Monday, October 29, 2012

"Jobs not Jails." Homeboy Industries: A Must See for Anyone in LA

The past hour blew my mind. A 37 yr old man named Neal honestly told us his whole life story and the only way I knew it would have a resolution was the fact that he was physically standing right there, wearing a Homeboy Industries shirt showing he worked there. One thing I struggle with often in this line of work, is how blessed and privileged I have been and to me it is important to if not relate, at least be able to empathize with those around me. Of course this is not a bad thing that I have such a wonderful family and upbringing, but just when I think I've seen hardship enough to at least empathize-> extreme poverty, patients with malaria, children with malnutrition and no shoes,  orphans, victims of the Rwandan genocide, and domestically abused women to name a few, the list continues to lengthen. Here is yet another way I have now seen hardship, drugs. You always hear the stories in DARE not to use drugs or watch videos on how badly they can screw up your life, but here was a true account coming from an individual who had lived through it all. 

He had one brother left after the other five and his dad had died from being heroine addicts. He went through a DARE program and was determined to change. His mom was physically abused and he fought the boyfriend, resulting in a prison sentence of five years. DUring this time, he had no contacts with his family and an IV addict explained ot him the reason he did it was to make time pass faster as it allowed him to be in a vegetative state for several hours. And as most drugs do, a little turned into an IV addiction. When he got out of prison, he became a construction worker, but left work feeling empty. When he was laid off and just needed to pay bills, selling drugs seemed an easy way to do so. Until that decision resulted in being ducttaped and kidnapped in an abandoned house. A squatter couple found him and if they hadn't...

He decided then he must change if he didn't want to end up like his other family members. He went with the ducttape still on his arms to Homeboy and has now been there 17 months. If they had to lay him off, he would still volunteer and when he does go to other employment, he will always keep Homeboy in his vocabulary. A quote he said that will resonate with me for awhile is, "My dad taught me to steal a bike, not ride one." They steal from the rich because they know they can just buy another one without any concept of what it means to earn that money. They don't have an opportunity to change their mindset. Yes I know this sounds like an incredibly radical scapegoat and perhaps ignorant, but think about it. 

Homeboy is so transformative because it not only offers free services like tattoo removal with 21,000 removals a year, a free lawyer, counselors, and jobs, but classes. THis is where the transformation takes place; "you have to change your mind; otherwise it will happen again." SO they have classes from anger management to choir to yoga to bookclub to parent and me. THey have a high school for the kids and Neal went to a domestic abuse class, not because he had ever done that. But because he wanted to understand why his mom put up with it. He doesn't still and strives to encourage women they can do it on their own. Women are stronger (dang right!). 

After this heartwrenching, but very real story out in the sunny garden, I expected a pedestrian tour of seeing offices and the bakery. No such thing. Our next stop was the tattoo removal doctor who told me 27 doctors volunteer their time. The tattoo machine alone costs 50,000 and the laser glasses were $500. But then he asked us to put on the glasses and we witnessed a tattoo removal. They focus on wrist down and neck up since the rest can be hidden and have clients from all over the country ranging from 5 yrs old to 70. 5 yr olds come with what you may think is an innocent Hello Kitty symbol that is actually a gang and leads to triggered shootings. Or three dots on the eye (my crazy life). The guy we witnessed had VLM tattooed on his cheek and had a baby on the way, which triggers shootings. 

The laser gun was like 10,000 rubber bands snapping against his face a second, which sounds painful enough. But then when he showed us what it was literally doing against the wall, it sparked! Obviously excruciatingly painful, but temporary pain to change their lives and keep their families safe. " It took Neal 17 treatments and a year and a half to remove his neck tattoo, but now he has time for his two kids to be a dad, his wife to be a husband, and time for himself. He does things he would never have imagined like yoga and knows a new way. 

There are 2100 gangs in LA. A Jesuit priest made himself relevant to ex-incarcerated and gang members in LA. How can we not? If we spent $1500 on a child per year, we could keep them safe and belonging to a positive musical experience, all the while expanding their academics and character, increasing their family involvement, and preparing them to be global citizens. It's a primary prevention tool and in the long run would save us billions (it costs about 300,000 over a lifetime for a highschool dropout). We can have safer communities, better children's lives, and save money. How does it get better than that? Obviously, it's not a magic switch or an overnight occurrence, but this is what these programs CAN do. 95% of graduates from these programs went on to college and one even was a Fulbright scholar!

Residency Part III: LA Bustle

Yes the traffic of LA traffic is certainly true, but so is the beautiful weather, bountiful palm trees, and delicious fruits/veggies (read; AVOCADOS!!!). This past week has been amazing, especially from a teaching perspective! HOLA has some incredible teachers who truly develop the children holistically, strive for self-efficacy, and have dynamite classroom management. It's been a lot of fun too to rediscover my percussion skills-I taught a girl how to drumroll-and I have played viola in the orchestra several days this week. My alto clef reading is seriously fuzzy!

The two fellows out here, Dan and Christine, work so hard, but they more than accommodated us into their schedules and I also had some very productive meetings with the head of Ed at LA Phil and the senior grantwriter as well as a researcher at the Brain and Creativity Institute doing longitudinal research with them and the head of community and government affairs. After an absolutely phenomenal performance with the LA Phil, Erik asked me, "What is more certain?" and I think ironically the only thing that is more certain, is the constant inquiry and lack of never arriving at a certain destination i.e. nothing is more certain than the fact that there is nothing certain. That things develop organically and change is always possible.

Something I learned about Venezuela is that despite the majority of funding coming from government at the national, regional, and local level, they are mainly responsible for the  HR of a program. A program in Guarico still had 25 other financial sponsors on their calendar. So the scapegoat of "well in Venezuela the government pays for it," isn't exactly what it seems.

I've also noticed the value of having a diverse staff. While my initial thought was,'This is the 21st century, why should we encourage not being colorblind,' I didn't realize that the parents of these children did grow up during the Civil Rights Movement and we need to be sensitive to this.

in contrast to SDYS, everything was done in a single nucleo site due to multiple factors. One being the turnover at schools. If the principal leaves that was backing your program, then what? The scale of LAUSD and the fact that if the parents have to enroll their kids outside of school, it mandates a higher level of parent and family responsibility and thus is more likely to have parents involved. Interesting. It also gave them a chance to create a new culture and not have to mold themselves to the school culture.

Some moments I will remember from the week:

*the encouraged self-efficacy teaching and exceptional teaching in general
*Homeboy Industries (see blog post above)
*LA Phil concert of Mahler 5, need I say more?
*Harmony Project's Dream center where there were mentor/mentee private lessons going on everywhere I looked from the nursery to the stairwell to the hallway to the water fountain!
*A 2.5 hr dinner with Margaret Martin where I didn't once put down my pen. Important lesson was US citizens spend money on their safety and if you use this as a way to prevent violence, gang or otherwise, funding will come, regardless of political alignment
*Cultures of different sized organizations and wordsmithing to audience
*Boundaries and always going into something with an idea compared to a blank slate
*"Do only that which you can do." The work will never stop so set that and trust others



Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Residency Part II: Ser Y No Ser

I truly understand what this means after my one week immersion with SDYS, especially thanks to conversations with Dalouge and Juan Palacios. For those of you who don't speak Spanish, the literal translation is being and not being, meaning always willing to adapt and change based off of what one continually seeks to learn and the sense of a constant inquiry. ES seems more and more perfect for me everyday ;p It is to this mentality and a constant sense of learning from others and then willing to adapt, change, and rethink a project that Dalouge claims has been his best resource and in turn, which palpates a constant sense of communication and understanding around the organization (and IMHO consequently what won them the 2012 Prudential Leadership award out of countless US nonprofits!!).

Erik said something at our first session this year about not putting stakes in the ground and I have now spent two posts on defining El Sistema, or attempting. This one is to update that and put a stake in a new ground: it really doesn't matter, and it truly is about meeting the needs of the community and following the organization's mission. SDYS could not be a better example of this as they strive to see how they are going to evoke "social change" in their already existing organization of 67 years and wanting to truly represent the demographics of San Diego. In doing this, Opus is molded.

Juan Palacios, a conductor of SDYS and a former nucleo leader of the infamous ES student that plays in the Berlin Philharmonic, made me also see ES leadership in a new light. His nucleo was incredibly unique in that it required the students to not only study in the typical orchestral setting, but also in a chamber music setting, and a conservatory setting-a bit more similar to a US university student. He didn't want to just develop musicians who could play, but could understand the music through its history, composition, and structure (theory). He also was the only nucleo that let the students not necessarily pursue music, but rather pursue the art of music at the highest level he/she could, and bring that excellence to whatever else he/she may do in life. As a result, only 1/3-1/2 of his students pursued music; however every single one that did, now plays in a professional orchestra and won a scholarship to study abroad. Dr. Abreu respects him and he respects Dr. Abreu; they are going about the same mission in a different way. He also told me about the incessant work ethic of Dr. Abreu's mind, calling him at 4:45 am asking him about measure 447 and him having to explain he slept until 6 am to which Dr. Abreu responded, "okay, I'll call you then." This is only one example of how this model cannot literally be transplanted here and needs to be adapted; I think we all recognize that. Rehearsals there can last 4-16 hour rehearsals, seven days a week. He claims the only place Sistema as it is, (ser) will permanently succeed is Venezuela due to this work ethic and exceptionally intelligent leader that is Dr. Abreu that cannot be replaced elsewhere.

Opus' model is very unique, bringing the music back into the schools, instead of having one central nucleo or the franchise model. Dalouge makes a good point: "What place is more accessible to children, has more resources, and IS the nucleo of children than their schools? All I'm doing is redirecting the allocation of resources." Would love to invite comments.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Opus part II

The previous blog was getting far too long so I decided to continue today's happenings here.

First on the agenda was a meeting with Jon Iversen from The Neuroscience Institute and UCSD where they will be measuring their behavior with test groups of karate (another activity of the same intensity, requiring discipline and practice), kids who do neither, and music, measuring annually for five years (they're on year 2 now). They will also be doing a study on the actual brain structure by using brain imaging! And they will be doing research on the brain stem response. FASCINATING!

Then a mtg with the asst superintendent John Nelson.  He described his district as being the catalyst to change the community, analogously to the way Eric Booth described the teacher in the Tanzanian community who goes into the community and finds out what needs to be done to meet community needs and then is held accountable to make a plan to attain that goal. He also talked about music being important because the kids need balance in their life and it gives them motivation. Side tangent: did you know some districts are trying to take fiction books out of their elementary schools??? Yea let's make kids hate reading even more than they already do with all the technology that has supplanted it completely. If we use music as a way to improve math or reading or writing, we're undermining music and the value it has in and of itself, if it's merely a way to improve other things. He wants to see SDYS represent the true demographics of the community. Apparently Chula Vista has the highest performing kids in the STATE! A lot of concepts such as "zone of proximal development" were highlighted.

I also got my hand at team teaching with Cristina with the kindergartners, another in-school program. Tupperwares with felt tops are great drums! She was an excellent teacher, we sang Twinkle Twinkle with words about fall, and then added instruments. She did a perfect example of building on one concept, praising positive behavior, and using leadership as an incentive. Rebecca Levi's idea of "sleeping instruments" worked really well too!

Finally a community concert sponsored by Ford Motor to tour ten different schools to have the YMCA afterschool program be able to listen to them. It included the William Tell Overture, Orpheus, Night Rider, Somewhere over the Rainbow, Cello Squadron (which let the cellos be soloists!), students explaining the differences between the different strings and more, but those were the highlights. Their conductor Ramon is fantastic and a professional violist from the Puerto Rican orchestra!

Yesterday in a class of 25, half the kids were new, never having played an instrument, the other half having played for a year. How did Mr. Soto reconcile this? By using the older kids to play the role of teacher and literally teach the new kids how to hold an instrument. Thank you peer teaching!

SDYS is a perfect example of not needing to be a Fellow to have a successful program, you just need the hunger to seek the answers. Lauren (the prog dir) is an amazing leader, wonderful person, and outstanding host! The staff in general is awesome and very hard-working. Great teachers that use the peer concept and have the kids play, talking minimally. They have weekly 1.5 hr staff meetings where they present problems to each other with which they are struggling and share an Opus moment of a time a kid showed them something. Dalouge is also a fantastic leader and won a Governance award of all the non-profits from a national leadership organization.


Glenn Thomas, an El Sistema global advocate, and his wife Judith generously took me out to dinner and a walk on the beach. Thanks again! He wants to construct an ES global team  to help implement programs. We need more people like him who are on the business side of things and, more importantly, not running their own nucleo! Cool sand sculpture as an aside.
A student practicing during snack break. Broke into a Coldplay duo.

I felt proud after our strings seminar with our string fellows, that I was able to correct hand positions, bow position, and violin position :)
 Peer teaching a new student how to play
Balboa Park. Isn't it beautiful?? Many more of Balboa Park on Facebook ;p

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Residency Part I: MN and San Diego

Tomorrow marks a week of me on the road, granted my MN trip was more than just residency, watching a best friend get married and having some quality family dinners. Watching ACME in action was almost surreal. I found an old notepad from last year and it's incredible to see how much progress we've made! While the kids weren't always well-behaved, overall it was a productive class, and even the "troublemakers" got a turn to be leaders at some point during class. I was amazed to see how fast they were able to sing Camptown Races on solfegge (I certainly underestimated them) with hand signals or rather "secret hand signs." Some of the kids have really good intonation! And I got to exhibit my Lorrie Heagie classroom mgmt tools and..THEY WORKED!!! Right before we left Boston, we met the Friends who support our program and one of them is from Venezuela and is an author who gifted us each a copy of her bilingual book. Pretty cool!

Since Mon, I've been in San Diego/Chula Vista, where it is 90+˚ every day. MN was 28˚ in the evenings with highs in the 40s. Quite a contrast! Before I begin, I want to commend SDYS for doing excellent work and truly making their program part of the community. I've met w a lot of staff including the CEO of SDYS, the dev director, and the associate director who gave me lots of unanticipated knowledge of operations, collected resources, interviewed students and parents about their experience and "Opus moments", had lunches with teachers, and am being spoiled/hosted by the program director having lots of green juices, Mexican food, a home-cooked salmon and asparagus meal last night and Thai food tonight. The least I could do was impromptu sight read accompany for her GS choir. Oh, and you haven't lived til you've had an avocado in CA. AMAZING! Coronado was so humid that my hair was literally soaking wet and the fog so thick I couldn't see anything, but I've seen the famous del Coronado hotel. Balboa Park is so beautiful and there is a plethora of activity there from ballet, museums, the zoo, gardens, an international village, a Spanish art village, and the office of SDYS.

Lots of good questions have come to the table and I am excited to discuss all of them w my fellow fellows. The main one that pertains to San Diego is a continued inquiry of what constitutes an ES program?? SDYS's goal is to make music accessible and affordable to all by bringing music back into the school day and despite this being a ten year vision, they achieved this across the whole school district within 7 months of opening! This is not only amazing because of the brief time in which it was accomplished, but also because CA has one of the fewest music ed programs in schools across the country and the DISTRICT paid to implement this into their schools, not to mention the sustainability effect it has on the Chula Vista community!

But does this (posed merely as a question, not a judgement) constitute as an El Sistema-inspired program? If your definition of El Sistema is bringing music education to all, then certainly! But since the US has yet to define what an El Sistema-inspired program is, the answer is undefined. Certainly this is a national need of bringing music back into the schools in a new manner.

Erik Holmgren says we shouldn't ask that evil question of "What is El Sistema" anyway and we should rather ask if it addresses a community need, which it certainly is. But just for trying to denote of what El Sistema-inspired programs constitute, is a requisite of ES that it has to be after school if they are teaching using a social curriculum? And what does a social curriculum look like? If one is teaching in a way that is effective, uses peer teaching, ensemble-based, and empowers the students, is it not ES? And is frequency a requisite? Because trying to put music back into the school day requires time, Opus can only meet twice a week. But after seeing their concert today after two years, there clearly is still an amazing output!

Clearly Opus has done some amazing work in the Chula Vista community, despite meeting only twice a week. And they're one step ahead of the majority of nucleos in that they meet a third day a week at a middle school and involve those students as well!

 (continued on next blog)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Self Awareness 1

Our Program Director asked us to reflect on the following question, I thought I'd share my reflection.


What I have I learned about myself and what new awareness do I have about who I am and how I exist in the context of the intensity of a group experience?

Much of my self-discovery and awareness happened during the retreat at Gibran’s house, and to avoid being redundant, I will refer whomever reads this to that blog entry. 
To expound on my value of relationships, it has carried into my strengths. Many of my colleagues have remarked on my “power” of networking. I know I have always been good at meeting new people, but had never really thought of it as a “skill” since it seems quite basic to me. Yet, these past few weeks have revealed my Montessori upbringing and my willingness and ability to take risks. In Montessori schools, there are no educational limits, you continue onto the next workbook, when you finish the level on which you are working, and I was on a first name basis with all my teachers, despite the 30-50 age difference of years between us.  Having teachers as friends from such an early age imparted me with an intrepid, ambitious drive to approach anyone. My travels and majorly staying with people I had not met yet have only affirmed Albert’s adage of “Strangers are friends you haven’t met yet.”  All people are just that. People. And I’ve been told countless times people like nothing better than to ask them for their advice. Another skill the Montessori environment instilled in me was my inquisitive nature. As a result this coupled with my intrepid willingness to approach anyone is (IMHO) what makes me such a strong networker, not only for myself, but for the Sistema fellows group. 
I am neither an adrenaline nor thrill seeker in the least, but I’m not afraid to do things that involve unknowns, in fact I thrive on that because that unknown is the conduit for the excitement that usually is generated (described in the former paragraph). It is in this dynamic and mobile environment of having lived in 7+ places since graduation two years ago, that I have become so adaptable and malleable. Yet, it has only been in the presence of others, that I realize now to what extent. 

I’ve also realized, only after Monique posed it in her presentation last week, the emotion I feel most often is excitement. I’ve always known I am an extraordinarily enthusiastic person, but never that excitement is the feeling of which I live. It explains why I have been coined a “lifeaholic” (of which I am by NO means ashamed!), it explains why I have been so nomadic, and my strong reluctance to complacency and, at this point in my life, settling down. It also explains my drive and ambition (and how I co-founded a Sistema nucleo with no prior knowledge).
I am currently grappling with learning to match “the level of hunger” others have without dimming the satiation of my own appetite. A goal of mine is certainly not to reduce that energy (My mantra is I am a sunny tree, full of enthusiasm and passion), but rather utilize that energy in a way that is beneficial and not overwhelming to others. It is the reason my voice becomes approachable rather than credible, why my speeches sometimes go at a presto speed, and why I may clutter your inbox. I am excited about something and want to share it with you or I’m fascinated with what you’re talking about and am expressing my interest by bombarding you with questions. I strive to be able to convey this excitement in a palpable, but not overwhelming way.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Important Considerations for the future of the ES Movement

Internal Capacity
A student came up to one of my colleagues at ES Somerville and was having a rough time. Turns out she had to move in with her aunt and only gets to see her mom on Saturdays now. Naturally, this student became my colleague's shadow, following her everywhere that day. Of course, my colleague complied, and that's what "child first, music second" means. But on a longer term basis, do ES programs create a sense of dependency? I am not affirming this, only posing the question. Because they go all the way through high school the student is able to rely on the support and community that is manifested in that environment. If the nucleo teaches well, the idea of self-efficacy and collective efficacy is developed and the teacher can be left out of the equation, only with the difficulty of emotional attachment and teary goodbyes. But what about the idea of internal capacity and eventually letting the community take it over?
So many international development programs/organizations are formed, and are fortunate enough to continue being funded, but is going into another community and helping without involving the community management a sustainable solution? Could it be possible that a program starts and then is passed onto a community member? Or is the ES expertise, or musicianship expertise, or networking "irreplaceable"? I put this word in quotations because as much as we don't want to acknowledge it, everyone is replaceable (depressing I know). But is it irreplaceable in the sense that it is "better" or more successful than not? It is my biggest issue with international development (the field I was going to pursue before stumbling across ES); implementing programs from the outside only "helping" the community, without them being involved in the aid, only the recipients. Is this really helping?
Where is ES on this line of "helping"?

The Evolving Value of an Orchestra
As we've seen in the news, a lot of orchestras are struggling, including one dear to my heart, the MN Orchestra. Until now, orchestras exist to fulfill art for art's sake, for the marketing value. But, what if we put art back where it was originally intended, for the community, and orchestras had a social value? We had a community concert given by the MN Orchestra and despite 1200 flyers being sent out, 15 community members showed up. Why? Because classical music isn't relevant to them. If we could make classical music have a social purpose, then it would be relevant to all. In Tanzania, they have a teaching artist live in the community and the community tells him/her what they need and it is the teaching artist's job to ensure it happens by involving the community. The Maxine Greene idea of striving for what we don't know that we pursue it regardless. Imagine the power of orchestras if this were their purpose and the harmony (both figurative and literal!) that would exist amongst communities.  There's actually a study being done on just this in Liverpool http://ljmu.ac.uk/NewsUpdate/index_124547.htm

Even Honkfest (brass street activist bands) today in Harvard Square used music for a cause and as a result brought the whole Boston community together of all ages and backgrounds despite the gloomy, COLD and rainy weather. Music unites people. Endstop.

Assessment/Evaluation
We had a wonderful session with Eric Booth on the difference between assessment, evaluation, and research. But to say the least, we are FAR behind! We have all the capabilities to do incredible research, and yet we have yet to collaborate at all. Hopefully the Alliance will assist with this, but time will tell as it does in most cases. I hope that we as a class this year can change this lack of collaboration and this resource/rep library will be well utilized. It's exciting to think I'm going to be the equivalent of a field worker this next month gathering data from literally across the country! It will be fascinating to compile all of this data!! But the fact that we will have SOMETHING for assessment is HUGE!

In other news, I'm becoming more lactose-intolerant, which is quite a bummer, but in moderation, I can still handle cheese, and yogurt and ice cream aren't problems..yet. Mt. Monadnock was a BEAUTIFUL climb with all the fall foliage and a very welcome break with no Sistema chatter. I leave for MN on Thurs and a week from tomorrow I will be in San Diego!




My Five Fundamentals

A question that often surfaces is the difference between El Sistema and normal music education programming? Notice I did not put the word versus. ES programs are NOT meant to supplant the music education programs already in schools, but rather enhance and support them. As soon as Minneapolis understood this, they were 100% on board with ACME (www.acme-music.com) who just launched this past Mon! Anyway, the answer is NOT joy nor passion. While ES programs certainly have this as a value, to say these ingredients are absent in non-ES programs is conceited and more often than not false. There are some wonderfully passionate and joyful educators in the public school system. My answer is five-fold.

1) Holistic Child-ES Programs address the child holistically. ES programs are NOT just about developing a musician, but rather about developing a global citizen and individual. To do this, it is essential to know the child's background, foster healthy relationships with the child's family, and be not just a music teacher for this child, but a role model, friend, and advocate.
2) Social Change-I do not want to claim band/choir/orchestra programs do not manifest social change, but I think it is fair to say, this is not in the mission statement or objective of a typical music education program. This is at the forefront of every ES program
3) Frequency-I use this word rather than intensity because how does one measure intensity objectively? But, very few (if any) school music programs meet 4-6 times a week for at least a couple hours each time. To have a conservatory regimen starting at such a young age is an evident distinction.
4) Community support-The nucleo isn't just for the child; it's for the parents and the community. Families are encouraged to participate, not just attend their kids' concerts. Nucleos (at least successful ones) must address a specific community need and be relevant to and supportive of the community. Yes, this implies LISTENING to the community. This is especially fortified when community stakeholders are involved, a rare occurrence of in-school music programs.
5) Student-centered. The learning is focused on the child's best interests and the best way a child can learn is from his/her peers. As a result the Montessori peer-teaching is an important element of the Sistema way (notice I did not say pedagogy)

The tenet that I'm leaving off that is often mentioned is accessibility because so many in-school programs these days are already accessible to all children. But I thought it was important enough to note. 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

A new lens on Music Ed

SO much has happened since I have last posted that I have broken these most recent blogs into titles to make these readings easier to digest though I must apologize if this one particularly gets too academic or lengthy.

