or two months.
Another thing that was striking was how they described listening to music. They all talked about it not just in terms of opinion or emotion, but analytically. They all talked about differences and similarities between different musicians or styles, and about how the music was put together. Listening wasn't just a passive activity, it was doing something. They all attributed this to playing an instrument, and said that they didn't think about music like that before they began playing. One student even said he doesn't listen to the lyrics anymore! So it was clear that playing an instrument had fundamentally changed these students' musical identities. While we went in asking how their identities affected their experience in music education, it became clear that music education changed their identities. I feel that this doesn't happen in such a striking way to students who begin playing earlier in life, or that it at least isn't as evident. This could be why the question rarely comes up within the music education community.
The first thing we've found is that there is an extreme lack of discussion and research on this subject within the music education community. There has been some research done on students' listening preferences, but none we could find that asks about the role music plays in students' lives. Discussion with teachers and academics has revealed mostly an assumption that music would be important to students in a high school music program. This is perhaps because of the fact that in the great majority of high schools in New Jersey, students entering high school have had instrumental music in elementary or middle school. This is not the case at East Side High, however, so we were interested in exploring how important music was to high school students just starting an instrument.
One thing that was common to all the students we interviewed was the large role of family music preferences on their own preferences. All the students expressed a generally positive view of the music they heard growing up. All of them also told us that music was listened to a great deal in there homes. They all used the phrase "all the time" to explain how much music was listened to in their homes. This phase was also used to explain how much they listened to music themselves.
Another thing we were surprised at was the variety of music students listened to. Based on discussions with the teacher, we assumed all of them would listen to hip-hop or rap the most. This was not the case. All the students listened to various Latin musics. One student liked classic hard rock and"screamo," a very hard style of rock music. Three of the four listed jazz as a music they listened to, and two of them listened to Western classical music.
Based on the limited research we were able to find, high school students tend to show stronger opinions about music than students in grades 4-8, which are the grades when most students begin playing instruments. All the students we interviewed expressed strong opinions about music, especially when talking about music they liked. However, they all said that playing an instrument made them like and appreciate music more. Moreover, playing an instrument fundamentally changed the way they thought about and listened to music. While they all stated that music was important to them before they started playing, all the students said that music became an even larger part of their life once they started playing. This was true whether they had been playing for four years, or two months.
Another thing that was striking was how they described listening to music. They all talked about it not just in terms of opinion or emotion, but analytically. They all talked about differences and similarities between different musicians or styles, and about how the music was put together. Listening wasn't just a passive activity, it was doing something. They all attributed this to playing an instrument, and said that they didn't think about music like that before they began playing. One student even said he doesn't listen to the lyrics anymore! So it was clear that playing an instrument had fundamentally changed these students' musical identities. While we went in asking how their identities affected their experience in music education, it became clear that music education changed their identities. I feel that this doesn't happen in such a striking way to students who begin playing earlier in life, or that it at least isn't as evident. This could be why the question rarely comes up within the music education community.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Inquiry Introduction
Music is an enormous social, cultural, and personal force in people’s lives. Often, the music people listen is tied to who they are and how they see themselves. In other words, music becomes a part of a person’s identity. The main purpose of this paper is to look specifically at how music shapes urban high school students’ identities, and how those musical identities shape the students’ experiences within a music education program. We wanted to know how much music students listened to, how they thought about it in relation to their lives, how they came to like the music they did, and how important music was to them. We viewed this question from the point of view of music educators and as such were interested not just in the cultural and societal implications of the question, but more specifically how musical identities play out within the framework of students learning to play instruments. We are interested in how musical identity shapes how students viewed their music education experience and if it affects their success or failure in learning an instrument. We are looking to see if an understanding of students’ musical identities can help music educators teach more effectively or if it changes the way an instructor teaches. We were curious about this because we have found a relative lack of discussion or research about this question within the music education community and literature.
We interviewed four students in the instrumental music program and the instrumental music teacher at East Side High School in Newark, New Jersey. The instrumental music program at East Side High and at most other high schools in Newark are unique within New Jersey in that most students entering the program have not had instrumental music instruction before coming to high school because of a lack of feeder music programs in the elementary and middle schools. Additionally, Newark has five magnet high schools, one of which is specifically tailored to arts education, and these schools tend to have a higher proportion of students that have had instrumental instruction before high school. This unique situation gave us an opportunity to see how beginning music education at the high school age was affected by students’ musical identities. This was particularly interesting because high school students tend to show stronger opinions about music than students in elementary or middle school (LeBlanc, Sims, Siivola, Obert, 1996), which led us to believe that music tends to be a larger part of their identity than it would be at an earlier age (this is a question beyond the reach of this project and one which we did not explore).
Cited works:
LeBlanc, A.; Sims, W. L., Siivola, C., and Obert, M. (1996). Music Style Preferences of Different Age Listeners. Journal of Research in Music Education 44 (1), 49-59. Accessed 03/29/2009 11:16 PM http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345413
We interviewed four students in the instrumental music program and the instrumental music teacher at East Side High School in Newark, New Jersey. The instrumental music program at East Side High and at most other high schools in Newark are unique within New Jersey in that most students entering the program have not had instrumental music instruction before coming to high school because of a lack of feeder music programs in the elementary and middle schools. Additionally, Newark has five magnet high schools, one of which is specifically tailored to arts education, and these schools tend to have a higher proportion of students that have had instrumental instruction before high school. This unique situation gave us an opportunity to see how beginning music education at the high school age was affected by students’ musical identities. This was particularly interesting because high school students tend to show stronger opinions about music than students in elementary or middle school (LeBlanc, Sims, Siivola, Obert, 1996), which led us to believe that music tends to be a larger part of their identity than it would be at an earlier age (this is a question beyond the reach of this project and one which we did not explore).
Cited works:
LeBlanc, A.; Sims, W. L., Siivola, C., and Obert, M. (1996). Music Style Preferences of Different Age Listeners. Journal of Research in Music Education 44 (1), 49-59. Accessed 03/29/2009 11:16 PM http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345413
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Inquiry Project
Our inquiry project will be exploring how students’ identities are shaped by music and how this identity affects their musical education, specifically within the instrumental music program at East Side High School in Newark. It is no secret that students everywhere listen almost exclusively to popular music, and we are basing our inquiry on the assumption that this will hold true at East Side. However, within the music education community, this is rarely given more than a passing thought or acknowledgement. Much energy is focused on getting students to like classical music and the utility of classical music in instrumental instruction. However, there has been little research about how popular music might be used for instrumental instruction. A search of articles in the Journal of Research in Music Education using the term “popular music education” provides three articles listed in the top fifty search items that are specifically related to popular music as a tool for instrumental instruction. There has been slightly more research about music preferences of music students. It has been found that students almost exclusively prefer some form of popular music instead of classical or jazz.
