[Several participants requested copies of the remarks made on first evening of the 1999 Colloquium.  We are grateful that David G. Woods was in attendance and provided us with this text.]
 

      Opening Remarks

            David G. Woods, Dean
    Indiana University School of Music

It is certainly a pleasure and an honor to be here at the Mountain Lake Colloquium for Teachers.  Since my arrival two years ago as Dean of the School of Music at Indiana University, Mary Goetze has kept me informed of the purposes, goals, objectives, and outcomes of this important Colloquium.  I congratulate all of you for your
accomplishments and achievements, in increasing the understanding of the many complexities of music teaching and learning, and I am pleased that Indiana University is one of the institutional sponsors.  We will continue that sponsorship.

My prepared remarks this evening are brief, and come from the point of view of an elementary music teacher turned "dean."   have just completed my twenty-third (23) year in administration in higher education.  I look back at those early days of my career when I taught elementary music from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon to all first-grade classes at Arkansas Avenue School in Wichita, Kansas.

The one question that has been relevant and important for me during all of those twenty-three (23) years has been "what can we do in administration in higher education to influence the public and private schools in our country to place more value on the importance of the musical arts?"   The second question that is of great concern is how higher education can partner with the public and private schools.

In the book House at Pooh Corner, Christopher Robin asks Winnie the Pooh the simple, yet extremely complicated question, "Where are we going?"  Winnie the Pooh
answers the question by saying,  "Where are we going?  I don't know.   Where does it matter where people go?  Down to the wild wood where the bluebells grow = anywhere, anywhere, I don't know."  Where are we going today in our efforts to make music available, important, and indeed essential to children and adults in our public school music programs?  Do we have an answer for Christopher Robin regarding where we are going in our quest for musical literacy and musical understanding for the youth of our country?  What, indeed, is the role of higher education in the training of elementary and secondary music teachers and art educators, and what specifically should be the leadership role in music in higher education regarding programmatic development and
curricular planning?  Those of us in higher education in music must take major responsibility in understanding the concepts and promoting the research regarding the importance of cultural training for young people, and we have an obligation to help formulate public policy and public action in supporting life-long learning in the musical arts.

A number of years ago when I was a professor in music education at Iowa State University, I had an experience that forever reinforced the importance of musical development and musical activity for children.  As an important component of the music methods courses I was teaching at Iowa State University, I conducted a laboratory for three to five-year-old children in the evenings. College students would assist me in teaching the children and in observing the reactions from the children during the various activities and events.

One evening, a group of thirty (30) children ages 3-5 sat on a floor in a circle and played the traditional game  "A Tisket a Tasket." In the circle, was a very special four year old girl named Becky.  Becky was totally blind.  Her mother brought her to the music experience laboratory so that she could socialize with the children and participate
in the growth and development of the musical arts.  During the first laboratory sessions of the semester, Becky's mother sat with her in the circle of children and helped her by handing her drums, letting her feel the instruments, and taking her hand during the movement activities.  But, this particular night, Becky sat by herself in the circle.  Her mother sat with other parents in the back of the room observing the musical activities of the evening.  Becky's friend Stephen had the traditional letter common to the game "A Tisket a Tasket," and as the children were singing Stephen skipped around the circle, his blonde hair flying up and down at every skip.  He spotted Becky and he put the letter in her hand. There was a hush in the room, and a quiet gasp from Becky's mother.  Becky had never skipped in a circle before in her life.  She got up and started around the circle of children slowly, singing the song in a soft, lovely voice.  She made it around the circle.  Becky in her dark and sometimes lonely world achieved something that she had never achieved before in her life.  The power of music gave her the opportunity to "see" in her dark and blind world.  The children clapped and cheered for Becky when she finished circling the group of children.  The college students clapped, and her mother, the parents, and this college music teacher had tears running our cheeks.  Music makes a difference in the lives of children.

My brief remarks tonight on the importance of K-12 music programs
on life-long learning in music will focus on the supportive research regarding the importance of musical growth and development in children. My remarks will also focus on public policy issues that affect musical learning environments which are so important  in our public school programs.   Finally, I will briefly discuss the role of the university school of music or music department  in life-long learning processes.

