Rolling with the Changes - Part 1
I have no doubt that if you are reading this, you have recently experienced life circumstances that were unlike anything for which you were prepared. If that is not the case in this strange year of 2020, hang on to your socks because those changes are just around the corner for you. As Rush reminds us, “Changes aren’t permanent, but change is.”
Many of us are uncomfortable with changes because of the upheaval and uncertainty they bring to our lives. Sometimes, change is difficult. Sometimes, it is painful. It is almost always uncomfortable. While this blog series will be focused on changes that are occurring in the music education profession throughout the United States, I believe the principles discussed will be applicable in any area of life where change is happening. I think that the application of these ideas will help anyone navigating the fear and despair that often accompanies times of change. I want to offer you hope.
The first principle we should consider has already been mentioned. Uncertain times can come upon us at any time and in multiple areas of our lives - sometimes simultaneously. Music education is undergoing significant changes at the graduate and undergraduate levels due to shifts in the demands of the music profession and the changing values of culture. The career path that so many musicians prepared for 40 years ago no longer exists for the majority of music students studying today. This has caused many institutes of higher education to make large changes to their curriculum to insure these new demands are being met by their students. As college curriculums are modified, the shifts in focus will impact secondary music education as well, and these changes cause stresses on teachers, especially those who have been working in the field for a time. However, we cannot be about the business of preparing students to survive in the job market of the 1970s and 1980s. We must prepare them to thrive where they will land today.
Music educators at every level are also being confronted with new challenges due to the pandemic, and the methodologies we have used over the years are proving incredibly difficult - if not impossible - to implement in the age of Zoom, Google Classroom, and cancelled public performances. Large ensemble rehearsals aren’t possible due to safety concerns. Even online instruction is problematic due to accessibility issues for our students.
That’s the way change works. Life confronts us with new circumstances - things for which we have not been able to prepare - and we are called on to rise to the occasion and find a way forward. We need to recognize that we are not the only ones going through these changes and that reaching out to ask for help is not a sign of weakness or inadequacy. You are also not a burden when you ask for assistance. We are built for community. We are not meant to get through this alone. “Finding a way forward” is happening in classrooms across the nation, in professional development online groups, and webinars all around the world. Teachers are ready to help teachers. I am proud to be a music educator and to see the way the profession is reaching out to help individual teachers and orchestrate student success. Whatever the changes you face, there are people willing to step in and help. As Mr. Rogers often said, “Look for the helpers.”
I have worked with middle schoolers for over two decades now. If anyone knows what it is like to experience rapid, uncomfortable, seemingly constant change, it is my students. As painful and awkward as this adolescent period is, what would be truly strange - and wrong - would be for a student to remain the same throughout these years. We would do well to remember that change should happen - must happen - regularly. Stagnation is unnatural and leads us nowhere. Breathe. Look for the possibility. Ask for help. You will get it.