At East Side the instrumental students are almost exclusively beginners. This is highly unusual at the high school level, and results from a lack of instrumental music programs in Newark’s elementary and middle schools. All students, regardless of the instrument they are studying, are put in the same class, resulting in significant difficulties for the music teacher. These unique conditions give us an opportunity to see specifically how musical identity shapes beginning instrumentalists’ musical education, and more specifically still at the high school level. We will be conducting our research by interviewing several students and the band director, and observing a class. We will analyze some of the music that students use and look similarities and differences between what they listen to and what they are taught in school. We will also look at research outside of the music education literature about music and identity.
Some of the questions we might ask during our interviews of students will be:
What do/don’t you like about music?
Who is your favorite musician/group? What do you like about him/her/them?
How often do you listen to music?
What kind of music did you hear growing up? Do you like that music? Why?
How does music make you feel?
What is your favorite song? What do you like about it?
What do/don’t you like about playing your instrument?
How has playing an instrument changed the way you think about music?
Are you playing the instrument you wanted to? Why did you want to play that instrument or What do you think of the instrument you are playing now?
Some questions we might ask the music teacher during our interview with him will be:
How aware are you of what your students listen to for pleasure?
Do you consciously try to use what your students listen to for pleasure as a part of instruction?
Do you notice a difference in learning styles based on what students listen to?
Do you notice a difference in enthusiasm for music based on what students listen to?
How important do you think music is to your students’ identities?
We will then try to synthesize these as a limited case study for how students’ musical identities affect music education.
At East Side the instrumental students are almost exclusively beginners. This is highly unusual at the high school level, and results from a lack of instrumental music programs in Newark’s elementary and middle schools. All students, regardless of the instrument they are studying, are put in the same class, resulting in significant difficulties for the music teacher. These unique conditions give us an opportunity to see specifically how musical identity shapes beginning instrumentalists’ musical education, and more specifically still at the high school level. We will be conducting our research by interviewing several students and the band director, and observing a class. We will analyze some of the music that students use and look similarities and differences between what they listen to and what they are taught in school. We will also look at research outside of the music education literature about music and identity.
Some of the questions we might ask during our interviews of students will be:
What do/don’t you like about music?
Who is your favorite musician/group? What do you like about him/her/them?
How often do you listen to music?
What kind of music did you hear growing up? Do you like that music? Why?
How does music make you feel?
What is your favorite song? What do you like about it?
What do/don’t you like about playing your instrument?
How has playing an instrument changed the way you think about music?
Are you playing the instrument you wanted to? Why did you want to play that instrument or What do you think of the instrument you are playing now?
Some questions we might ask the music teacher during our interview with him will be:
How aware are you of what your students listen to for pleasure?
Do you consciously try to use what your students listen to for pleasure as a part of instruction?
Do you notice a difference in learning styles based on what students listen to?
Do you notice a difference in enthusiasm for music based on what students listen to?
How important do you think music is to your students’ identities?
We will then try to synthesize these as a limited case study for how students’ musical identities affect music education.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Annotated Bibliography
Fitzpatrick, K. (2006). The Effect of Instrumental Music Participation and Socioeconomic Status on Ohio Fourth-, Sixth-, and Ninth-Grade Proficiency Test Performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54 (1), 73-84 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3653456
This study looked at the effect of instrumental music participation on fourth, sixth, and ninth grade students’ test scores across socioeconomic status. Students participating in instrumental instruction consistently outscored students of like socioeconomic status. Importantly, students of lower socioeconomic status who stayed in music from fourth to ninth grade outscored students of higher socioeconomic status who were not participating in music in ninth grade in the subject areas of science, math, citizenship, and reading. This demonstrates the possibility that instrumental music instruction could be a tool to close the achievement gap that urban schools have with their suburban counterparts.
Smith, C. (1997). Access to String Instruction in American Public Schools. Journal of Research in Music Education 45 (4), 650-662. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345429
This article examines what school districts in the country offer string instrument instruction and at what grade levels. It found that strings are most often found in schools of average socioeconomic status in medium-sized urban or metropolitan districts. String instruction was offered least often in schools of low socioeconomic status regardless of their area. These findings are important because a string program is usually the last thing added in a music program, and so the presence of a string program in a school district can be an indicator of overall support for music education in a district.
Leard, D. W., and Lashua, B. (2006). Popular Media, Critical Pedagogy, and Inner City Youth. Canadian Journal of Education 29 (1), 244-264. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20054155
This article presented case studies of two teachers at inner city high schools in Edmonton, Alberta, who used popular culture, in particular popular theatre and rap music, for critical pedagogy. The study of interest to myself is the one that involved students writing their own rap and hip-hop music. The not only wrote the lyrics, but also used computer technology to create their own beats to rap over. The study enumerated several ways in which students used rap or hip-hop to lay out their thoughts, concerns, and problems in life. It was also a way for students to express their identity, and how they wanted that identity to take shape in the future.
Gordon, M. (1979). Instrumental Music Instruction as a Contingency for Increased Reading Behavior. Journal of Research in Music Education 27 (2), 87-102. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3344895
This article presented the findings of research conducted in two inner-city schools. Two groups of fourth graders, one reading at or above grade level, and the other at least one year behind grade level, were studied to determine the effect of instrumental music instruction as a reinforcer or motivational tool for increased reading behavior. The lower level reading group was the experimental group, and received music instruction only when individual reading goals were met within a forty-minute time period. If the goals were not met, the students would not receive music instruction. The higher-level reading group was the control group, and received music instruction regardless of performance. A reading pretest given to both groups before music instruction started showed significant differences in the two groups’ performances. A reading posttest given after the experiment was completed showed no differences in the groups’ scores. In the experimental group, daily reading scores increased when contingent music instruction started and was not maintained when the music instruction was withdrawn.
This experiment is particularly interesting because it shows the effect music can have on students’ motivation to learn and do well in school. The findings show that music education can have an affect on students’ school performance in other subject areas besides music. While the study was small, encompassing only fifty-four students, it is promising research that I have yet to find any more support on. While much research has been done on the effects of music instruction on reading performance, this is the only study I have found that looks specifically at music’s effects on motivation for learning in other subjects. It is something that I would like to look at more closely.
