On my recent visit to North Carolina, I met any wonderful people who are working hard to change the state for the better.
I saw Former Governor Hunt, who is well respected in the state. I visited the East Durham Children’s Initiative, a very ambitious effort to meet the needs of children and families in the poorest section of town.
But the most shocking moment of my visit came at the leadership dinner for about 300 state leaders. A group of young women sang a Capella to great applause. Then the chancellor of the North Carolina State University got up to praise them and added, with what sounded like pride, we don’t have a music major at NC state. We have math majors, science majors, no music major.
I was stunned. Why no music major? How embarrassing! Just from an economic standpoint (which I hate to mention), the music industry is huge and a major export. Just trying to put it into the economic terms the chancellor might understand.
If you live in NC, please let him know.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And for the record, Clemson does have a music and performing arts major.
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Clemson University is so very awesome and rich in every area.
Love it!
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Go Tigers?
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I don’t think the absence of an undergraduate music major going to prevent musicians from playing and excelling in music. After all, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale have no undergraduate business majors, yet seem to turn out leaders in the business community with great regularity.
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one little correction
“after all, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are regularly attended by the sons and daughters of wealthy, powerful business people who then, without undergraduate schooling in business, manage, by some mysterious means, to land in great jobs in the business world.”
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They are also less expensive for poor income students to attend than my state university, and perhaps less expensive than NC State.
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Robert:
It is not as simple as that. Forty years ago, as a graduate student, I taught a sophomore seminar in labor economics at Harvard. Some of my students were well off, but I also had the sons and daughters of an ordinary postman, a metal worker and high school teachers. Most were extremely bright and invested huge amounts of energy in both their studies and their outside pursuits. I also hired Harvard students as summer interns – none of them were the sons and daughters of powerful business people. They all managed to get great jobs upon graduation and I suspect they are doing very well for themselves. One of them, with no connections beyond those he made at Harvard, was on his way to a partnership in a prestigious technology consulting firm 3 years after graduating from Harvard.
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Is it at all possible, that not every school SHOULD have a music major? And, is it equally possible, NC State was still able to provide a venue for its a Capella women’s chorus?
Not all schools have every element of education and schools must decide which to add and which to omit.
The criticism sounds more about NC education, which has been under attack, rather music. But, heck, that could just be me!
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Judging from the Chancellor’s comment science is the next major to disappear.
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Alan,
How much do you know about NC State? I will submit it was one of the most undervalued schools in the country. Folks down here know of its campus and IT companies which work with NC State.
It offers great engineering education, so much so Chinese students come here. It is also 2-3rd in agriculture, and high it IT.
My initial reply was to offer a rebuttal to a criticism which was about NC education..not a music program. And, by the way
I attend many NC State events…and the band is pretty good.
Perhaps they are practicing at home!
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NC STATE is one of the best universities in the country.
Its graduates are so very successful and most have jobs that pay 4 times as much as a teacher. (even a veteran teacher)
I think the CEO of SAS..Red Hat…and This Ends up Furniture are all graduates of NC State….and I am sure more that I can not name off the top of my head..
Correct me if I am wrong.
I also think that all of the nearby Universities, Duke, Carolina., East Carolina, Wake Forest,UNCG, UNCW, NC School of the Arts, and more ….. offer Music Majors. I may be incorrect….All of these universities are an arm’s throw away from each other.
I think this chancellor was being sarcastic. There is so much going on at NC State outside of its math-science-agricultural curriculum..
Joanna Best, I think, would know more about the Music majors in NC.
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see below.
🙂
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Do not know a lot about NC state, but know a lot about NC politics—a great university cannot remain great in a state governed by politicians/governor who sees little value in education or public schooling. California at one time at one of the best public and university systems in the world—beginning with Reagan and tax revolt propositions—it’s public schools are not highly regarded, and the university system is slowly imploding. Educationally, NC is headed in the wrong direction educationally, NC state cannot be far behind..
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Good Point Alan..
That is precisely why we are in touch with Diane Ravitch on a daily basis.
Hoping that we can stop the slide and start the climb.
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I personally believe that any actions against Universities might reflect a defensive reflex on the part of some of those we have in office right now. Sort of a “well, we made it without fancy schools,” or whatever. More and more I will consider the educational backgrounds of those I vote for. I am realizing it matters. And I hope others are too.
(Well, it matters if leaders are going to knock down anything you might see as a threat or that might outshine anything a leader has come from).
