Teaching a little, learning a lot: My trip to the International Society for Music Education in Helsinki
Folks! I have just returned from the most incredible trip to Helsinki, Finland, where I attended and gave workshops at this year’s International Society for Music Education World Conference. This conference blew my mind. The topics covered varied so much because the issues faced in music education around the world, particularly outside the United States, are so vast. Hearing what other people are experiencing in their part of the world, learning about the wonderful work they are doing with their students (there is so much great stuff happening!) and just meeting others to learn about their perspectives has truly been a pivotal, life-changing experience for me. I don’t think I’ll be the same. I’m very thankful for that. Here are my top takeaways from the conference:
The importance of getting out and sharing yourself with the world
I work with a lot of teachers who feel like they don’t have anything worthy to offer others. A lot of times, when I tell someone they should propose sessions for conferences, write an article, or do anything else of a similar nature, I’m often met with a shrug and some questioning. “What can I do? I don’t do anything special”. While I truly believe that everyone has something to offer, this conference really embraced that. I saw teachers sharing extraordinary work, inspiring others, and experiencing growth as they shared their practices, their journey, their stories. And we all loved it. It was incredibly refreshing, and I personally have made it a point to get the contact information of each teacher who inspired me. They are doing great work, and I’d love to continue learning from them as much as possible. Take Erica Colon, for example, a choir director who directs the “White Hands Chorus” in Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa. This take on inclusive choirs is absolutely incredible. I know that she, along with her colleagues, are truly making choir accessible for so many children. I even got to learn how to sign a piece during her workshop!
The need for advocacy
While there were certainly differences among how we teach our students and how the music education system works in various countries, a common problem that we seem to all be dealing with is the need to continue to fight for the arts to have a place in our educational systems. New Zealand doesn’t have formally established music education in its public schooling system. Canada also struggles with this, and about 70% of all music in schools is taught by general K-12 classroom teachers who are not trained in music education. These teachers get one course and then they go out and teach music in schools. Most parts of China do require music, but teachers are not allowed any flexibility in how or what to teach. This lack of flexibility is stifling, and the teachers I met from China are trying to advocate for more choice and flexibility so that they can promote a more equitable music education. And on and on it goes. While this is alarming, it’s oddly comforting to know that other places are struggling in a similar way that many of us do here in the states. We’re not alone in this. At the conference, we immediately got to work on how we can all support each other to advocate for change. I truly believe that if we collaborate and join forces across all of these countries, we can create some remarkable ripples.
The need for training and support for teacher development in equitable teaching practices
For this conference, I was honored to be invited to give two workshops on equity in music education. One workshop was geared towards inclusive practices and the other geared towards how to mentor other music teachers so that they can be more equitable with their own students. I also attended a number of sessions related to these topics (I love to see how others are doing the same work that I do!). Truth-be-told, before I presented these sessions at ISME, I probably took this content of equity and inclusion for granted (at least a little bit). I made some assumptions about where most people were on their journey with equity themselves. It’s just something we do at my school in all of our degree programs—it’s the mission, the coursework, the way of life—and that, of course, informed some of my assumptions.
If this conference is any indication, the need for preK-12 teacher equity and inclusion training (and even training for folks teaching in higher education!) is sky-high. People were packing these sessions, craving the information and how to apply it, and owning up to the fact they simply don’t know how to be more equitable. After one of my sessions, a faculty member at another higher education institution approached me and asked for my help. Her college music education students are asking her about culturally responsive teaching and teaching with equity in mind, and she mentioned that she doesn’t know how to teach that. All of this—the walls coming down, the transparency—was incredibly refreshing. I feel invigorated and hopeful that since the desire and the need are there, all that is remaining is the clear and practical path to find a way to help these teachers get there. I can’t wait to help her and her students. :-)
Now I’m home, I’m fired up, and I’m ready to take on this school year in ways that I wasn’t originally planning. And that’s pretty exciting.