Shields, C. (2001). Music Education and Mentoring as Intervention for At-Risk Urban Adolescents: Their Self-Perception, Opinions, and Attitudes. Journal of Research in Music Education 49 (3) 273-286. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345712
This article described a study of the effects of music education and mentoring by music teachers as intervention for at-risk urban sixth graders based on the students’ self-perception over six domains. The music teacher acted as a mentor during the study, intentionally trying to note and help with students’ problems, both musical and nonmusical. The study found no statistically significant difference between students’ pretest and posttest self-perception in all domains except for that of musical competency. It was also found that students considered music more important in their lives at the end of the study compared to before the study began. Students’ feelings of musical competency also came more in line with the importance they gave to music in their lives. This is important because it shows that at-risk students can use music to increase self-esteem in certain ways, even if it does not carry over to other domains of self-esteem.
This study looked at the effect of instrumental music participation on fourth, sixth, and ninth grade students’ test scores across socioeconomic status. Students participating in instrumental instruction consistently outscored students of like socioeconomic status. Importantly, students of lower socioeconomic status who stayed in music from fourth to ninth grade outscored students of higher socioeconomic status who were not participating in music in ninth grade in the subject areas of science, math, citizenship, and reading. This demonstrates the possibility that instrumental music instruction could be a tool to close the achievement gap that urban schools have with their suburban counterparts.
Smith, C. (1997). Access to String Instruction in American Public Schools. Journal of Research in Music Education 45 (4), 650-662. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345429
This article examines what school districts in the country offer string instrument instruction and at what grade levels. It found that strings are most often found in schools of average socioeconomic status in medium-sized urban or metropolitan districts. String instruction was offered least often in schools of low socioeconomic status regardless of their area. These findings are important because a string program is usually the last thing added in a music program, and so the presence of a string program in a school district can be an indicator of overall support for music education in a district.
Leard, D. W., and Lashua, B. (2006). Popular Media, Critical Pedagogy, and Inner City Youth. Canadian Journal of Education 29 (1), 244-264. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20054155
This article presented case studies of two teachers at inner city high schools in Edmonton, Alberta, who used popular culture, in particular popular theatre and rap music, for critical pedagogy. The study of interest to myself is the one that involved students writing their own rap and hip-hop music. The not only wrote the lyrics, but also used computer technology to create their own beats to rap over. The study enumerated several ways in which students used rap or hip-hop to lay out their thoughts, concerns, and problems in life. It was also a way for students to express their identity, and how they wanted that identity to take shape in the future.
Gordon, M. (1979). Instrumental Music Instruction as a Contingency for Increased Reading Behavior. Journal of Research in Music Education 27 (2), 87-102. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3344895
This article presented the findings of research conducted in two inner-city schools. Two groups of fourth graders, one reading at or above grade level, and the other at least one year behind grade level, were studied to determine the effect of instrumental music instruction as a reinforcer or motivational tool for increased reading behavior. The lower level reading group was the experimental group, and received music instruction only when individual reading goals were met within a forty-minute time period. If the goals were not met, the students would not receive music instruction. The higher-level reading group was the control group, and received music instruction regardless of performance. A reading pretest given to both groups before music instruction started showed significant differences in the two groups’ performances. A reading posttest given after the experiment was completed showed no differences in the groups’ scores. In the experimental group, daily reading scores increased when contingent music instruction started and was not maintained when the music instruction was withdrawn.
This experiment is particularly interesting because it shows the effect music can have on students’ motivation to learn and do well in school. The findings show that music education can have an affect on students’ school performance in other subject areas besides music. While the study was small, encompassing only fifty-four students, it is promising research that I have yet to find any more support on. While much research has been done on the effects of music instruction on reading performance, this is the only study I have found that looks specifically at music’s effects on motivation for learning in other subjects. It is something that I would like to look at more closely.
Shields, C. (2001). Music Education and Mentoring as Intervention for At-Risk Urban Adolescents: Their Self-Perception, Opinions, and Attitudes. Journal of Research in Music Education 49 (3) 273-286. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345712
This article described a study of the effects of music education and mentoring by music teachers as intervention for at-risk urban sixth graders based on the students’ self-perception over six domains. The music teacher acted as a mentor during the study, intentionally trying to note and help with students’ problems, both musical and nonmusical. The study found no statistically significant difference between students’ pretest and posttest self-perception in all domains except for that of musical competency. It was also found that students considered music more important in their lives at the end of the study compared to before the study began. Students’ feelings of musical competency also came more in line with the importance they gave to music in their lives. This is important because it shows that at-risk students can use music to increase self-esteem in certain ways, even if it does not carry over to other domains of self-esteem.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
East Side High
Today I spent a class period observing and helping the instrumental music teacher at East Side High School in Newark. It was the first time I had been to an urban school since about fourth grade, when I went to a high school in Jacksonville, FL to see some sort of rain forest thing. So this basically a new experience for me.
The atmosphere was much different from the music program where I went to high school, or where anyone I know went to high school. Just about all the students were beginners, and the ones that had had prior instruction had only had a very small amount, something that I have never heard of at the high school level. The teacher explained to me that instrumental music is not offered in many elementary and middle schools throughout the district. Newark is the only place he knows of where the high school instrumental music courses are comprised of mostly beginners. Also unlike other music programs, all the instruments were in the same class. Usually when a student begins learning an instrument in school, they are put in a small class with other students learning the same instrument. This class was large (29 students) and made up of different instruments. So there were some challenges that I had not thought a high school music teacher might face.
When a student first learns an instrument, individual or at least grouped attention to like instruments is needed to help them learn their instruments. At East Side, everyone was grouped together, so the teacher had to come up with other ways to give this instruction. He put sections (i.e. percussion, trumpets, trombones, saxophones, etc.) into separate rooms. He then assigned a section leader who either already knew how to play a little bit, or was a little bit ahead of the other students. The section leader would be responsible for teaching the other students in his or her section the day's objective. The teacher then bounced from section to section, giving extra help to those students who needed it, and encouraging students who were doing well to push themselves further. I helped with the saxophones for the class period I was there, showing them fingerings and making suggestions for their embouchure.
While this setting allowed some individualized and small group instruction, it did have its drawbacks. Discipline was a problem, as the teacher was not able to pay attention to all the students at once. At one time, the trumpets left their room and began banging away at the piano in the main band room. The teacher had to stop what he was doing with the clarinet and flutes and address this disruption. The setting also made it easy for students to lose focus on what they were supposed to be doing. This problem was exacerbated by the length of the class, which was approximately eighty minutes.
There were other challenges the teacher faced that I had yet to see in any of the suburban schools I have attended or visited. Several of his students were English language learners, and understood only a small amount of English. The teacher was bilingual, speaking fluent Spanish, which helped with this problem, but it was a challenge for me while I was working with some of the students. I frequently had to motion or demonstrate the concepts I was trying to teach. While the students usually understood eventually and were able to do what I was asking, it was more difficult and time-consuming than it is with my English-speaking private students.
