Klarinet Archive - Posting 001186.txt from 1997/10

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: what I have to teach
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 18:21:03 -0500

At 02:13 PM 10/26/97 -0600, Dee Hays wrote:
>Yes we should bring music to these children. BUT we must do so in a
fashion that
>does not prevent or slow the development of the other members of the
group. If
>the other members of the group can not develop then you have helped one
person
>and hurt 100. This is not sensible in any society. Society would not
fall >apart if the subject is music but what about reading and simple
arithmetic!
>
And THAT is EXACTLY the problem! It IS happening in reading, math,
science, etc. We simply cannot afford that much damage to the development
of the 100 on the CHANCE that it will help the one. It is a bad gamble and
is bankrupting the educational system, as more and more resources are
poured into the effort to "save" the weakest students on the assumption
that "the bright ones can take care of themselves." Not that anyone should
be abandoned, nor that they deserve any LESS attention than the brighter
ones. But holding back the bright students so the others can have greater
"self-esteem" is ludicrous. Yet it happens every day in hundreds of schools.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.