When Teaching Any Subject, Especially in Public Schools, Teachers Have a Set Curriculum

When teaching any subject, especially in public schools, teachers have a set curriculum that they must use when teaching their students. These curricula are set by a set of standards that are separate for each subject and that also differ between the state and national levels. Teachers in the arts are no different in this aspect from teachers in the academically-based courses such as math and science- they must all teach from these set standards.

In music, (which falls under the scope of “Arts Education,”) there are nine national standards in which to follow. The first of these standards is “Singing alone or with others with a varied repertoire of music.” At certain grade-levels, students are required to sing at different levels of proficiency either in general music, a choir or even a band. For example, at second grade, they may be required to sing a simple patriotic song or in high school be required to sing a piece that the choir/band is performing at a concert or sight-sing for a grade.

The second national standard is “Performing with instruments alone and with others with a varied repertoire of music.” This standard is mainly for band, orchestra and other instrumentally-based performance classes. When younger, such as fifth grade, a student may be required to play one note or a scale or when older, a high-school age student may be required to play a tough etude or passage from a piece for a grade.

The next and third standard is “Improvising melodies, variations and accompaniments.” This standard would be best addressed in a higher level theory class or jazz where improvisation and other ideas are widely used. Also, improvising accompaniments would be best addressed in a piano class, where using simple chord progressions, such as “I-IV-V7-I” are widely used.

Standard number four is “Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.” This standard is also best addressed in a higher level theory class. Most average students do not have much experience arranging music until they reach college and have a better theory background. Nevertheless, some theory classes at the high-school level require chorale or other simple writing to demonstrate a better understanding of part-writing principles.

Standard number five, “Reading and notating music,” is more common. Most to all music classes address this standard, since reading music is essential to all performance-based classes and basic reading is taught at the elementary levels.Basic reading is stressed throughout music classes at most levels, and is further advanced with harder rhythms and notes in the middle-school to high-school levels.

“Listening to, analyzing and describing music,” standard number six, is important to all music classes at all levels. At the elementary level, general music classes may listen to the works of a classical, baroque or romantic music to introduce them to composers, while a high school student might listen to the same music in a theory or music history class to analyze it. Also, in a high-school performance class, students may listen to their concerts or other performances and analyze what went well and what did not. This action is also part of the seventh standard, “Evaluating music and music performances.”

Standard eight, “Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts,” is important, especially in describing the emotional aspects of music and comparing them to the emotional aspects of visual art and dance. These concepts are taught in middle to higher level classes to help students understand music and what it has in common with other arts and classes.

Standard nine, “Understanding music in relation to history and culture,” is the final standard and is closely related to standard number eight, in that it describes music relating to other subjects. This standard can be taught in general music classes and is useful in paralleling important historical events and the music that was written at the same time. Also this standard helps students to be introduced to new music from other parts of the world that they might not have any other exposure to.

These nine standards, according to the Association for Music Education (MENC) website, are result of the National Council on Education Standards and Testing (NCEST) report in 1992 which called for standards in all areas of study. MENC then took $1 million from the department of education and the National endowment for the Arts to help develop and employ these standards in American schools. The project was the passed along to the National Committee for Standards in the Arts, which included members from many different fields including education and business, where they were further developed.

The Ohio academic content standards were born of a project by the State Board of Education and the State Board of Regents in a Joint Council that was formed to review recommendations made by the Secondary and Higher Education Remediation Advisory Commission. This Joint Council then formed advisory groups to create content standards for numerous areas, including fine arts. The fine arts advisory board therefore created five standards that are used in Ohio’s music curricula.

These five standards address the nine national academic standards, and in some instances go beyond them in detail and description. They are organized into clusters that encompass certain grade groups (K-4, 5-8, 9-12,) and have benchmarks for each group in all five categories. These standards were adopted in December of 2003 by the State Board of Education and the curriculum models that accompany them are slated to be adopted in June of 2005, with the models being given to teachers in September of 2005.

The first of these five Ohio academic content standards is “Historical, Cultural and Social Contexts,” and heavily ties in with national standards six (Listening to, analyzing and describing music,) and nine (Understanding music in relation to history and culture.) This standard asks that “Students understand and appreciate the historical social, political and cultural contexts of the arts in societies past and present. They understand visual and performing works of art in a framework of time and culture to develop a world view of the historical development of the arts.” This standard ties into the national standards by asking students to observe the different types of music around the world but asks more of students by asking them to understand different contexts including political and social dealing with music as well as asks students to use music as a link to different societies.

The second Ohio content standard is “Creative Expression and Communication,” and ties into the first four national academic standards, which are the standards that deal with performance and making music. This standard reads “Students engage in the process of creating and performing works of art. They use the symbolic languages, structures and techniques of each arts discipline to express and communicate ideas.” This standard asks students in Ohio to perform to their ability, but unlike the national standards, it also asks them to be expressive and use their imaginations to their full ability. It also asks them to pay attention to and use techniques that have been used before and taught to them.

The third Ohio content standard is “Analyzing and Responding,” and closely ties in with national standards six and seven. The standard says “Students identify and discriminate among the formal, technical and expressive aspects in visual and performing works of art. They understand and use the vocabulary of art criticism to describe, analyze interpret and evaluate visual and performing artworks.” This implies that students will listen to music and performances, which is also stated in the national standards. But it goes into further detail by saying that students will specifically “…identify and discriminate among the formal, technical and expressive aspects…” of music, and therefore provides a more detailed standard.

Content standard four, “Valuing the Arts/Aesthetic Reflection,” encompasses national standards six and seven as well. The standard asks students to understand music and the emotion it evokes. It reads “Students understand why people create and value the arts and consider differences in personal and community perspectives regarding the arts. They inquire about the nature and experience of the visual and performing arts in their lives. They present their point of view about visual and performing works of art and respond thoughtfully to others’ point of view.” The difference between the Ohio content standard and the national standards is that is asks students to not only listen to music, but analyze the emotion and feelings that music give the listener/audience.

The final and fifth Ohio Content standard, “Connections, Relationships and Applications” reads “Students connect and apply learning in each arts discipline and to other disciplines and to relevant careers. They recognize lifelong learning and experiences in the arts.” This content standard addresses national standards eight and nine, but further details them by saying students will relate the arts to lifelong experiences and careers, where the national standards say that students will only relate them to other disciplines. This content standard is also important because it asks that students realize the importance of the arts and the lifelong implications of them.

Teachers must use the important standards in properly introducing, teaching and demonstrating music and the aspects of it. Integrating these concepts is crucial to a student’s development and growth. The Ohio content standards better describe what a teacher needs to do to give these ideas and concepts to students and gives teachers specific curricula that is more detailed than the national standards. But, like the national standards, the content standards are universal to all students to give them all uniform experiences. Giving students the same experiences and teaching them similar information is very important to their development, as they will all be equally prepared in every subject area-especially the arts. It is crucial that we as teachers and future teachers must follow these standards, and by doing so, give students the best education that we can.

Nicholas Marzuola

Intro to music Ed @ 11:00

5 April 2005

Standards Review