The teacher also explained to me that he usually got a large proportion of special-needs students, and that many students had not chosen to take the class. He described it as somewhat of a "dumping ground" for problem students. This was another factor that made discipline and motivation difficult, although in the class period I spent at the school the teacher had a good handle on the students' behavior and there were no major problems or disruptions.
Despite these challenges and problems, the teacher had a very positive outlook of the students and his program. This was mirrored in the students' attitudes. While it was obvious many of them were particularly concerned with music, when they had an instrument in their hand, all of them were eager to learn and put in some effort. Some of them were visibly surprised and pleased when they were able to do something they had been trying for a while. I was surprised at how far some of the students had progressed considering they had only started the class two weeks ago.
One major problem within the district from a music education perspective is that many students who have already had musical instruction are attracted to the magnet high schools that already have established instrumental music programs. This makes it extremely difficult to get a band program going, as the talent that could attract new students into the band or marching band are not even there. Good musicians help everyone around them, and an absence of established musical peers makes it all the harder for students to learn and improve.
Going into East Side was a very illuminating experience. While the largest challenge the teacher faced is unique to the Newark school district, many of the things he had to deal with were ones commonly associated with urban education. In addition, the setting was one in which creative teaching practices would be rewarded, as many of the problems faced are almost unheard of in music education and require a unique look at music. I know this is a cliche, but I came away with more questions that answers, and I'll probably be thinking about them for a long time to come.
The atmosphere was much different from the music program where I went to high school, or where anyone I know went to high school. Just about all the students were beginners, and the ones that had had prior instruction had only had a very small amount, something that I have never heard of at the high school level. The teacher explained to me that instrumental music is not offered in many elementary and middle schools throughout the district. Newark is the only place he knows of where the high school instrumental music courses are comprised of mostly beginners. Also unlike other music programs, all the instruments were in the same class. Usually when a student begins learning an instrument in school, they are put in a small class with other students learning the same instrument. This class was large (29 students) and made up of different instruments. So there were some challenges that I had not thought a high school music teacher might face.
When a student first learns an instrument, individual or at least grouped attention to like instruments is needed to help them learn their instruments. At East Side, everyone was grouped together, so the teacher had to come up with other ways to give this instruction. He put sections (i.e. percussion, trumpets, trombones, saxophones, etc.) into separate rooms. He then assigned a section leader who either already knew how to play a little bit, or was a little bit ahead of the other students. The section leader would be responsible for teaching the other students in his or her section the day's objective. The teacher then bounced from section to section, giving extra help to those students who needed it, and encouraging students who were doing well to push themselves further. I helped with the saxophones for the class period I was there, showing them fingerings and making suggestions for their embouchure.
While this setting allowed some individualized and small group instruction, it did have its drawbacks. Discipline was a problem, as the teacher was not able to pay attention to all the students at once. At one time, the trumpets left their room and began banging away at the piano in the main band room. The teacher had to stop what he was doing with the clarinet and flutes and address this disruption. The setting also made it easy for students to lose focus on what they were supposed to be doing. This problem was exacerbated by the length of the class, which was approximately eighty minutes.
There were other challenges the teacher faced that I had yet to see in any of the suburban schools I have attended or visited. Several of his students were English language learners, and understood only a small amount of English. The teacher was bilingual, speaking fluent Spanish, which helped with this problem, but it was a challenge for me while I was working with some of the students. I frequently had to motion or demonstrate the concepts I was trying to teach. While the students usually understood eventually and were able to do what I was asking, it was more difficult and time-consuming than it is with my English-speaking private students.
The teacher also explained to me that he usually got a large proportion of special-needs students, and that many students had not chosen to take the class. He described it as somewhat of a "dumping ground" for problem students. This was another factor that made discipline and motivation difficult, although in the class period I spent at the school the teacher had a good handle on the students' behavior and there were no major problems or disruptions.
Despite these challenges and problems, the teacher had a very positive outlook of the students and his program. This was mirrored in the students' attitudes. While it was obvious many of them were particularly concerned with music, when they had an instrument in their hand, all of them were eager to learn and put in some effort. Some of them were visibly surprised and pleased when they were able to do something they had been trying for a while. I was surprised at how far some of the students had progressed considering they had only started the class two weeks ago.
One major problem within the district from a music education perspective is that many students who have already had musical instruction are attracted to the magnet high schools that already have established instrumental music programs. This makes it extremely difficult to get a band program going, as the talent that could attract new students into the band or marching band are not even there. Good musicians help everyone around them, and an absence of established musical peers makes it all the harder for students to learn and improve.
Going into East Side was a very illuminating experience. While the largest challenge the teacher faced is unique to the Newark school district, many of the things he had to deal with were ones commonly associated with urban education. In addition, the setting was one in which creative teaching practices would be rewarded, as many of the problems faced are almost unheard of in music education and require a unique look at music. I know this is a cliche, but I came away with more questions that answers, and I'll probably be thinking about them for a long time to come.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Culture of Self
My poster is fairly sparse, illustrating the largest influences and things with which I identify myself. On the left, I have pictures of fly fishing and skiing. The fly fishing picture is the largest for the “myself” portion, because it is something which is really only for myself. I prefer to fish alone much of the time. Fly fishing is something in which I usually forget about everything else. When I’m on a stream or river or lake or on the beach at night, the possibility of a fish mistaking my contraption of fur and feathers tied to a hook consumes me. It is an amazing thing to be connected to another living thing through something that vaguely (very vaguely) resembles mortal combat (at least from the fish’s point of view) but in actuality has no more import than just about anything in else I do, since I release the great majority of my fish unharmed. It one of the few things where I can find a constant, something to center myself.
The other big picture is of skiing. And not just skiing, but skiing in the trees in deep powder. If I was rich, this might be my number one activity, but some winters I am only able to afford trips to the Catskills on discount days, where the tree skiing opportunities are rare. But I still ski. It is another thing that I do mostly for myself (although if you’re a girl that can keep up with me on the slopes, I’ll marry you today). Similar to fly fishing, when I am skiing, it is all I think about. It is a way of being completely “in the moment,” in a way that even music doesn’t offer me. The physical rush is something that I have never duplicated anywhere else.
Below the skiing picture, the music starts. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and Blue, by Joni Mitchell, were two of my favorite albums growing up, and they remain so. More than anything else, they taught me just how personal and universal music could be at the same time. As I get towards the middle, albums that are big influences on me right now as both a person and a teacher come into play. As a music teacher, I feel that even if you don’t teach music you listen to, it will come through in your teaching and conducting. No matter how hard you try to be impartial, your students are going to pick up pieces of your musicianship, which is reflective of what you listen to. Right now my two favorite albums, which I don’t go more than a few days without listening to are Jenny Lewis’s Acid Tongue and Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky. In between those two is another album that I have listened to countless times, and still listen to a lot, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. I also use Kind of Blue for teaching any student that starts improvising. Therefore, it is smack in the middle of me as a person and me as a teacher.