During the past 50 years, we have experienced a plethora of research studies and surveys regarding the importance of early music learning and the importance of musical exposure and musical opportunities in K-12 learning.

During the past year, every major news magazine in this country, Time, News Week  and U.S. News and World Report, featured in-depth articles on the importance of learning at an early age.  Each article emphasized the importance of musical learning and musical experience.   M. E. Wilson, in his 1951 book How to Help Your Child with Music published by Schuman Publications in New York, stated:  "Music begins at birth.
Babies have always been lulled to sleep by song or by their own crooning. Where there are many lullabies, musical growth and interest are encouraged.  In this day when the crib is never far from the radio, the infant becomes as familiar with the sounds of music as with the sounds of the mother tongue.  To shape these sounds into music is as easy to shape the sounds of language into meaning.  Some children accomplish this with
ease and with little help. We say they are talented.  Others show little natural interest in the patterns of musical sound."  These words of Wilson of nearly 50 years ago sum up the interaction of the growing child and his environment, as reinforced by present-day research on child development.

John Dewey, in his book Democracy in Education, stated:  "The inclination to learn from life itself and to make the conditions of life such that all will learn in the process of living is the finest product of schooling."  It is from and through life itself that we are engaged in the musical arts.  Through moving, through singing, through chanting, through games and through interactive participation in ensemble organizations in the elementary, junior high, and the high schools.

Dewey continues by stating that:   "The human being acquires a habit of learning.  He learns to learn."  Administrators in Higher Education, have the responsibility of opening doors that help our children and our youth "learn to learn music," to develop a habit of learning music through everyday responses and everyday activities.

Our knowledge of the responses of very young children to sounds
and to music has greatly increased during the past century.  As early as 1838, Gardiner tried to represent by musical notation, the crying of a child as well as the calls of birds and animals. Darwin in 1872, was interested in the crying of babies and the emotions expressed by babies.   In 1906 Flatau and Gutzmann, began to describe the acoustic properties of infants crying from records that were made on Edison wax cylinders.  In
1976, Moog reported an extensive investigation on the musical experiences of the pre-school child.

An important source of data on the musical behavior of young children is found in the reports of Morehead and Pond at the Pillsbury Foundation School in California.  This significant study of music and young children concluded that the young child lives in a world of sound of music all his or her own, and that children respond to chant in their own developmental worlds.   Pond and Morehead also concluded that the descending minor third was prominent in these chants and that the child's movement was related
directly to the child's respiratory and circulatory systems.  In 1978, there was a revival of the Pillsbury Foundation work at the University of Maryland.  Pond, Shelley and Wilson set up an observational study of 70 children, age 3-5 with instruments commonly found in early elementary school, such as Chinese tom-toms and Orff instruments.  Children used the instruments for free expression.  The study showed that the talents of the
young child blossom in a free and fruitful way when given a non-restrictive environment for music-making.  This was essentially what Marie Montesorri was saying at the turn of the century.

Edwin Gordon, in his pioneering work on musical aptitudes and musical achievement, has stated that:  "Musical aptitude develops to age nine and then becomes stabilized.  The reports that some neurologists believe that there is a possible relationship between the myelination of the great cerebral commissures and more complex activation of the frontal lobes of the brain with the stabilization of musical aptitude."  The
frontal lobes of the brain are associated largely with the ability to anticipate coming events. The basis of music aptitude as well as intelligence is how well a person can generalize and make judgments that predict and possibly influence future occurrences. Gordon's study, replicated by a number of his students over the years, identifies the
developmental musical aptitude stage from birth to approximately nine.

It is therefore essential that the early environment for children be filled with sounds and musical experiences that can then be formalized in a curricular framework in the elementary, junior-high and high schools. Every student possesses at least some musical aptitude.  Musical aptitude itself is a product of innate capacity and environmental influences.

