Revision of the MENC National Standards?
December 19th, 2006 by etobias
Bob Morrison over at Music For All has recently proposed that the National Standards be revised. There have been several research studies and countless articles and workshops regarding the National Standards since their formation over 10 years ago. It seems there is a general assumption in our field that the existence of articulated National Standards are positive. I do remember, during a panel discussion several years ago that I took part in, Eunice Boardman predicting and warning attendees that many teachers would use the standards as a simple check list. It is also interesting to note that many people coming out of a critical theory or feminist theory perspective, problematize the notion of “Standardization” given that teachers must adapt their curriculum and pedagogy for the context in which they and their students are in.
Cathy Benedict’s recent MER article “Chasing Legitimacy: the US National Music Standards viewed through a critical theorist framework“, raises some very interesting and important points to consider when thinking about the national standards.
If standards in music education continue to be nationalized and are indeed revised, we should definitely be interested in Who would be doing the revising. What would they be and would they be applicable to all students in all situations?
We should also consider how the standards are currently being used, thought about and implemented. In what way are they helping or hurting students?
I think it is essential that these discussions take place at all levels of music education, most importantly with constant input from teachers and researchers.
Why not start a dialogue at your next music faculty meeting or with you colleagues in your department. Perhaps local regional and state music organizations can begin discussing how the standards are currently being used and if the national standards apply to their local concerns. Take a look at some articles including Benedict’s recent contribution to MER and maybe use them as a starting point to add to your own experiences. If you could give input to a national discussion on standards what would your contribution be?
It is great to see some discussion about revising the National Standards and keeping them current. I personally find the standard regarding composition to be the most time-consuming- I would like to see a change in it that specifies between improvisation, music writing, and also learning the fine details of music notation. I have noticed that composition assignments tend to take a long time for students and most times end up looking sloppy due to the fact that students are being expected to write music notation with very little guidance in this area, with computers or by hand.
We always forget composition doesn’t need to be done individually or by standard notation. My first graders write a 7 note composition using only so mi and la. I had the class pick the order of the 7 notes, and that was their composition. Then we put it together with some people playing a steady beat, some playing a drum pattern, and the others playing the melody they wrote on various Orff instruments. I did this using star cutouts on magnets on the board and so mi and la written vertically on the left end. They get it! They can do it! You just have to simplify the concepts into much, much smaller components.