Category: Education

Nowadays, diverse education is getting to be extremely important and, in this respect, art should play a significant role. Nonetheless, art, being a constituent element of ethical education of students, are still not very successfully taught in schools. For instance, music education is nowadays practically in decline and there are various factors that deteriorates the current situation, including problems with professionalism, time management, teacher and student relations, preparation of young teachers, and implementation of new technologies and techniques in the teaching process.

First of all, it is necessary to point out that at the present moment the professional level of specialists teaching music in schools is widely discussed and criticized. In recent years the music coordinators have been viewed as a panacea from all problems modern schools and music education have. However, their role remains unclear and the effectiveness of their work is still quite low. Stuart Button and Allison Potter explain such a situation by a number of problems, main of which concern the coordination of work of music coordinator and head teachers as well as the current curriculum. To put it more precisely, often teachers are very skeptical about the pedagogic professionalism of music coordinators while the latter do not appreciate the professionalism of teachers in the field of art, namely music. It is obvious that the cooperation between them remains quite low and the role of curriculum is also very important since it is not coordinated by music coordinators and head teachers. As a result, the efforts of both parties remain ineffective.

However, the main problem probably is that “not all schools are fully exploiting the potential of the music coordinator” . Obviously, the use of their potential would contribute to more successful music education since they are real professionals in music. This is why it is only necessary to combine the pedagogic skills and experience of head teachers with music skills and experience of music coordinators. In this respect, the partnership teaching seems to be the most efficient strategy leading to the positive results.

Nonetheless, there is also the problem of the preparation of future professionals since it is necessary to constantly support the progress of music education that needs employment of new professionals, including young teachers. Naturally, this implies that the new professionals need special training and preparation to be qualified to teach music effectively. Not surprisingly, music professionals teaching music underline that “new music educators need and deserve our support” and they insist that mentoring should be widely applied as a means of professional growth of new music educators since “mentoring certainly holds promise and mentoring programs that offer such support are growing across the country” . In such a situation, it is really important that more experienced professionals could help their younger colleagues to keep growing professionally that will guarantee the further progress of music education and high level of professional education.

In such a way, the professionalism and training of new professional educators of music are among the most important factors that can contribute to the better teaching of music and art at large. Nonetheless, it is also necessary to take into consideration the problem of teachers and students relations since teaching music as well as teaching in general is a two-sided process. Consequently, it implies that teachers and music coordinators managed to develop productive relations with students that can make education really effective.
Specialists recommend that teachers focused on their students need and interests and, at the same time, stimulate constantly their progress, develop their personality at all levels. To put it more precisely, Robert Duke recommends to teachers to build such relations with students and create such a curriculum that “every time your own students leave the studio, ask your self what physical, intellectual and artistic habits theyre developing in your presence every week” .

Unfortunately, often neither teachers nor students have enough time to improve their skills and abilities in music. In fact, students often turn in a very difficult position when they simply do not have time for rehearsal and the role of teachers in this problem should not be underestimated. For instance, Joseph Manfredo underlines that “the single greatest factor that affects rehearsal success is pacing the teachers ability to effectively manage time during the teaching period” . Moreover, he even provides a typical rehearsal that may be used by teachers that includes: setup for teachers and students, tuning, warm-up, rehearsal of performance literature, sight-reading and other comprehensive musicianship activities, announcements, ending or teardown.

Finally, it should be said that the effect5ive time management, good teacher-students relations, and high professionalism are not sufficient nowadays since the technological progress creates new demands for teaching music. In this respect, the role of distance learning is constantly growing and forces teachers to use this way of teaching more and more often. In this respect, it is worthy of mention that specialists agree that “the rapid development, availability and marketing of online educational opportunities will almost certainly accelerate the development of distance learning in music education” . This is why this trend should into consideration and the established models of education should be modernized and adapted to the new conditions. Moreover, this also needs the development of new infrastructure and wide implementation of computers, IT and Internet in the educational process. However, it is necessary to remember that “educational values, excellence, and learning should always take precedence over visions of convenience and innovation for the sake of innovation” .

Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the current development of music education is insufficient for really effective learning. The latter should be based on highly professional approach and carefully planned and coordinated curriculum which would be characterized by highly effective time management. Obviously, the realization of such a strategy implies the necessity of employment of professionals such as music coordinators in the teaching process and their cooperation with head teachers. At the same time, it is also necessary to remember about technological progress which achievements should be possibly implemented into music teaching without harming the quality of education at large.