I am not an expert on how much funding a school puts into its music and arts programs, but from my experiences in schools I can tell that school funding is not enough to support these programs. I think that a schools music program can get by with the funding from the school but it takes much more for the program to grow and cannot solely rely on school funding. The music classroom requires all the same materials as any other class but it cannot survive on just that. It needs instruments, music, repairs, replacements, uniforms, tuxedos and dresses, extended field trips, competitions, performances, and on and on.
In a modern BOJC class we cannot guarantee that all students will be able to afford or have access to all of these "necessities." Purchasing instruments and concert attire can be a hardship for some families and it becomes the schools responsibility to provide instruments and concert attire for students who wish to participate in music. We cannot turn away students who want to be in the music classroom if they cannot afford an instrument, but the school alone cannot pay for every student to have their own instrument and uniform. In order to have a successful BOJC program the members and students of these classes need to realize that this class is not like their other classes and that as a part of an ensemble, they are part of a team. A team that works together to make sure that every member has an equal opportunity to play and perform. that means that if Student A wants to play bassoon but the school does not have a bassoon and he cannot afford one, then the members of this ensemble will raise the money to get a bassoon into their ensemble. Helping Student A helps the entire ensemble, but how do we convince our students of that and how do we go about raising that money?
Students need to know that being a part of a BOJC ensemble is like being a part of a sports team and if a sports team wants to travel, or get new equipment, or new uniforms or really do anything they will need funding. The BOJC ensembles are bigger than students other classes like math and english in that the whole class suffers if one person is left behind. Once students realize this and can become invested in something bigger than just themselves, then they can start to brainstorm ways to make their experience in the ensemble the best it can be. This is not going to happen overnight, but the mentality and culture of a team needs to be built around the ensemble.
I do not believe that parents should be held responsible for covering costs of ensemble expenses. No individual parent should feel that they need to pay for their child to be involved in a school ensemble. Parents already have to pay enough for their child's instrument and attire and sometimes even lessons. As music educators, we cannot expect parents to cover the cost of maintaining our ensembles. We need to raise our own money in a way that teaches students responsibility to a group and a team. The best programs thrive off of community support and the best programs raise as much money as they can to make them the best that they are.
The only flaw with raising money from the community is the inevitable fact that some communities are much more affluent than others which means that some schools have an advantage in community funding just by being lucky enough to live where they live. While this is an unfortunate truth, the value of taking ownership and being responsible for the success of a group is a great lesson to teach our students and any amount of money that is raised is more than they had to start. It takes time and practice but in the end a modern BOJC program cannot grow without support from outside the school. The future of our ensembles and classes in our school districts is really in our hands and we can take them as far as we want them to go with the right attitude, support and school culture.
No comments:
Post a Comment