As I move to the right and the “myself as a teacher” portion, I have entered written music. This is because in my private and professional life, I often play by ear or memory. I rarely read music anymore. However, when I am teaching, I am constantly using written music. It is important for students to learn new music and to gain an understanding of music. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” is a song that I enjoy playing and sometimes use as a teacher. “Theme from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” on the bottom, is a duet for flute and piano, two instruments I didn’t truly learn how to play until I had to start teaching them. Finally, all the way on the right of the poster is a portion of “All the Things You Are,” a jazz standard. It is a song that I have a hatred for, but is so useful as a tool for teaching jazz improvisation that I still use it. I put it in as an acknowledgment that as a teacher we must often do things that make us uncomfortable, angry, or unhappy for the good of our students. Our first priority is to help our students, and if that means we have to do something we don’t like, then so be it.
Conspicuously absent from my poster is any mention of religion. Religion is something that I struggled with for a large part of my life, until I finally gave up on it. Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I cannot believe in any of it or find any good in it. I feel religion (not faith, which is something completely different) is actually a problem. However, this is a personal feeling, and in an effort to respect other people’s beliefs and personal convictions, I now refrain from mentioning religion unless I directly asked about it or I am positive I can do so without getting into an argument or offending someone.
It is worth noting that both fly-fishing and skiing are generally thought of as upper class activities. Skiing especially is something I came to love only because my family could afford it growing up. Fly fishing can be, but by no means has to be, an upper class pursuit. It does require that one has access to places to fish though, something that would have been more difficult if I had not grown up within a bike-ride of water for my whole life. It is something I might not have come to had I grown up in a more urban area.
Fly fishing and skiing are both also predominantly men’s sports, especially fly fishing. I was introduced to both by my father, who came to them through his father (in the case of fishing) and male friends (in the case of skiing). Had I not had a male influence in my life who I wanted to emulate, I might have turned to other things.
As can be seen, my identity is very much shaped by my upbringing. Many of the things I love I only had an opportunity to experience because of my class and the particular places I lived. Who I am as a music teacher is shaped to a large degree by what kind of music I like.
The other big picture is of skiing. And not just skiing, but skiing in the trees in deep powder. If I was rich, this might be my number one activity, but some winters I am only able to afford trips to the Catskills on discount days, where the tree skiing opportunities are rare. But I still ski. It is another thing that I do mostly for myself (although if you’re a girl that can keep up with me on the slopes, I’ll marry you today). Similar to fly fishing, when I am skiing, it is all I think about. It is a way of being completely “in the moment,” in a way that even music doesn’t offer me. The physical rush is something that I have never duplicated anywhere else.
Below the skiing picture, the music starts. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and Blue, by Joni Mitchell, were two of my favorite albums growing up, and they remain so. More than anything else, they taught me just how personal and universal music could be at the same time. As I get towards the middle, albums that are big influences on me right now as both a person and a teacher come into play. As a music teacher, I feel that even if you don’t teach music you listen to, it will come through in your teaching and conducting. No matter how hard you try to be impartial, your students are going to pick up pieces of your musicianship, which is reflective of what you listen to. Right now my two favorite albums, which I don’t go more than a few days without listening to are Jenny Lewis’s Acid Tongue and Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky. In between those two is another album that I have listened to countless times, and still listen to a lot, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. I also use Kind of Blue for teaching any student that starts improvising. Therefore, it is smack in the middle of me as a person and me as a teacher.
As I move to the right and the “myself as a teacher” portion, I have entered written music. This is because in my private and professional life, I often play by ear or memory. I rarely read music anymore. However, when I am teaching, I am constantly using written music. It is important for students to learn new music and to gain an understanding of music. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” is a song that I enjoy playing and sometimes use as a teacher. “Theme from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” on the bottom, is a duet for flute and piano, two instruments I didn’t truly learn how to play until I had to start teaching them. Finally, all the way on the right of the poster is a portion of “All the Things You Are,” a jazz standard. It is a song that I have a hatred for, but is so useful as a tool for teaching jazz improvisation that I still use it. I put it in as an acknowledgment that as a teacher we must often do things that make us uncomfortable, angry, or unhappy for the good of our students. Our first priority is to help our students, and if that means we have to do something we don’t like, then so be it.
Conspicuously absent from my poster is any mention of religion. Religion is something that I struggled with for a large part of my life, until I finally gave up on it. Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I cannot believe in any of it or find any good in it. I feel religion (not faith, which is something completely different) is actually a problem. However, this is a personal feeling, and in an effort to respect other people’s beliefs and personal convictions, I now refrain from mentioning religion unless I directly asked about it or I am positive I can do so without getting into an argument or offending someone.
It is worth noting that both fly-fishing and skiing are generally thought of as upper class activities. Skiing especially is something I came to love only because my family could afford it growing up. Fly fishing can be, but by no means has to be, an upper class pursuit. It does require that one has access to places to fish though, something that would have been more difficult if I had not grown up within a bike-ride of water for my whole life. It is something I might not have come to had I grown up in a more urban area.
Fly fishing and skiing are both also predominantly men’s sports, especially fly fishing. I was introduced to both by my father, who came to them through his father (in the case of fishing) and male friends (in the case of skiing). Had I not had a male influence in my life who I wanted to emulate, I might have turned to other things.
As can be seen, my identity is very much shaped by my upbringing. Many of the things I love I only had an opportunity to experience because of my class and the particular places I lived. Who I am as a music teacher is shaped to a large degree by what kind of music I like.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Questions about urban education
As a musician and aspiring music teacher, I would be primarily interested in how music affects students' lives, communities, identities, and schools. One of the most interesting questions would be how music can shape identities, both individually and collectively. How does music shape how we view ourselves and others? Music is intertwined so closely with some cultures and groups of people that the music the music is used as a defining characteristic; for example punk can refer to not just a music but an entire subculture. Personally, I use music as a lens through which I view the world around me. Certain songs evoke images in my mind about my life. A piece of music can make me think of anything from a person to a season to a single moment. I tend to identify with people who listen to the same music as me, and am likewise affected by the music that my community listens to. Do urban students do the same, and if they do, to what degree? How strongly does the music they identify with define their individual and collective identity? How does the music they listen to affect their view of education? How does the music they listen to affect their view of authority?