It is of major concern to all of us in this room that appropriate environments of music exploration be provided for very young children and that these environments become more structured to encourage the development of musical literacy, i.e., the reading and writing of music after aptitude stabilization at the age of nine.  Failure to develop favorable environments in musical exploration and experience result in a
poor foundation for the more formal musical learning of the young child. Wilson, Gardiner, Moog, Pond, Shelley and Gordon have all contributed to a substantive research base supporting early childhood music learning.  Music in higher education, in my opinion, has the obligation to provide developmental research and methodological approaches in teacher training and to apply these approaches and theories in laboratory situations.  The musical laboratory programs that I have personally been affiliated with at
Iowa State University and the University of Arizona literally provided an informal structure of musical learning for thousands of children.  These experiences led to life-long learning. Those children who participated in the music experience laboratories at the University of Arizona and Iowa State University are graduating from college now with experiences in the musical arts that I believe helped shape life-long learning in music.

The research is clear, that fundamental musical learning must take place in early childhood and must be formalized through instruction that leads to literacy in the elementary and secondary schools.

Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, in an essay he wrote in 1905, entitled Rhythm, Music and Education, An Essay On The Reform of Music Teaching in the School, stated:
"It is not enough for a select few of the artists and amateurs of a country to be better instructed than their predecessors for the musical standard of that country to be raised and maintained.  If the masses are not capable of following 3 even at a distance 3 in the steps of that few, an impassable barrier will sooner or later be erected between the two elements of the people, that in these days must unite if they are to co-exist.

If the intellectual aristocracy alone is equipped for progress, the ill-trained masses will be unable to follow.  The leaders of the movement, finding themselves isolated and needing the cooperation of the main body, will be obliged either to turn back and rejoin them or continue in solitary course and be lost in obscurity.  The masses will not overtake them unless given the necessary equipment and unless sufficiently keen and courageous skills are given to traverse without relaxing every step of the course."

Dalcroze goes on to state that the progress of the people depends on the education given to its' children. It is essential that we as educators provide the environments, the courses, the equipment as suggested by Dalcroze so that musical progress, musical literacy will continue.   With the research data in hand regarding the importance of early music learning and the importance of music education in elementary and secondary
schools, we return to the question, "Where are we going?"  What can we do to strengthen school-change initiatives to improve the musical education of all students?

For more than a decade the Getty Education Institute for the Arts, formerly the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, has worked to transform both the theory and practice of arts education through an initiative that promotes creativity and requires critical inquiry.  The findings from this study have particular relevance to us tonight as they relate to the strengthening not only of arts education, but other school change initiatives to improve the education of all students.  I will share three of the 12 major findings of the Getty Reform Program which I believe are relevant to our discussion tonight of life-long learning in the musical arts.

First, reform initiatives succeed when change is systematic and when school district leaders, particularly principals and superintendents ,steer the initiatives, changing agents share the ownership and multiple reform efforts reinforce and enhance one another.  Change initiatives can flourish if higher education is responsive in helping to facilitate and monitor the change process by providing the practical application of theories and the important information of research studies and surveys.

The second finding I would like to share is the importance of continuous communication and collaboration within and among change communities to promote reform.  The program initiated by Getty encouraged teamwork and networking among participants and the collaboration of community arts centers, such as museums and symphony orchestras, if the leadership in the public schools and higher education are to make reform possible.

The third and last important finding is that professional development programs and curriculum instructional planning go hand in hand and should be pursued at the same time.   Learning in the arts, including the musical arts, takes place not only in the classrooms of the public schools but also in art museums, rehearsal halls and performances.  The Getty program stressed the importance of moving the arts to the center of the school curriculum and instructional planning.

Teams made up of the school principal, art teachers, music teachers, elementary classroom teachers and other members of the instructional staff jointly plan for this type of instruction and devise a framework for implementation. This planning should include the involvement of other entities such as music departments and schools of music in higher education.  Those of us who are essentially at the heart of policy making
and curriculum reform on higher education need to embrace the collaborative efforts of our partners in the public schools in order for K-12 musical learning to have life-long effect.  The Getty initiatives are changing the way we look at musical learning and visual art learning and teaching in the public schools.

