Music in Secondary Schools

Mark H. Mullin (1991) contends, "The secondary years are vital. They are a period of great change for a young person" (p. 3). Secondary education must provide a great variety of experiences and settings for learning during this crucial period in the lives of its students. Harvard's Howard Gardner writes, "The key, I believe, is to devise learning environments in which students naturally come to draw upon their earlier ways of knowing and to configure those environments so that students can integrate these earlier forms of knowing with [new forms]" (1991, p. 180). It is also necessary to make these new environments as encouraging to the student as possible. As Mullin says, "Encouragement can help young people overcome their natural self-doubts" (1991, p. 69). By devising a competition and showcase for a broad range of students, this program offers participating schools, students, and teachers a vital opportunity for a different learning environment and a great deal of public encouragement for their efforts.

Focusing such a competition on jazz should be a particularly effective decision. This form of music gives both cultural importance to the event and a needed educational complexity to the experience for all concerned. It presents a large-scale occasion to highlight work, talents, and learning that might otherwise go unrecognized. It also focusses on an art form that is particularly

. . .
wcase for the results of the work they are doing in their individual schools. Observing the result of an opportunity to perform work which students had learned in class and rehearsed under the supervision of teachers, Powell wrote, "The visibility of the product and of the performer motivated the students" (1985, p. 137). The competition offers great visibility and opportunities for motivation that should stretch well beyond the single day's activities. Those benefitting from such a competition include every individual, community, and institution included in the project. First, student musicians who participate within the competing bands will have the opportunity to perform, meet students from other schools who share their interests in music, hear works by other student bands, and compete for scholarship prizes that recognize the best work of the competition. Rohlen observes in Japanese high schools that activities outside of the classroom "give expression to youthful and buoyant qualities - enthusiasm, humor, and motion" (1983, p. 192). Their American counterparts tend to respond just as energetically to extracurricular programs, since these are voluntary extensions of the mandatory classroom experience. By separating
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Arthur Powell, Powell Teachers, Mullin Encouragement, Peter Marris, African American, Howard Gardner, Mark Mullin, , competing bands, competition offers, host school, opportunity perform, 1985 137, 1991 103, educational process, music program, teachers schools, music education, product performer motivated, visibility product performer, wrote visibility product, gardner observes students, performer motivated students,
Approximate Word count = 2304
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Music in Secondary Schools