Written by Natalie Tews, Class of 2021
Back in the spring, I attended the Collegiate Advocacy Summit hosted by NAfME. I attended this 2-day virtual event on a whim to try to stay engaged with the field of music education as the pandemic creeped into its fourth month. Although the Zoom environment took away a lot of the experiences normally present for this event- like attending meetings in Washington, D.C., interacting with NAfME leaders from throughout the country, and talking with senators and policy makers- I was pleasantly surprised with how much I was able to get out of the event and I was excited to take what I learned and incorporate it within Rutgers NAfME.
The Collegiate Advocacy Summit happens in conjunction with the NAfME Leadership Assembly. I attended joint meetings with a few hundred leaders on the state and national levels along with sessions designed for college students. I got to meet with other Collegiate NAfME members and heard about their schools’ chapters. Many of the sessions during the event were about advocacy in music education. Prior to the event, advocacy seemed like a very broad term. Advocacy just sounds like making sure music education happens. But how am I supposed to be an advocate for music education? What is there for me to do as a college student and soon as a teacher?
Levels of Advocacy
Advocacy for music education is not just one thing! You can be an advocate at so many different levels- from within your classroom to the national level. One of the speakers at the Summit shared a pyramid chart to describe advocacy (think pyramid of sound). At the bottom is “Relationships”, next is “Plan and Organize”, and at the top is “Legislation”. You do not have to talk to the people creating laws about education in order to be an effective advocate- there are a lot of important things that come before that!
The first and best place to start when being an advocate is to be the best teacher you can be. If you are kind, effective, and great at what you do, people will be more willing to help you if you need anything. Building relationships with the administration, custodial and secretary staff, and community of the school you work in counts as advocacy- these are the people who will help get you what you need to improve your music program. It is also important to work with other music teachers in your district, area, and state to plan how to improve music programs. Change won’t happen from the administration- it all starts with YOU. Build relationships, plan for the change you want to see, and ask for help with this change from the people who already support you.
There are music educators who dedicate their time to advocating at the state and national levels for funding and support in legislation. Maybe this is what you want to do, but maybe it isn’t. Don’t be intimidated by this large-scale advocacy. The day to day happenings in your music class will be most affected by what you do in your school and district to advocate for support of the program.
If you do want to get involved with larger level advocacy, you can check out the resources on the NAfME website. The page below has two links where you can put your information in to send messages to your Congress senators and representatives. One is about education budgets and the other is about the homework gap (access to technology). Both of these advocacy efforts are in response to the pandemic and it only takes you a few minutes to put your information in!
https://nafme.org/advocacy/grassroots-action-center/
Importance of Advocacy
Advocacy doesn’t start with the cause; it starts with the relationships. You don’t need a specific reason to start building up what you need to advocate for music education. When you need something for your music program- supplies, money, facilities, staff, more class time- you need clear solutions to the issues you are facing AND you need the people you ask to understand why you need these things. You shouldn’t just advocate for your music program when you need something. You should advocate for music in your school from the first day by engaging with administrators, other teachers, parents, and all school staff. Not everyone knows how music education works so not everyone will understand why you need certain resources or supports. As an advocate for music education, it is your job to teach them and establish mutual trust in educating the students. The credibility you create through advocacy will ultimately help you get what you need to support and improve your program.
Perspective
We have a strong education program in New Jersey. Many of our schools do not face the same level of poor funding that is seen in other parts of the country. Many schools in New Jersey do have music programs. Elementary general music and middle/high school ensemble music feel like a given in school districts in our state. The pressure and goals for advocacy may look a lot different in our area. We want to advocate for more funding, more teachers in our schools, more resources, expanded programs, and more time in the school day for music instruction. In order to keep music in our NJ schools and improve music instruction in years to come, we need to advocate for music education at both big and small levels.
Our careers as music educators depend on the support we receive from our community, state, and country. Advocating for our programs and for what we will provide to students is so important, and it starts with all of us being effective teachers and teammates in our future schools!
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