The Future is Now by Jonathan Tesser
Music education benefits from industry programs dedicated to molding better teachers
Before Roman Polanski made his movie The Pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman was not a name known to most Americans. The film tells the wartime story of this Polish piano virtuoso who barely survived the Holocaust by hiding from the Nazis in the ruins of Warsaw's ghetto. From the beginning of World War II in 1939, when the German bombardment of Warsaw started while he was playing a concert on the radio, until the war's end in 1945, Szpilman had everything of importance slowly stolen away from him — his possessions, his freedoms, his friends and his family.
When the Germans were finally defeated, Szpilman was able to restart his life. He wrote his memoirs, went to work as the head of the music department for Polish radio and composed both classical pieces and popular songs, which he played on tours that took him around the world. Szpilman lived this very productive life until 2000, when he passed away at age 88, but none of it would have been possible had he not managed to endure the inhumane conditions that existed in the Warsaw ghetto.
You could say that his survival had as much to do with luck as anything else, but that would be selling the man — and the strength of his love for music — short. For a CD of his father's music released in 2003, Andrzej Szpilman wrote the following: "This CD is testament to the power of music and the will to live of a man who survived the difficult years in hiding, not least by recalling note by note, bar by bar, every piece of music he ever played or composed."
Admittedly, Szpilman's story is an extreme example of the powerful force that music exerts on our lives, but don't underestimate the impact it has on all of us. Music helps us understand parts of ourselves that otherwise might remain hidden and touches something very basic in the deepest recesses of our souls. More objectively, research has shown that learning about, listening to and playing music positively affects many aspects of everyday life, including overall health/wellness, social development and academic achievement.
For most, the first learning experience we have with music comes in school. Some of us go on to make music a focus of our lives, and out of that group come the educators who complete the circle by going back to teach the next wave of students. We all know the critical difference that a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher can make in the lives of students. To ensure that the study of music remains a vital part of school curriculums across the country, the music industry offers programs that support both future educators and those who are already teaching.
At the forefront of these efforts are the summer sessions of Conn-Selmer University. With support from industry partners, Conn-Selmer offers participants an opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge on a wide range of subjects taught by experienced educators and music-industry professionals.
The summer of 2004 will feature two new locations for the CSU program. Session One is for professionals who are beginning their careers and will be held on the campus of Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana. Session Two, the Master's Level, will be located in Cleveland, Ohio, and focus on professional skill development for music educators with over five years of experience. Both sessions are designed to enhance the existing knowledge base of everybody who participates.
So how is that achieved? According to first-year teacher Julie Trent, who attended CSU's 2003 session, it has as much to do with the environment created by the instructors as with the topics covered. "Each participant was treated as a professional by all of the speakers and the staff," Trent says, "and all were very friendly and offered to help out with any questions or concerns the students had."
That atmosphere of professionalism provides a bridge for all CSU students to a better understanding of what it takes to craft a successful career. Whether it's instruction for undergraduates and less-experienced teachers in the finer points of recruiting and retaining students, managing classroom behavior and working effectively with school administrators, or the opportunity for more veteran participants to discuss the importance of time management and music program development, it's the real-world expertise that proves to be invaluable.
"The strong faculty that CSU brings together offers an intensive immersion over a couple of days in some of the real-life issues that educators will face," says Dr. John Mahlmann, the Executive Director of MENC (The National Association for Music Education), which is a partner with Conn-Selmer in the CSU program.
"Teaching is a tough business," he adds. "There are increasing challenges in the schools, not just educational challenges but social and economic challenges as well. CSU provides the tools that help individuals achieve success. They are better equipped to deal with the situations in which they find themselves, and therefore encouraged to stick with it and meet those challenges."
Encouragement continues after the CSU sessions have concluded through the all-important support networks that are put in place. "Since returning home and starting my first year of teaching high school band, choir and music appreciation," Trent says, "I've contacted a number of people I met while at CSU. I found people who were specialists in areas that I was struggling with, and these experienced educators provided great insight and help for me when I needed it most."
Conn-Selmer's efforts to support music educators and their students are not limited to the CSU summer sessions. An alliance with MakeMusic! allows Conn-Selmer dealers to distribute a 90-day free subscription to SmartMusic Studio with the rental or purchase of selected student-level instruments. SmartMusic Studio is an award-winning interactive music practice system that's contained on a CD-ROM. There are over 20,000 accompaniments available, and through the magic of software, each of them can respond to students' practicing as if there were live musicians playing in the room with them. The result: Students get top-quality beginning instruments as well as encouragement from a system that makes practicing fun.
Helping students recognize the value of a career in music education is another area of importance, and it's the focus of a program called Make a Difference with Music. Partners with Conn-Selmer on this initiative are MENC, NAMM (The International Music Products Association) and the Hal Leonard Corporation. Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, Conn-Selmer's Executive Director of Education, spends much of his time traveling to colleges, universities and state conventions, where he speaks to students on this issue. He also talks with parent groups, informing them about research that confirms the extended benefits their children gain from studying music.
All of these efforts are part of an ongoing process. Music students need guidance and support if they are going to have successful careers as teachers. "There's a battle going on in this country to preserve and protect music education for young people," says Dr. Mahlmann of MENC. "There's no one single activity that will work as kind of a silver bullet. It's all of these programs together, creating a critical mass of assets, that will make the difference and win the battle."