As a music educator, I am also interested to know what effect music has on schools and individual student learning. My personal experience with music in school mostly had a positive effect on my education. Music gave me confidence and passion, and allowed me an opportunity to contribute to something bigger than myself. It also gave me a reason to come to school when I had few others. Can music have the same effect on everyone? Would it make an even bigger difference in impoverished urban communities? Or would it fall by the wayside because of more immediate concerns How does the quality of a music program affect the school as a whole? How does the quality of a music program affect the individual students enrolled in it? Does it improve learning in other areas, or distract and have a detrimental effect? Does a music program affect the students in a school who do not participate in it? What effect does music have on teachers? Do they value it? Do they use it for instruction?
I feel that music is important to individuals and societies. It can affect these in various ways, and my questions primarily deal with those effects. My own experience has led me to believe that music can have a very positive impact on education. I would like to see if this is a possibility in urban areas.
As a music educator, I am also interested to know what effect music has on schools and individual student learning. My personal experience with music in school mostly had a positive effect on my education. Music gave me confidence and passion, and allowed me an opportunity to contribute to something bigger than myself. It also gave me a reason to come to school when I had few others. Can music have the same effect on everyone? Would it make an even bigger difference in impoverished urban communities? Or would it fall by the wayside because of more immediate concerns How does the quality of a music program affect the school as a whole? How does the quality of a music program affect the individual students enrolled in it? Does it improve learning in other areas, or distract and have a detrimental effect? Does a music program affect the students in a school who do not participate in it? What effect does music have on teachers? Do they value it? Do they use it for instruction?
I feel that music is important to individuals and societies. It can affect these in various ways, and my questions primarily deal with those effects. My own experience has led me to believe that music can have a very positive impact on education. I would like to see if this is a possibility in urban areas.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
What factors shape our schools?
After reading the introduction through chapter 2 of Fruchter and the Anderson and Summerfield article, it seems to me that there is no single overriding factor that shapes our schools, and in particular urban schools. While Fruchter’s argument seems to be that race is the overriding factor that shapes our urban schools, I am not convinced that it isn’t more complex than that. While in certain school districts, especially in the South, this might be true, I think it is a broad over-generalization to claim this as the main factor shaping urban schools in the country as a whole. Anderson and Summerfield main argument is that a belief in rural ideals as “American” ideals is shaping our public school policy, and that those ideals are forced on urban schools where the populace is “foreign,” or un-American. Again, race is implicated, though less overtly. While I agree that race and school segregation are major factors that shape our urban schools, I think the issue, like almost every other human activity or interaction, is too complex to attribute to just one or two factors.
While I agree with Fruchter’s premise that segregation of America’s schools is a major force in the shaping of those schools, and that segregation must be addressed to close the achievement gap that children of color have with their white counterparts, I am not convinced that addressing only those factors would solve the problem. Although it is never stated, Fruchter seems to imply that simply busing urban children of color to a white school or changing what he calls the “culture of schooling,” which involves everything from the curriculum to the discipline system, would help to solve the achievement gap.
His use of the DoDEA schools to show that the culture of schooling determines student performance actually seems to me to show that social and community factors play as large a role as the culture of schooling. While the way the schools are run no doubt has a factor on the performance of their students, the DoDEA schools operate within a vastly different community and framework than our urban public schools. To his credit, Fruchter admits this. However, he seems to disregard the societal influences, and his two paragraphs (on page 22) devoted to refuting the social and community influences offer little in the way of supporting data. Based on the two chapters I have read so far, Fruchter has convinced only that his “culture of schooling” is only one of many factors that must be addressed to improve failing schools. I am unconvinced that schools can be changed independently of the communities and societies they are a part of.
Anderson and Summerfield similarly fail to offer any persuading supporting data to support their claim about the imposition of rural schooling values on rural schools. While the idea is one that seems to make sense based on the recent Republican party convention and all the talk about “small towns” as the exemplar of America ideals, Anderson and Summerfield offer little in the way of supporting examples or data. The examples they do offer are specific and I would hesitate to use them to represent anything beyond what they specifically show. I see the “rural ideals” as one of many factors shaping our schools, not only one or the major one.
Again, I state my belief that all schools are shaped by many factors. Societal, cultural, economic, racial and a host of other factors all play a role. The weight any particular factor has most likely differs from region to region and school to school. It seems to me that to attribute any single factor as the shaping force of all schools, or even all suburban, rural, or urban schools, is a dangerous oversimplification. When we do such a thing, we run the risk of overlooking things our pre-conceived notions don’t want to see. We must look at all schools as part of a larger framework in which they are shaped by their communities, and in turn help to shape their communities.
While I agree with Fruchter’s premise that segregation of America’s schools is a major force in the shaping of those schools, and that segregation must be addressed to close the achievement gap that children of color have with their white counterparts, I am not convinced that addressing only those factors would solve the problem. Although it is never stated, Fruchter seems to imply that simply busing urban children of color to a white school or changing what he calls the “culture of schooling,” which involves everything from the curriculum to the discipline system, would help to solve the achievement gap.
His use of the DoDEA schools to show that the culture of schooling determines student performance actually seems to me to show that social and community factors play as large a role as the culture of schooling. While the way the schools are run no doubt has a factor on the performance of their students, the DoDEA schools operate within a vastly different community and framework than our urban public schools. To his credit, Fruchter admits this. However, he seems to disregard the societal influences, and his two paragraphs (on page 22) devoted to refuting the social and community influences offer little in the way of supporting data. Based on the two chapters I have read so far, Fruchter has convinced only that his “culture of schooling” is only one of many factors that must be addressed to improve failing schools. I am unconvinced that schools can be changed independently of the communities and societies they are a part of.
Anderson and Summerfield similarly fail to offer any persuading supporting data to support their claim about the imposition of rural schooling values on rural schools. While the idea is one that seems to make sense based on the recent Republican party convention and all the talk about “small towns” as the exemplar of America ideals, Anderson and Summerfield offer little in the way of supporting examples or data. The examples they do offer are specific and I would hesitate to use them to represent anything beyond what they specifically show. I see the “rural ideals” as one of many factors shaping our schools, not only one or the major one.
Again, I state my belief that all schools are shaped by many factors. Societal, cultural, economic, racial and a host of other factors all play a role. The weight any particular factor has most likely differs from region to region and school to school. It seems to me that to attribute any single factor as the shaping force of all schools, or even all suburban, rural, or urban schools, is a dangerous oversimplification. When we do such a thing, we run the risk of overlooking things our pre-conceived notions don’t want to see. We must look at all schools as part of a larger framework in which they are shaped by their communities, and in turn help to shape their communities.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Education and communities in the media
Music
Suburban: "Heavy Metal Drummer"-Wilco
I love this song! It exemplifies my suburban high school days: going to see bands play in the cafeteria on a Friday night, sometimes actually playing in them (I thought I was sooo cool). And of course the theme of falling in love at a rock concert, something I have done countless times, often with girls who I never even talked to. It perfectly captures how music can made me feel in high school.