That said, I don’t think NC State having no music major has anything to do with any of that.
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Why make the comment? What bothers me about these off-handed comments made by state office holders, and yes, our president, reveals a belief system that bothers me, and should trouble educators. When you start down the road of privileging different types of knowledge, it is a slippery slope that educators should vehemently oppose. Granted, there are subjects that in the current labor market are valued more that others, but as educators are we guided by the market or the goal of developing an array of intellectual tools that support individuals desire to not only make a living, but to also, to pursue other public and private goals: citizenship; existential; personal development. There are a number of acceptable reasons why NC state does not have a music major/degree program — and I respect those reasons. But that is not what was inferred by the chancellors comment—what he stating was his belief that music or the arts does not carry the “cash value” of other subjects, and thus, this program is a frivolous to our education goals.
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Alan, are you sure that’s what he meant?
I really think it’s likely he was just careless in a compliment to the singers. Really. I am a music teacher and I am not offended by the comment at all.
I was one of four music majors in my class of 375 or so in college. Guys from fraternities used to throw nickels at me in jest. Whatever. Music students are probably confident enough in what they know to be their gifts to not be worried that the Chancellor at NC State is not fighting to get a music major.
I see your point. I just think if you go looking for comments to be offended by, you can always find them. Trust me, it is not going to stop a musician from seeking their path. It just won’t be at State.
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I am sure
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A former high school music teacher colleague of mine just died. He was 85. I remember well when he was so VERY discouraged. He had one of the largest choral programs in our area but there came a time when parents would come to a counselor demanding that their child be allowed to take choir and were told that they could not take choir. They HAD to take required courses. It was devastating.
At one time in my life, I was a choral teacher too. A student once told me he had did better in every class because of me. Music CAN be that important to students. A former student told me years later that his success in the business world was because of what he had learned and experienced in singing with quality groups, one of which was in college.
My “song and dance” was that if were not that important in a child’s life then do away with music. THAT is happening. The humanities, those things which make us human, are not important to those who perceive children only as future widgets to work in their factories. Do children exist for CEOs or does society in all its forms exist tor people?
How many of the world’s problems are caused or ameliorated because we do not have enough scientists and technicians and how many of those same problems are caused by people who do not become understanding of their neighbors, do not see beauty in and experience the wealth of art of their neighbors, have not learned compassion, understanding of their neighbors let alone integrity et al?
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I was a music major in college (at a very respected music program) and practically all of my friends who studied music either moved to Europe to be performers or stayed in the US and now do something else because they simply could not afford to live as musicians. I love music and I think music should be more important but … I don’t know that it is truly a viable major for many.
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I feel compelled to respond on this point. I am a state legislator in North Carolina and have written recently to commend Diane on an outstanding presentation at the Institute for Emerging Issues in Raleigh, agreeing completely with her eloquent and cogent speech about the virtual assault on public education and educators by the Republican legislative majority occurring in my state. However, here I must come to the defense of what is one of the best universities and chancellors in the country. NC State is internationally known for its STEM departments, as it should be, but it has also maintained a strong commitment to the liberal arts, and has numerous outstanding cultural arts courses, extra-curricular clubs and activities on campus. The Chancellor is innovative, creative, and committed to both sciences and the liberal arts, despite our Governor’s view that college is really only about jobs and not the full education or critical thinking and lifetime skills college really brings. To its credit, the UNC system has protected, at a number of our 17 institutions, extraordinary departments and courses in the arts, including the performance, teaching, direction and creation of visual and performing arts across the spectrum. The North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem is just one of those institutions, but certainly represents the most visible commitment of UNC to the importance of the arts to human existence. NC State and its Chancellor, Randy Woodson, are exceptional in their belief in educating the whole student and in providing a true global education in the arts, language, and liberal arts and sciences to NC State students. While there is much to criticize about NC’s legislative march backwards in public education today, our universities remain among the finest in the country and NC State is a superb institution with a great Chancellor. Representative Rick Glazier ( D-Cumberland)
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Hey Rick
I agree with your comment….Great University….
Now..
What is your feeling about the over testing in NC ,the Race to implement the Common Core, and the Teacher Tenure Contracts???
You have more tests in that state than I have sand on my beach front property (that I rent) …not really but it sure seems that way!
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Seems the colleges and Universities are progressing in the right direction.
Now someone had better start working on K-12.
Election 2016……..
