 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-07-25 01:55
Although this is specific to Australia and the state of New South Wales in particular the issues raised are pertinent to all instrumentalists.
In New South Wales, capital Sydney, the state based Department of Education is looking into a total restructure. At the moment music education provided by the department is 99.9% classroom based music teaching. There is little of no instrumental pedagogy programmes in place sponsored by the department. The majority of school band programmes, both primary school, kindergarten to grade 6 and high school years 7 to 12, are in some way privately run, either by some kind of parents committee or by private companies. The classroom based teaching model has in many ways outlived it's usefulness, this contention is accepted by the majority of professional music teachers in this state. There are 2 main problems with the current system. The first concern is the plethora of often good intentioned rank amateurs with no teaching qualification or musical abilities that are involved in instrumental programmes. Consequently many instrumental programmes are poor. Near enough is not good enough. The second issue of course is teacher payment which at this stage is generally poor with no employment conditions, leave entitlements etc. like those available available to classroom teachers. Likewise no specialist instrumental teaching degrees are available just classroom music teaching.
The other 5 states and 2 territories in Australia have some sort of departmentally sponsored instrumental programmes but my home state is dragging its feet. This is not the forum for arguing political/economic idealogies so I will not go down that path.
The population of New South Wales is over 5 million. There are no more than ten dedicated instrumental staff to service a state with this population, Sydney alone has over 4.5 million inhabitants; there are possibly 1 million or more school students. This is an appalling situation. I realise that music education is run much differently elsewhere and I am seeking feedback from as wide a number of sources as possible. I am specifically interested in instrumental music programme models used elsewhere.
Mark Pinner
Post Edited (2003-07-25 07:29)
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-07-25 18:17
North American grading scale is currently different between the USA and Canada. Up North here we tend to go with the Toronto Royal Conservatory mode...we have 8 grade levels. For info look up Royal Conservatory Toronto.
David Dow
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-07-25 23:50
I am not asking about grade levels. I am asking about the structure of instrumental music teaching programmes within schools. There are a plethora of different exams available in each country. Structure and funding issues are what I am canvassing, to give our local department an idea of what goes on elsewhere in the world with a view to improving the general standard of music education.
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Author: Francesca
Date: 2003-07-26 06:04
In the US, states have the most control over what occurs in the classrooms. Most funding for the schools (including the music programs) comes from local taxes. This usually creates issues around the quality of schools between "rich" and "poor" neighborhoods. Those schools that are located in affluent areas of a town have more funding to use for the arts, sports, etc, etc.
Anyway, in my area (northern Colorado) the elementary schools (K-5) have music programs where a licensed teacher can instruct all grade levels. The material they teach comes from unfunded mandates/standards sent down by both the state and federal governments. (Don't get me started on that issue!) If the school has a music program, ALL students have an hour of music instruction a week, usually divided into 2 half-hour sections.
By the secondary level (6-12 grade), music is considered an elective, meaning that the students themselves decide whether to continue their music education. (This is assuming the school has a music program. Due to tight budgets, music has a precarious position in the school system.) Usually, they have a choice between beginning band, orchestra, or chorus. The school should have a number of instruments (usually lots of plastic clarinets!) to check out to students, as well as a full set of percussion equipment, and sheet music, but ideally the parents rent/purchase their child's instrument. Music education from this point is performance based.
Hope this long narrative helped. I think this is the longest post I've ever written!
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-07-27 01:51
Thanks Francesca just the sort of thing I am after. There is certainly an element of rich versus poor in the system we have also, and a lot of crappy instruments. I am interested in what constitutes a local tax. Our tax structures are a little different.
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