Rural: "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road"-Lucinda Williams
Exemplifies what I picture when I think of a rural childhood. Sang mostly from the point of view of a child. With lines like “Cotton fields stretching miles and miles/Hank’s [as in Williams] voice on the radio...” and the refrain of “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” I feel like I can picture exactly the rural South.
Urban: Things Fall Apart-The Roots
While no single song on this album tackles education, the album as a whole exemplifies what is often depicted as the macho self-aggrandizing rap world (although on a deeper level than most rap). It speaks of growing up and living in Philadelphia and becoming famous primarily by defeating other MCs. The urban rap lifestyle is depicted in a poetic and sometimes ironic style.
TV
Suburban: The Simpsons
Classic show about a suburban family from just about anywhere in America. Springfield Elementary satirically depicts good students (Lisa) and bad (Bart and a host of others), the overtaxed teacher, and the principal that cares more about how his school looks than about the education of his students.
Rural: Friday Night Lights
Depicts a rural community through the local high school football team. Football is a central part of the community. Depicts some racial and social tensions that are often thought of as typical of rural communities with a more diverse demographic, such as many communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Urban: The Wire
I have never seen this show, but season 4 supposedly depicts a middle school in Baltimore. Reviews are mixed, some praising it as totally real and others saying that it is too dark and pessimistic. This has sparked my interest, and I will definitely check out the show to see what I think of it.
Movies
Suburban: Superbad
This movie is a hilarious tale about me (kind of). My friends and I spent many nights in high school and on summers home from college trying to find a party where we could get wasted and find a girl who actually liked us. Perfectly captures senioritis in spoiled suburban kids with comments like, “...I’m about to graduate. They should be sucking on my b---sack.” All the rest is there, too: running from cops, horrible fake I.D.’s, and trying to get older people to buy us alcohol.
Rural: Napoleon Dynamite
This movie is about a boy in a small Idaho town. It follows his fairly normal life, with little to no plot. Though this is depicted in humorous ways, the impression the movie leaves is that almost nothing happens in rural communities. Many characters are depicted as simple-minded and provincial.
Urban: Requiem for a Dream
Although this movie is not about education, it offers a very certain depiction of urban communities. Three young adults become addicted to heroin while a mother of one of them becomes addicted to diet pills. This depicts urban communities as full of disaffected youths and drug dealers who prey on them when they turn to drugs.
News
Suburban: from the Star-Ledger: Florham Park schools contract with local vendors for lunch
This article reports that Florham Park school district has contracted local restaurants to provide lunch for students. Students’ parents order their lunch online and it is then delivered to the schools. This shows how large a gap exists between urban schools and their suburban counterparts. While suburban parents are able to order restaurant quality food for their children’s lunch, many children in urban schools are on the state’s free lunch program.
Rural: from the Star-Ledger: Somerset Hills, Bedminster to discuss school district merger
This article reports that 2 small rural school districts are considering merging. The article notes that the 2 districts may be looking to save money in these tough economic times, and that merging could save some money. The state also notes that in bureaucratic terms, mergers could make sense, as New Jersey has more school districts than municipalities. This article shows some of the changes that could take place in rural schools as New Jersey tries to reform its education system.
Urban: from the Star-Ledger: Newark mentoring program to link high schoolers, youngsters
This article reports that the city of Newark is starting a mentoring program in which high school students will mentor younger students at a nearby school. While the article strikes a promising tone, it leaves the impression that Newark schools need a lot of help.
Suburban: "Heavy Metal Drummer"-Wilco
I love this song! It exemplifies my suburban high school days: going to see bands play in the cafeteria on a Friday night, sometimes actually playing in them (I thought I was sooo cool). And of course the theme of falling in love at a rock concert, something I have done countless times, often with girls who I never even talked to. It perfectly captures how music can made me feel in high school.
Rural: "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road"-Lucinda Williams
Exemplifies what I picture when I think of a rural childhood. Sang mostly from the point of view of a child. With lines like “Cotton fields stretching miles and miles/Hank’s [as in Williams] voice on the radio...” and the refrain of “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” I feel like I can picture exactly the rural South.
Urban: Things Fall Apart-The Roots
While no single song on this album tackles education, the album as a whole exemplifies what is often depicted as the macho self-aggrandizing rap world (although on a deeper level than most rap). It speaks of growing up and living in Philadelphia and becoming famous primarily by defeating other MCs. The urban rap lifestyle is depicted in a poetic and sometimes ironic style.
TV
Suburban: The Simpsons
Classic show about a suburban family from just about anywhere in America. Springfield Elementary satirically depicts good students (Lisa) and bad (Bart and a host of others), the overtaxed teacher, and the principal that cares more about how his school looks than about the education of his students.
Rural: Friday Night Lights
Depicts a rural community through the local high school football team. Football is a central part of the community. Depicts some racial and social tensions that are often thought of as typical of rural communities with a more diverse demographic, such as many communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Urban: The Wire
I have never seen this show, but season 4 supposedly depicts a middle school in Baltimore. Reviews are mixed, some praising it as totally real and others saying that it is too dark and pessimistic. This has sparked my interest, and I will definitely check out the show to see what I think of it.
Movies
Suburban: Superbad
This movie is a hilarious tale about me (kind of). My friends and I spent many nights in high school and on summers home from college trying to find a party where we could get wasted and find a girl who actually liked us. Perfectly captures senioritis in spoiled suburban kids with comments like, “...I’m about to graduate. They should be sucking on my b---sack.” All the rest is there, too: running from cops, horrible fake I.D.’s, and trying to get older people to buy us alcohol.
Rural: Napoleon Dynamite
This movie is about a boy in a small Idaho town. It follows his fairly normal life, with little to no plot. Though this is depicted in humorous ways, the impression the movie leaves is that almost nothing happens in rural communities. Many characters are depicted as simple-minded and provincial.
Urban: Requiem for a Dream
Although this movie is not about education, it offers a very certain depiction of urban communities. Three young adults become addicted to heroin while a mother of one of them becomes addicted to diet pills. This depicts urban communities as full of disaffected youths and drug dealers who prey on them when they turn to drugs.
