Advocacy
“From these considerations therefore it is plain that music has the power of producing a certain effect on the ethos of the soul, and if it has the power to do this, it is clear that the young must be directed to music and must be educated in it.”
- Aristotle, Politics
Advocacy is all of our responsibility. In these troubling economic times with more cuts than ever for music education, we need to be educating our administrators, school board members, parents and the general public of the need of music education. For Future Music Educators, this is something that we will certainly need to do when we enter the work force, but there are many things we can be doing now to help those currently teaching, and for those who will be teaching music in the future. Feel free to use these resources to advocate for your music programs!
Sites
MENC Advocacy Groundswell – http://advocacy.menc.org
This new website from MENC offers an online collaborative network for music education advocacy. Check it out and sign up for an account!
MENC Advocacy Page – http://www.menc.org/resources/view/music-education-advocacy-central
This page from MENC offers an amazing advocacy page with its own resources. Be sure to check it out and USE what you find!
VH1 Save the Music – http://www.vh1savethemusic.com/
VH1 does a great service to the entire Music Education community through their Save the Music Foundation. This page has awesome resources to advocate for music education, including an Advocacy Toolkit. Check it out and be “proactive instead of reactive”
Support Music – http://supportmusic.com
Great resources by NAMM and MENC.
Music Education Online- http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/toptenparents.html
This is a fantastic site listing numerous quotes relaying the importance of music education, as well as an entire archive of advocacy-related articles.
A Snapshot of Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 2009-2010
Videos
Bernie Williams Lobbies for Music Education
PMEA 2011 Attendees Sing for Music Advocacy
MIKE HUCKABEE ON MUSIC EDUCATION
Finally, a politician who gets it!
MUSIC EDUCATION IN ENGLAND
WHY MUSIC MATTERS
This is a fantastic video of Dr. Jack Stamp, professor at IUP, making the case for keeping music education in all public schools.
THE CASE FOR MUSIC EDUCATION
DID YOU KNOW?
Proof of the Benefits of Music Eduction
2007-2008 12 Grade Cohort & Fine Arts Enrollment Comparison – Florida Department of Education confirms the correlation between high-academic achievement and Music Education.
Opening Minds through the Arts (OMA) – a great article displaying an elementary school whose curriculum has been infused in the arts. The results are amazing!
Music Makes the Grade – Music Education programs contribute to higher attendance and graduation rates.
Andrew Ritenour is a junior Music Education major at Grove City College in Grove City, PA. He is actively involved in many performing ensembles including brass quintets, concert bands, marching bands, and choirs. Andy plays Tuba and Euphonium and is the Brass/Marching Instructor for the Somerset Area HS Marching Band. You can find him on twitter at @andrewritenour. 