I would consider the top three challenges of building a music education program to be learner interest, budget, and support. These are all difficult issues to manage because there is no one fixed solution, and oftentimes, the solution is out of our control.
As we touched upon earlier in this module, the way music programming looked when we were a student versus now looks dramatically different. Students have different interests in what genres of music they like, but we have also noticed a decline in learning skills such as responsibility, organization, self-regulation, and taking initiative. During the pandemic, many students got by passing a class without handing in any assessments, and we are still seeing the effects as some did not develop proper learning habits. The top reason a student does not pass a Music class, besides from attendance, is because they are disengaged from the learning. So while they might be regularly attending, they are not participating in class activities, being proactive about the questions they have, or handing in their assignments.
The second, and probably the biggest deterrent to me building my program, is budget. Our school is fortunate enough to run a Guitar, Vocal, Keyboard, and Band program, but we do not have a sufficient enough budget to run these classes sustainably. I am finding that even though there is a large collection of repertoire left behind from previous teachers, the music goes beyond the level of my students, which goes back to my first challenge. It has been extremely limiting for me to build up my program and choose new repertoire for my students when there are broken instruments to repair and consumables to purchase. This has led to some creative solutions such as finding resources online, renting instruments, and attending free performances around the city and taking public transit to get there. We have many stories of running to our venue in the pouring rain because we could not get a school bus to drop us off at the front door. Or spending hours sorting through our instrument inventory and uncovering dusty instruments that are no longer playable. Luckily, my students see these as lasting memories with their classmates.
Finally, the third reason is support. I have definitely had my fair share of struggles with receiving support from my Department Head, which is why when I became Interim Head this past semester, things ran more smoothly. The teachers in my department seemed to have my back once I showed them that I had theirs. I have learned that a good leader is also a team player. I anticipate that next semester when my time as head is over, we will go back to having a lack of support from the Assistant Curriculum Leader (ACL). Furthermore, our school has experienced a full changeover of administration this past year, which has created many issues for the staff across all departments. It is tedious to have to re-explain the situation to new people every few months, who are already busy dealing with other behavioural challenges within the school and are not in active communication with their staff. In order to bring awareness to the community that our programs exist and require sufficient funding in order to run, we continue to put on showcase performances and form partnerships with our music suppliers.
Comments