The Getty Study clearly shows the need for informal exploration in the musical arts at an early age and a more systematic, spiral curricular approach in elementary, junior high and high school.

Efforts to accomplish this can be made when those of us in higher
education are committed to educational reform and educational partnerships.  This could, as I have stated,  take the form of shared studies, collaborative program activities, and
musical experience laboratories.  But these initiatives, ideals and visions cannot be implemented unless we understand and to some extent control public policy issues affecting higher education today.   Higher education has become a major force in domestic policy for the current Congress.   As you know, President Clinton has raised the Federal stake in higher education by proposing a broad series of tuition tax breaks and an
unprecedented expansion of the Pell Grants program.   Even without stimulus from the president; however, higher education would have assumed a high profile in the current Congress as a result of the scheduled re-authorization of the Higher Education Act and various other legislation affecting colleges and universities.  Higher education programs will be at the center of debates about how to achieve a balanced federal budget.

The debate over the re-authorization of the Higher Education Act, will focus on a number of important issues relating to the federal role in making college more affordable and accessible.   As a part of the re-authorization of the Higher Education Act, Congress must examine how the Federal Government assists institutions in regulating those participating in Federal Student Aid programs.  As leaders in music in higher education, it is important for us to follow the developments of the Higher Education Act re-authorization and how these initiatives will impact enrollment growth or enrollment decline in our units and how such re-authorization will determine how our students are financially supported in their quest to attain music degrees and music diplomas.  The current  Congress will continue its' debate and discussion regarding concerns about the quality of teaching and learning.  The discussions will lead policy makers to the modification of the conditions of employment and training for current and future teachers in our public schools.  A number of states have already reviewed faculty compensation, promotion and tenure policies in an effort to stretch state resources.  Colleges and universities will be expected, in the future, to do more to improve the quality of teachers in elementary and secondary education.

Concerns about the preparation of teachers for K-12 education have been persistent for more than a decade and have led to various public and private initiatives to improve teacher-education programs and to call for higher standards for teacher performance.  Dissatisfaction with the quality of teaching in elementary and secondary schools is at the heart of many of the school reform efforts in our country today.  As a result of these concerns, many institutions have reviewed their teacher-training programs.  The Clinton administration's sponsorship of a forum on higher education's role in improving teaching and the Report of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future are likely to raise the profile of the teacher-training and education issue and lead to new pressures on colleges and universities to do a better job of preparing the nation's teachers.

I believe that these initiatives are positive and the pressure that we have today to look closely at our teacher-training programs in music are long overdue. It is imperative that those of us who are in music education be aware of public policy and public policy debates which include reform at all levels of teaching and learning.

It is imperative that we all participate in collaborative efforts with the public schools, K-12, in providing experiences, curriculum and model classes to encourage musical literacy  and to encourage informal teaching and learning experiences in the musical arts.

In this brief paper, I have outlined some of the research initiatives that reinforce the premise that pre-school and K-12 musical programs should be emphasized, both formally and informally.

Secondly, I have proposed several collaborative projects for higher education and music in the public schools that include networking and partnering.  Finally, I have presented public policy debate and public policy initiatives that will impact on the future of higher education and its influence on K-12 programs, particularly those in music.

Christopher Robin asked the right question, "Where are we going?"  Where are we going in our determination to improve and upgrade the quality and the standards of music education programs K-12?

The research is clear.  We need informal and formal experiences.  We need collaborative partnerships between higher education and the public schools and we need to be constantly aware of the public policy debates that influence the productive outcomes of these initiatives.   We can, as music educators,  answer the question, "Where are we going?" and we can provide the structural experiences that will help the "Becky's"
in this world realize their dreams,  develop their musical aptitudes and  have richer, far more meaningful lives because of their exposure to the musical arts.

MOUNTAIN LAKE COLLOQUIUM FOR TEACHERS OF GENERAL MUSIC
MOUNTAIN LAKE, VIRGINIA   MAY 22, 1999

DAVID G. WOODS
DEAN, SCHOOL OF MUSIC
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
 

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