I do not teach but I do speak for many teachers.
I have no more interest in teaching in the state of NC..that is why I no longer teach.
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How about election 2014? That one matters just as much for K-12 public education.
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Joanna
I thought about that but could not edit..and did not correct.
Election 2014…
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Again, why make the comment? Exceptional chancellors do not make comments like this. Chancellors with strong beliefs in education the whole child, do not make comments like this.
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They might if they are up in front of lots of people at a dinner, speaking extemporaneously and bumbling for something nice to say about the singers.
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Tired of bumbling chancellors, bumbling secretary of education, and a bumbling president
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I agree with Joanna.
This chancellor was complimenting the singers.
That is all..
Look at our Musically Talented Science-Math, Veterinarian, Agricultural,Technology. etc etc majors.
They are so talented!
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I have been following this blog for some time to become better educated on charter school issues. I appreciate all you are doing to track and illuminate them; I do have to take issue with your devoting space to the N.C. State chancellor’s comment. I am an NC native and NCSU grad who has lived in Florida for more than 30 years. Anyone from NC could tell you that its fine universities specialize in respective areas, just as schools in most states probably do. NCSU was a land-grant college whose mission was primarily scientific and technical, if I understand correctly. Potential music majors have a wealth of other options available at other NC colleges and universities. If the chancellor did make the comment “with pride,” it is unfortunate but not worthy of a post condemning the statement, in my opinion.
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I think his pride was over how good they sound. . .and then he was probably emphasizing, “hey they’re that good without even devoting as much time as a major would.” It was probably meant entirely for complimenting them.
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My guess is that NC doesn’t need for NC State to have a music major because if you want to study music, you go to Greensboro or ECU or Appalachian. In other words, we’ve got it covered within the University system.
I have two degrees in music (both of which I received in NC) and I’m not bothered by the fact that NC State does not have a major in it. UNC-Chapel Hill has a music major, UNC-Asheville has a music major, I imagine Western Carolina does too, not to mention all the private colleges that do too. NC is not missing out because NC State doesn’t have a music major.
What is more saddening is that some Universities in NC have already eliminated the Masters programs within the realm of Music Education, considering the cuts made to paying teachers with Master’s degrees in their field.
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I think within a strong university system like NC has, as long as various subjects are strong and supported in at least one of them, it’s OK. People tend to choose the universities based on their interests (engineers usually choose State over Chapel Hill; journalism majors choose Chapel Hill over State). Not every university within the system needs to offer a major in every subject area. I don’t think that would be wise financially for the state.
Tom Ross would know best. (Proudly for me, we share the same alma mater)
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I agree
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That is bad and sad news if they have eliminated the Masters in Music.
Thomas Jefferson once said ‘I can’t live without Books”
I say as well as most likely 95% of the population
“If I have to live without music, my life would be Boring ,Bland and
without a song…without hope, without happiness”
I would never get through trying times without my music.
I get an instant natural high listening to Beethoven or just some Blue Grass…Far ends of the spectrum but I Love and appreciate all music…and I appreciate the musical geniuses that create and compose these beautiful notes..
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Yep. The MM I got at ASU is no longer offered as of this year (I did my certification at the same time, and the THREE colleges within ASU worked very well together (College of Ed, Graduate School and School of Music) to be sure career folks could work on certification and Masters in a coordinated fashion. There was one gentleman named Bill McCloud who really worked hard at that (it could be easy to get lost in the maze working with the three departments, with all the requirements of the three). Anyway, McCloud died and they named something after him but I will bet without his zeal, it withered. Personalities, I realize more and more, really do a lot for shaping institutions. Heck, normal schools and Teachers’ colleges (which ASU was originally) were brought about by really intentional energy and hard work on the part of a few. Grit, you might call it. Applied grit. Should there be any other kind?
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By career folks I mean those who had been out of college more than a year. I don’t mean working folks.
In Boone, it’s all school. (Stuck up on a mountain and all).
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Joanna,
I read your post on a daily basis..along with Robert Shepherd and I can say that both of you express yourselves both eloquently, truthfully and genius ! 🙂
I think you should work on the State level to promote the music field.
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Neanderthal–
Thank you for the mad props. 🙂
I have some other things I am working on, that will hopefully help K-12 (I think there are plenty of music folks who will take up that mantle if need be—I don’t feel a threat in the music area—they have not cut any music from K-12 and that’s a wonderful thing!). Also, I live in Asheville which is saturated with musicians and artists, which is also wonderful. I think our K12 situation is more threatened than anything NC State not having a music major would indicate (again, I truly don’t find that to be a problem; I’ve never heard anyone say, “oh, gee, I’d go to State but darnit they don’t have a music major.”) People just know there are lots of other options for studying music.
