I really enjoyed the readings for this week, as well as our classroom conversations on Wednesday. Of particular interest was chapter 16 from Instrumental Music Education. To be honest, I have already skimmed through the whole book and read almost half of it. I love all the literature I can get my hands on when it comes to instrumental music education, and since this book is so new, it has been fascinating to thumb through and read. And of course, anything that has a forward written by the honorable Frank Battisti deserves all band directors' attention. I can already tell that the information in this book will be valuable to me throughout my career and beyond.
Getting back to chapter 16 from Instrumental Music Education, I have often wondered about the many facets involved with recruiting, organizing, and starting a band or an orchestra. I know it is not an easy endeavor. Just working with Dr. Ciepluch over the last two years has taught me an incredible amount about recruitment - both for Case Symphonic Winds and for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. I am impressed that Dr. Ciepluch goes out all over the greater Cleveland area and beyond to do on-site auditions and promote his program. I know of few other band directors that will put their time and energy into such a complicated and time consuming effort. He is also constantly sending (or having me send) unending emails and regular letters to band directors, parents, administrators, and students. I have learned that this is a long process. But I have also learned that it is a rewarding one. I know now from personal experience that 95% of what I will do as a music educator will be behind the scenes administrative work. I'm okay with that. I'm even comfortable with that. I know that the time I will spend off the podium is essential to maintaining a good band program, and imperative to keeping all the "wheels spinning."
Frequently talked about in our classroom discussion were the steps of the recruiting process. In the assigned reading, Feldman and Contzius list eight steps of the recruiting process. Some of these steps I think are more important than others. I'm interested to see how my view of these things will change after I have been out in the profession for 10 years, 20 years, etc... For now, I can just base my opinions on my own common sense, my admittedly limited experience, and the countless hours of moaning and complaining I have heard from other band directors already in the field. The first two steps listed by Feldman and Contzius are having exposure concerts and recruiting concerts. I completely agree with them. In fact, I can think of few things that are more important and more inspirational than the excitement concerts can provide. Think about it: humans are always motivated by a finished product. Because we have relatively short attention-spans, we are much more interested in the outcome of the project than we are in the millions of steps leading up to it. For this reason it is so important to show children, "Hey, this is what you can be a part of someday!" It is for this exact reason that Dr. Ciepluch always has the Case Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Winds play for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. This is also why in middle school the 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade band all played on the same concert. Well, one of the reasons. : ) Sitting in my chair as a young sixth-grader who had just completed my portion of the program, I was in awe at what the 7th and 8th graders were able to do. To me, they sounded like a million dollars! To me, they were as good as the Cleveland Orchestra! Oh how I couldn't wait to be in their shoes so I could sound as good.
Letters home to parents as well as parent informational meetings may be important for logistical reasons, but I don't think they are half as important as the initial exposure to instruments and the instrumental ensembles themselves. Similarly, I am not a big fan of aptitude testing, or any of Gordon's testing strategies for timbrel preference. Look, I chose to play the saxophone in 5th grade because Lisa Simpson played the saxophone. It looked fun to play with all those keys, and boy was it shiny. What did it sound like? Not only did I non know, I don't think I cared. I think classroom teacher interviews are important. In these formal or informal settings, important questions are answered and instrumental fitting can begin. If the teacher is intelligent and wise, they will also have an opportunity to encourage students with various personalities, work ethics, and physical make-ups to choose the instrument that is right for them. Finally, following-up with parents is extremely important. I would think that music educators want their students' parents to be as much a part of their lives as possible.
Recruiting is a multi-faceted and ongoing process. There is the formal recruiting program and then there are the informal things that occur on a nearly daily basis that attract (or don't) students to an instrumental music program. As we mentioned in class, the band director is always recruiting whenever interacting with parents, students, administrators, or anyone else in the community.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are many administrative tasks necessary to run a successful instrumental music program, having to spend 95% of your time on them is probably a bit of an overstatement. The key is to handle those task as efficiently as possible so that you can devote the majority of your time and attention to the kids and the music. That is always what is most important.