News
Suburban: from the Star-Ledger: Florham Park schools contract with local vendors for lunch
This article reports that Florham Park school district has contracted local restaurants to provide lunch for students. Students’ parents order their lunch online and it is then delivered to the schools. This shows how large a gap exists between urban schools and their suburban counterparts. While suburban parents are able to order restaurant quality food for their children’s lunch, many children in urban schools are on the state’s free lunch program.
Rural: from the Star-Ledger: Somerset Hills, Bedminster to discuss school district merger
This article reports that 2 small rural school districts are considering merging. The article notes that the 2 districts may be looking to save money in these tough economic times, and that merging could save some money. The state also notes that in bureaucratic terms, mergers could make sense, as New Jersey has more school districts than municipalities. This article shows some of the changes that could take place in rural schools as New Jersey tries to reform its education system.
Urban: from the Star-Ledger: Newark mentoring program to link high schoolers, youngsters
This article reports that the city of Newark is starting a mentoring program in which high school students will mentor younger students at a nearby school. While the article strikes a promising tone, it leaves the impression that Newark schools need a lot of help.
Frames of Reference
Coming into this course, I have had no personal firsthand experience with education in urban areas. I have spent little time in cities, and when I have spent time, it has usually been in nicer areas based around the arts. Besides some talks with my mother (a public school speech and language specialist), or when I read the paper or watch a news special, education has generally not been a part of my thinking when I think about cities and urban areas. I dislike cities, am uncomfortable when I visit them, and this has certainly affected my view of urban areas and the schools in those areas. This being said, many of the things I like find their spiritual homes in cities. As a musician, I know how important a geographically small community with a high population can be to the facilitation of artistic trends and ideas. Some of the most fulfilling moments in my life have happened at gigs in cities. They involved unexpected appearances by musicians that were only possible because they lived close to where I happened to be playing. An urban environment is essential to creating these types of opportunity. This dichotomy between how I feel in urban areas and my understanding of how they have given rise to many of the things I love (along with many other examples of human achievement), combined with my exposure from the media, has affected how I view and feel about urban areas and urban education.
I was raised in Hunterdon County, New jersey. It was, and to a slightly lesser degree still is, somewhere between a rural and a suburban community. When my family moved there, there were still many farms. Sometimes the school bus would get stuck behind a tractor. So my upbringing had little to no exposure to urban areas, let alone the schools in those areas. My first exposure to an urban area other than the nicer areas of Manhattan where relatives lived came in my senior year of high school, and it was still very minimal. I participated in Jazz for Teens at NJPAC. It was five month jazz education program. My exposure to an urban area consisted of looking at Newark by way of McCarter Highway while on the way to NJPAC. While in the program, I did meet other students from urban areas such as Elizabeth and Newark. However, these students and I shared a love of jazz and music, and there was little discussion about other things. So it seemed to me that there was little difference between them and I except for where we lived or how we dressed.
My experiences as a musician and music teacher have made me feel that I have a common bond, however slight, with any person on the face of the earth. I have not met, or even heard of, a person who's life has not been positively affected by music in some small way. Music is common to all cultures and all people. This makes me believe that I would be able to find some common ground with students in an urban school. This may be, and on closer inspection to some degree most likely is, ill-founded naivete. It could lead me to think that I understand the students and their community more than I do because I listen to some of the same music, and I could come off as gratifying. I realize that music alone would not be able to bridge the significant gaps in culture and background between my students and I. My experience at Jazz for Teens and with countless other musicians and music lovers since has instilled in me a sense of community with anyone who enjoys music as much as I do. This is surely an oversimplification of things.
Conversely, this belief in the universality of music could also, and I believe will, help me to form closer and more meaningful bonds with my students to some degree regardless of where I teach. I have met many musicians who have said that music was the only thing that kept them going in hard parts of their life. In some extreme cases it has saved lives. Music helped me get through high school. It was the only thing that made me go to school in the morning, and the possibility that I could study music in college was the only thing that motivated me to to well in my other classes. Music has given me and countless others something to live for. I am not implying that I would be able to turn any student into someone who wants to go to college for music or dedicate their life to it. However, when daily life is a struggle, as it is for many children in urban environments, music can give students something look forward to, to be proud of. I have seen music invest many of my private students with self-esteem and I see no reason why this is not possible for students anywhere.
The media, particularly Newsweek magazine and The New York Times, has been the other big influence in my view of urban education. Most of these articles have been about crumbling schools and corrupt or inefficient educators and the fight of a small handful of teachers and administrators trying to change things. Many have been openly critical of the status quo of the practice of teaching. Tenure in its current form has come under fire. It is seen as a protector of teachers that can't teach and make no effort to improve. Despite my choice to become an educator, my experiences as a student tend to lean me towards this view. I have had many educators at all levels who are obviously teaching the exact lesson plans they used fifteen or twenty years ago, and make every effort to go home as soon as the bell rings. They offer little or no extra help to students who need it, and they exemplify "going through the motions." I feel that these teachers do not deserve their jobs or the protection that tenure gives them. Why should they have almost guaranteed job security in such an important profession? Doesn't the fact that teachers have such an enormous responsibility hold them to an even higher standard in job performance than other professions?
In my experience, only a small handful of teachers act like this. In contrast, most media coverage of urban schools seems to depict this problem as endemic to all urban areas. When I read articles about Michele Rhee, for example, Washington D. C.'s schools appear to have an overabundance of these teachers. Ms. Rhee is depicted as someone fighting against an entrenched bastion of people fighting to keep their jobs and the status quo. They also depict most of Washington D.C.'s schools as poorly maintained and sometimes dangerous. In many cases, the articles generalize these conditions to most or all the other urban school districts in the country. Our urban school systems are depicted as hopelessly behind, their progress handcuffed by teacher's unions and others that wish to see the status quo maintained.
The reality is certainly more complicated. There are definitely many passionate, dedicated teachers in urban areas, and not all urban schools are so severely under-maintained. I must admit, however, that this type of media coverage is discouraging. It does not make me want to teach in an urban environment. It appears that I would be fighting a losing battle against drugs, poverty, poor facilities and even other teachers. Would it really be worth it to put in so much work, especially in an area (music) that would likely get little support when the schools are so concentrated on other, admittedly more important things? If I am able to succeed in an urban school would the sense of fulfillment be enough to compensate for my natural dislike of cities?
These are just some of the questions I hope to have answered or at least explored in this course. My personal dislike of cities has always been slightly puzzling for me because I have had some of my most fulfilling personal experiences in them. I understand how an urban area can foster the type of environment for great artistic achievements. I have also been inundated with media coverage of how terrible urban schools are, and how many problems they face. Are things really as bad as they are made out to be? Is my belief in the transformative power of music founded in reality, and does it apply everywhere, to everyone, as I believe? Hopefully this course will at least give an idea.
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