My three areas of employment have been:
bars, churches and schools. But what I want to fight for is the schools. Not for me. For my children. Bars and churches will do fine. 🙂
So go see my website, Neanderthal. I write comments on this blog far more than I do on my own. . .but creativity and stewardship (for lack of a better word) are two areas I think can help schools. I am trying to engender that, slowly. (One time I posted the link and someone wanted to know, smugly, if I support business in connection with K-12). We have to have businesses that cater to K-12. We just need businesses that don’t want to eat K-12.
(And as soon as I can get my non-profit status, I will have both).
I want the conversation to change. And I am trying to help change it.
http://www.scissorsandgluellc.com
(nevermind the stuff being sold; read the blog and the about us)
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let me complete a thought. . .
bars and churches will do fine for themselves.
Schools need people fighting for them.
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urrgh, another thought to clarify. ..
non-profit will not provide me with a business to eat K-12. What I meant with that poorly constructed paragraph was that a non-profit will enable me to help schools in the capacity I see can strengthen them in the areas of creativity and stewardship.
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Will definitely visit your website sometimes today.
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Diane:
Should all State Universities in a State have all majors?
NCSU seem to have a number of music faculty:
Faculty and Staff
Dr. Gary Beckman (Bio) Director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the Arts
Dr. John A. Fuller (Bio) Assistant Director, Outreach and Assessment
Dr. Paul Garcia (Bio) Director of Band and Percussion Instructor
Dr. Olga Kleiankina (Bio) Assistant Teaching Professor
Dr. Tom Koch (Bio) Interim Director
Dr. Jonathan Kramer (Bio) Teaching Professor
Dr. Nathan Leaf (Bio) Director of Choral Activities
Dr. Wes Parker (Bio) Director of Jazz Studies
Randall Rehfuss Concert Coordinator
Dr. Rodney Waschka (Bio) Chass Professor
Vacant Director of Orchestras
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Blog first, ask questions later.
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As opposed to?
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http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Shoot+first,+ask+questions+later
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Oh Bernie,
Performing and visual art majors are only for rich kids who don’t have to worry about working . . . . . that’s what this stratifying reform movement has done to the knowledge base.
Get used to it . . . . . .
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Robert:
Where did I suggest or intimate that “performing and visual arts are only for rich kids”?
Should all State Universities and their various campuses have Veterinary majors? Astronomy? Finnish? Greek? Theology?
There are 13 Public University campuses offering music majors in North Carolina – how should one decide whether a 14th program is warranted?
http://www.petersons.com/college-search/SearchResults.aspx?id=ZDNhMGUzYmMtMmY2MS00MWRjLWFkY2EtMGU0ZGE1ZjAwNGQ0
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Robert:
Just in case you were wondering. There are no public university campuses offering majors in Finnish, 1 offers a Religion major, 3 offer Classic majors and apparently none offer Astronomy and Astrophysics majors.
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You know what, I was wondering about that as I was also – about at the very same time – contemplating the difference between fodmaps and polyols. . . .
It’s like, you and I must be joined at the head Bernie . . . .
Wow . . . . .
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I know you were being partly tongue-in-cheek, but I’m thinking it’s not the ed-reform movement but rather the job market that has had the biggest effect on the numbers enrolling in music, fine arts, & related tech fields– & the effect at least among 20-somethings in my mid- & upper-mid area has been the opposite of what one would expect. This is strictly anecdotal, but I observe that numbers compare well, holding or increasing from decades ago.
That large cohort of kids who are not STEM people are well aware that, unlike in ’60’s & ’70’s there are few openings where one may march into the bottom rung of big corps w/an artsy-fartsy degree & work his way up the chain, making them reluctant to do college at all. But since they’re up against sheepskin-holders for everything including slinging soup at Panera’s, they sensibly choose a major in a field they enjoy & can pass courses in.
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I chose it because I excelled in it in comparison to my peers at a very competitive school.
Actually, music usually chooses a person, and not the other way around. It’s sort of a condition, if you’re any good at it. I say that proudly.
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Forgive my lack of correct punctuation.
Just in a hurry and can’t edit on these boards. oops.
