In advocating for any endeavor, knowledge is power.
As music teachers, we know the value of our work to children and how its impact can be felt far beyond the classroom.
Our lives are busy meeting the responsibilities of what are compelled to do: teach music.
The primary goal is to help children become the best musicians possible in the time we can work with them.
This task in itself is complex, regardless of the myriad other duties we, as educators, must complete every day.
Advocacy is an important component to any successful program. This is a daily task undertaken by music teachers in the course of their standard duties. We inspire our students to play well so that –
• the parents will be proud and compliment the principal on fine curricular choices,
• the principal will report student and school success to the superintendent,
• the superintendent will allocate money through the school board,
• the school board will work for increased funding by showing the best of their district to
• the education leaders in the state; and most importantly, so that
• the students will be enriched by music in their lives.
This is advocacy and what music teachers do every day they enter classrooms across the state of Maryland to teach young musicians.
Check out this recent research on the benefits of Music Education:
