Music, Art and Democratic Education

“Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not a preparation for life but is life itself.”

This year, our school-wide (pre-school through 8th grade) intention, or umbrella project, will have to do with music and sound. Today I went to a meeting to discuss this topic, which is always a sticky one for me, a former punk rocker, collector of absurd songs and lover of all things rock and roll.


I might be totally wrong about this, but my question about music in school always goes back to democratic education. What I see in music in school is a preoccupation with "fine" music, and an exclusion of other music children really listen to at home, on the radio or on the music players they have. In choosing certain folk songs, 'children's music', etc.., aren't we giving a message that only some music is good enough for school? Often when pop music is played at school, it is something like the Beatles, which seems to be our pop equivalent of classical music these days. I don't love Carrie Underwood, Justin Bieber or the Black Eyed Pea's tunes, but many of the 4th graders I worked with last year do. Am I telling them that that part of life must be kept out of school? It all feels wrong to me.


I am grateful that the schools I went to opened their doors to our music. The hippies who ran them understood how crucial music can be to identity. see 'farewell to hippie high'


What I would rather the school say is that if school is life, then the music we talk about at school can include the music we love everywhere else. I can understand the perspective of musicians and educators who fight to preserve classical music, early music, 'etc.. They are fighting a tough battle in the world of Rianna. I fight too, really! 


But what I don't want to do is shut the school door on something that means a lot to many kids. 
In our discussion, Mary, an accomplished musician and Symphony performer, asked, surely there are some criteria and standards for good visual art in school?  Why not music?
This goes back to the visual culture debate in art ed., but really, in my studio, we look at the student's own art and a lot of contemporary art, which, with it's emphasis on ideas, now encompasses many media and techniques and has gone beyond drawing, painting and even, having to be beautiful. Whether it's how to represent a Circus performer as in the preschool last year, or how to show the concept of beauty in nature during middle school photography class, the criteria I use is, did this artist deal well with the same idea my student is thinking about?

So, when developing a music program, how do you reconcile children's personal music, the music that has deep meaning to their lives, with the 'fine'? How can we develop critical consumers of music, and how do we teach musical literacy when not a trained musician? How to emphasize ideas in music, the same way we do with visual art? Finally, how can we talk about music in a way that is both inclusive and expands perspectives?


“We only think when we are confronted with a problem” -Dewey

Formazione

I have been reading "In Dialogue with Reggio Emilia: Listening, Researching and Learning (Contesting Early Childhood)" this week. It is one of those books that I pick up and read for a while, then have to put aside, because it is so rich with ideas. One of the phrases that got me thinking was from the Translator; 
"in Italian, we use the word formazione, or formation in English, for professional development, as well as the more general formation of the person." Like so many Italian words, this one seems to have a much broader and truer meaning that the ones we use. 




As I have been ending my school year, which brings lots of reflecting on what went well and what I could change, I have enjoyed reading other teachers end of year reflections as well, like this one from Allie; bakersandastronauts/sketchbook-reflection 
During this process of ending the school year, I am often filled with self-doubt and the feeling of failure. So many things slipped through the cracks, so many little projects went unfinished (or un-started!). I find them as I go through the studio...little plans for a doll someone was going to sew, half of a sculpture, or a finished drawing that I was going to ask someone to represent in another media.

However, I know that this feeling is just a part of the cycle of a reflective teaching practice for me, and it makes me think hard about being a better follow-upper, question-asker, listener and collaborator. At this time of year, I look to other teachers for tools that will help me be organized, tidy, and on time (I have no problem being flexible, creative or persistent!).  Next year I will come back, filled with hope and joy, ready for the best year ever. 
Now, thanks to Carlina Rinaldi's book, I have a new way to think about this part of my professional development. This is what I want to do... It is the formation of me, as a teacher and a person.

Bad Choices

During summer camp, which was held in the old, walled garden, nestled between the buildings and woods

of Sabot at Stony Point, a bad thing happened. There has been talk of copperheads on the property, which is surrounded by woods, which in turn are getting squeezed by construction all around. Teachers are vigilant, and students who go to the school know what to look for.

On Thursday a copperhead took shelter in this hole in the wall. Owen, an eagle-eyed pre-schooler, and Sarah Anne, a teacher, spotted it. The camp teachers knew what to do, and quickly blocked off the area so the children wouldn't go near. Then we watched and debated, confirmed that it was a copperhead and not a corn snake, conferred, and finally decided what should be done. Now I love reptiles, and am usually the one trying to pick snakes up, catch frogs and toads, salamanders and skinks. But this was a copperhead (you can tell by the eliptical eyes), and despite the fact that we know he was there for good snake reasons, we couldn't let him be on the school grounds. I even called my Mom (mountain woman that she is), to be sure. 

Children were mad at me...I was sad, but also felt sure. After I killed the snake, Jaya, Nora and some other children made this sign;

and circulated this poll;

 I was the only one who answered yes.

Later, they forgave me and came back to the art tent. Hannah and Emma made some snakes to place around the garden to startle people, and we talked about things. Hannah said I had a hard choice, to let the snake be safe or to let the children be safe. 

That was a hard choice. I'd like to blame the developers who build the "new homes", but really, it was me. My friend over at brooklynometry got it right about species we don't want to live with in her post today..."it's not their fault...nature is a handful."

How Things Work

Nora told Gracie, "I know about the brain. My brain helps me think of stuff.
It helps us think of EVERYTHING.
It helps us think of the world, and
then, it comes here! 
And then, we stand on it!
Did you know we're on the Earth?"

Oliver was sitting at the table too, and said "We're IN the earth, not on it."
Nora pointed down to the legs of the stool she was sitting on, and said "No, because this stool is on the Earth"


Then Henry added, "If you can see the blue sky and clouds, then you are on the Earth, and if you can't, you must be in it."

Life and Death at summer Camp

Eloise brought it to me, saying "Anna, we found a lizard. Maybe some of the children would like to draw it. I think it's asleep"

(I love the culture of drawing at our school -that this would be one of the first things a child thinks of.) 

The children were all talking at once, compiling information on this lizard. "It might be dead." "It is a salamander. " "It's a blue tailed skink." "It is asleep."  "It is not moving." "I think it is the one we caught yesterday." "It is alive."  "There are a lot of them in this garden."

We set the skink in a box, and Eloise, Afton, Henry and Jaya began drawing it. The little lizard stayed in the box for a long time, under the tent where we make things. Eventually the children decided to help it. They got a bug box and went looking for things for it to eat. They caught a big grasshopper but thought it might be too much, so they found a smaller grasshopper. Emma held the bug box while they tried to feed the lizard. They gave it some water. Someone thought they saw the lizard move his head. They set him on a tree stump, and in a little while, he was gone. Now they knew he was definitely alive!
The children found and continued to take care of the lizard for the rest of the day, but by the end of camp I think they all agreed that he was dead. Jaya made a coffin for him, but no one wanted to bury him in the ground. All of the adults at camp watched and listened as the children worked out the story of the blue tailed skink, but no one intervened much. It seemed that the children were working out their own definition of 'alive' and 'dead', and tried to care for the lizard in either case. They were as tender with each other as they were with the little lizard.

from hospicenet.org
Children are Aware; Long before we realize it, children become aware of death. They see dead birds, insects, and animals lying by the road. They may see death at least once a day on television. They hear about it in fairy tales and act it out in their play. Death is a part of life, and children, at some level, are aware of it...Many of us hesitate to talk about death, particularly with youngsters. But death is an inescapable fact of life. We must deal with it and so must our children; if we are to help them, we must let them know it’s okay to talk about it.

Scenes from 'Like Summers Used to Be' Camp

Our summer camp is simple and fun, filled with bulding, water play, exploring
and an open studio for making things.
This year, despite 3 digit temperatures, we had a great time.
Children created a jangling sound garden, found a blue-tailed skink, watched a Turkey Vulture in a tree,
painted, played soccer and created an involved star wars game which lasted several days.
The first week was a dream of summer and friends and play.

Summertime and camp

One of the nicest things about the summer is that my own children can help at summer camp.
It is such a pleasure to have them at school and to see them getting to know the children I work with (and vice versa!)  It is really one of my favorite parts of my job.