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Why would you be stunned? Want Music? Head for UNC, where all the silly stuff originates in this state. As a grad of NC State I say “Pick your path and go for it!” As for the industry, we’ll produce the techs and the innovations for it, Go Wolf Pack!
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Go Wolfpack and Tarheels and Tigers and Demons and sometimes Blue Devils….
UNC-Silly Stuff?
hmmmm…
Pick your Path is the right way for all individuals but is not the case in K-12..
There is but one path in K-12….
How sad.
.
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Dear Diane,
Obviously since I wasn’t there I have no context for the chancellor’s comment (or the pride that you heard in his voice when he said there’s no music major). But having worked at NC State for several years I can tell you that NC State is one of 17 public universities and colleges in North Carolina, and the mix of offerings and majors across the state are informed by a couple of key factors (among many others).
One, the 17 institutions have distinct histories and origins that still inform their missions today; NCSU was founded as the agricultural and engineering college, for example. Several other colleges and universities in the system are historically black institutions; UNC Greensboro was founded as a women’s college with a focus on teacher training; UNC Asheville was designated as an undergraduate-liberal-arts-education focused institution within the system starting in the 1960s. All of these unique histories are critical factors in defining the individual missions of these respective institutions today.
Two, the mission of the UNC system (which includes all 17 institutions) includes a mandate to both recognize the diversity of the institutions and their individual strengths and missions, and to use the resources of the state efficiently to fulfill those missions.
All that means that there is an ongoing (and from my experience, fairly careful) push and pull across all 17 institutions in attempting to balance the historical mission and current strengths of each individual institution, the need for rich and diverse offerings within each institution, and the need for breadth of offerings and access across the entire system, with the need to minimize unnecessary over-duplication of offerings.
So no, NCSU doesn’t have a music major, but it has a music minor, a host of other strong fine and liberal arts programs (many of which offer majors) along with its traditional strengths in the STEM areas. Students wishing to major in music can do so at UNC Chapel Hill and NC Central, both within 25 miles of NCSU, or at any one of seven other public colleges and universities across the state. No student in the state lives more than about 50-75 miles from a public institution that offers a music major. That’s more than can be said of many states, and something worth fighting to maintain. But arguing (or being perceived to argue) that EVERY college across the state must offer all majors or certain majors if liberal arts education is to be maintained is simply giving the “deformers” a useful straw man to play with.
There are more horrendous things happening in North Carolina to public education than I can count right now, and there are certainly the same pressures on higher education in NC as there are everywhere else to ignore, belittle, or discount the traditions of a rich, broad, and deep liberal arts curriculum in favor of defining the value of an undergraduate education in strictly vocational terms. But there is also a very strong tradition within the state that counters those pressures and forces, and we need to draw on those traditions to battle them (as you do so well, and for which I admire you so much!). The diversity of offerings across the North Carolina system, and indeed the need to view public higher education across the state AS a system, not just a disconnected set of institutions that should be in competition with each other, is one of those strong traditions that can serve us in the fight.
Again I have no idea what Chancellor Woodson meant to convey in saying that there is no music majors at NCSU. But I can say that the reply isn’t “But there SHOULD be a music major at NCSU!” – it’s “No there isn’t – because in the great tradition of the UNC system, music majors are offered by many other institutions within the system, while NCSU offers its own unique set of diverse, strong, majors and a strong liberal arts foundation to all students (even the engineering, ag, and textile majors!). And that is one of the great strengths of public higher education in North Carolina, and one we must fight to continue.”
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Maybe the chancellor didn’t know this:
http://www.ncsu.edu/music/faculty/
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I’m going to give the chancellor the benefit of the doubt and infer that he meant, “What a wonderful performance by these young people who are multi-talented. Look! They aren’t even music majors, as we only offer a minor in music!”
It might just be a foot-in-mouth moment.
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My thoughts exactly. We all make off hand remarks (I am infamous for it) and they morph into the foot-in-mouth kind. It sounds as if the Chancellor was taking pride in his students. We all know “pride goeth before a fall” probably because one of our feet is in our mouth.
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My life goes on in endless song
above earth’s lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it’s music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness ’round me close,
songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that rock I’m clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
how can I keep from singing?
When tyrants tremble sick with fear
and hear their death knell ringing,
when friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
while to that rock I’m clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
how can I keep from singing?
My life goes on in endless song
above earth’s lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
How can I keep from singing?