I would love to promote my colleague and former fellow Jonathan Govias (www.jonathangovias.com) who is brilliant and healthily critical of the El Sistema movement. In these past few weeks, he has brought so much to the table quite literally, once with homemade pies and once at the infamous Uno's, though as a side tangent they've stopped w the free apps/snack hours so we'll have to find a new spot-ideas are welcome, and figuratively with influence to the below insights.

Think of any orchestra. Can you name any of the members? Probably not, but chances are the conductor's name effortlessly comes to mind. The idea Dr. Abreu envisions of an orchestra being a model society, an ensemble that TOGETHER creates beauty, becomes significantly reduced when the public is only focused on one individual and all decisions are in that person's hands (no pun intended), the star player, the conductor. But this stardom doesn't only apply to professional orchestras. I'd like to use this blog entry to delve into how this stardom dulls the classroom's creativity and independence and why it is such a rare find to attain collective efficacy.

The idea of collective efficacy or rather that the students can guide themselves with a gentle guidance of a facilitator is a huge concept that should be prevalent in nucleos due to the restoration of ample time.  Yet so often more than not, the idea is relegated to the time-efficient star conductor leading the way.

We as teachers like to talk, yet how do children learn? By imitation, repetition, and observation/ACTION! Talking achieves none of these and is also why very few people will choose a lecture style over a hands-on approach. Furthermore, we may justify talking by rationalizing explanations of "teaching" a concept. However, as JG reasoned, his one year old daughter didn't learn how to walk by him telling her to do so. She learned by observation and imitation, no class needed, and after many repetitions succeeding. What would happen if we used the same approach for music? Instead of having the mere one hour a week or not sufficient rehearsal time, which is usually the explanation for succumbing to this debile approach, ES programs now have the kids multiple times a week.

What's the most obvious difference between a conductor conducting an ensemble and students conducting themselves? The time it takes to achieve success, which is obviously more when there is not a conductor (read: dictator or individual star) telling all what to do and some may argue less time efficient. However, the benefits and the long-term effects that are reaped are significantly greater in the latter. This is due to the idea of the zone of proximal development, or the zone between what a student can do independently and what a student can do with a tiny bit of help. Vlotsky, a Russian psychologist believes that the more distal the learning, the deeper it is ingrained into the child. How many of us have not had this experience?! One reason why music is so powerful! When one decides to self-teach him/herself guitar, the rate of success is quite high because it is the student's motivation that is driving this learning. And, for more academic knowledge, the motivation of a student and the influence and social environment of the motivation of that student, are the primary and secondary factors of learning success. This juxtaposed with studying for the SAT that a student only takes because he/she must and how quickly the information seeps out of the student's brain post-examination would be a more proximal example. I know I can attest to studying a wide amalgam of lexicon for the vocab session, yet if some of those words were to show up now, I could do nothing more than recognize them as words I had to study. In contrast, I still remember pieces I memorized in eighth grade on piano despite the fact Rachmaninoff is a) technically difficult and b) eight pages long.

The ideas of repetition (pattern), emotion, movement, relevance, and curiosity are the five ways to activate a brain (thank you @Lorrie Heagy, another former fellow and Teacher of the Year in AK, http://juneaumusicmatters.blogspot.com). No wonder I can still remember the Rachmaninoff literally ten years later. Music engages in all these ways (and more).

On a simpler, more basic note, what is the role of the teacher in general? Is learning only a one way street (teacher imparting knowledge to the child)? Any great teacher (and I fully concur) says he/she learns more from the students than she is imparting on the students. One of my colleagues says she has changed her language in the following way: Instead of saying "give," she says "foster";  "" she says "encourage"; and "teach" she says "facilitate."

So can we/will we change the way we teach so as to truly educate and manifest critical thinking as the beautiful educators of SOKA, Montessori, some El Sistema sites and other alternative educators do, or will we continue with our inefficient, but "time-efficient" dictatorship?