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a favorite of mine! thanks for that, Joanna!
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I’m a bit dismayed by the lack of contextual knowledge in the comments here. One of the oft-repeated goals of the reform movement has been a re-evaluation of getting their money’s worth out of public colleges and universities.
One way they are approaching this is to suggest the elimination of majors and degrees that don’t promise high pay or bring in money to the schools. Duncan and Obama have even talked about the need to choose only high paying majors as a solution to the student loan crisis, co-opting the meme of the reformers again to provide their neoliberal stamp of approval through dogwhistle politics.
Here in Florida the governor suggested all students should major in business or STEM degree programs and humanities programs should be scaled back or eliminated. This was promoted by many ALEC guided legislators and is now the tactic Rhee’s Students First is using in Florida to get Parent Trigger laws back on the radar here.
I assumed Diane was referring to this common trend of reformers speaking against anything outside of business and STEM as being worthless as causing her alarm through implication. We must educate ourselves to all the tricks and tools of the reformers if we hope to defeat them.
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Well if the comment was indicative of all that, I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t there.
Don’t be dismayed Chris.
We will elect new leadership in NC who understand the value of the Humanities. Those who do, tend to come out ahead even if there are momentary setbacks.
Most of the more meaningful conversations I have had about music in my life (and moments playing it) were with scientists; scientists who understood the value of thinking.
Thinking will prevail again, if voters will stop and think.
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Oh and the wholesale elimination of the arts in thousands of K-12 schools due to bedget cuts and/or test taking focus for poor children and children of color.
I think alarm and dismay are exactly the right reactions to statements such as this within this context. We educators always want to attribute the best motives to everyone because we generally do the same ourselves.
Our enemies don’t necessarily follow that rule as we are finding out. The Chancellor may also be unaware of the context and if so can learn from this incident thanks to Diane.
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Has not happened in NC.
Our arts are intact for k-12.
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And strong.
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Joanna I truly hope that you are able to save and protect them. ALEC is ruthless and pitiless and ruthless. It only took 2terms of Jeb Bush as governor to ruin Florid’s school system and the hits come fast and furious now despite parent and public outcry and opposition. They don’t fear or care about common voters anymore down here and that scares me more than anything.
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I think people trusted a Bush more than McCrory.
You know I might certainly have a Polyanna side about this. My heart is broken otherwise and I get my energy from being positive and finding good in people and situations. It’s a survival skill for me.
My family moved to NC when I was six. At 26 I moved away for exactly seven years, and then came back. It’s home. (I was born in Florida, actually, and I do know it is what ALEC wants for us). I just don’t see NC letting it happen.
Time will tell.
Where do you see things going in Florida? What do you think it will be like in ten years?
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I have many friends and family in NC. In ten years public schools will no longer exist in FL. We will all be fired in the next few years due to the new VAM law, at least the majority of us who work in Title I schools. With over 600 charter schools already and more legislative support in the pipeline for many more the writing is on the wall. I retire in one more year if i can make it.
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In NC we won’t lose the arts in K-5. Library either. Why?? We are coverage for teachers to have prep time. It’s that simple. Fortunately the students benefit greatly from this arrangement. It’s a dividend of necessity.
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That is true; and sometimes I think classroom teachers think of us as the “clown car,” but we know it to be time well spent with the children and that they are learning.
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Check out #ResistTFA
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I earned a Bachelor of Music degree, and I use the word “earned” deliberately. It is a very rigorous major which includes academic studies in music history, theory and composition in addition to practice and performance of one’s primary instrument plus piano. My degree has prepared me well for everything I have encountered in life, including becoming an elementary school teacher in my forties. For the chancellor to be proud of the fact that his university has no music majors is ignorant and short-sighted. If everyone were a mathematician or a scientist, the world would be a sorry place indeed. We also need our artists, poets and musicians.
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Btw, I don’t think CalTech or RPI have music majors.
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How embarrassing!
😉
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I just read that one of my favorite professors died in January.
Eliot Eisner: “His voice for evaluating teaching and student learning through many means, not just standardized testing, continued to be heard during the past three decades of standards-based school reform, testing and accountability,” said Larry Cuban, professor emeritus of education at Stanford. “Eisner’s eloquence in writing and speech gave heart to and bolstered many educators who felt that the humanities, qualitative approaches to evaluation and artistic criticism had been hijacked by those who wanted only numbers as a sign of effectiveness.”
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