Where's the ECMEA?

Regarding chapter three, “Professional Education Organizations,” of Michael Mark’s A Concise History of American Music Education:

• When talking about the relationship between the Music Educators National Conference and the National Education Association, he writes that “the relationship had been fruitful because the NEA had forced school boards throughout the country to hire thousands of teachers of art, music, and physical education to create preparation time for classroom teachers” (Mark, p. 83) Of course so many classroom teachers merely see us as a cover for their prep, rather than an actual academic subject for their students. It’s been built into the system since at least the 1970s.

• I may be reading into things that aren’t there, but it felt to me that there was a lot of tension and judgment baked into the phrase on page 84: “The MTNA membership represented two factions: one dedicated to well-educated private teachers; the other compromising those interested in school music (who were called the Do-Re-Mi fraternity).” It reads like he’s pitting well-educated private teachers against those who lay the groundwork for those people, the music educators in public schools teaching ear training. Why didn’t he describe them as well-educated?

• I loved and will tuck away the line on page 86: “When cuts in the curriculum become necessary, they should be made across the board rather than categorically.”

• There are only four sentences on page 87 regarding the National Association of Elementary School Principals. I would have liked to have seen more love for elementary education in this chapter.

• In 1919, Miessner wrote that “children should be treated as individuals and not be forced to sing if they showed an aptitude for instrumental music” (Mark, p. 93) While I wholeheartedly agree that students should be treated as individuals, I don’t like the way that singing and instrumental music was presented as an either-or.

• NAfME, which can trace its lineage back to the MSNC, has volunteer efforts to thank for its early success and contributions to the field (Mark, p. 94). This, along with stories of Vanett Lawler and Marguerite Hood, show the power of extra efforts outside of an organization to bring power to an organization and the kinds of work we do that isn’t paid. I appreciate everything that my teacher’s union does for me and my professional safety, but I often feel that my hands are tied when it comes to volunteering to provide services for my district and my community. If there isn’t the money to pay me for my time, I’m not allowed. How can I grow my program if I'm not allowed to go above and beyond?

• I was incredibly uncomfortable reading about the propagandized use of music for the war efforts. (Mark, pp. 97-105)

• Knowing that this book was published in 2008, I had a difficult time with the passage on page 97: “Americans believed their country to be a melting pot, where new Americans were acculturated through societal institutions (the schools, the work-place, the streets, the military, civic organizations) to speak, act, and think like established Americans. The schools were one of the tools that helped acculturate new Americans to their unfamiliar surroundings, and music was an important part of the process.” At what cost? How far have we really moved away from that?

• One of the most valuable things I got from this chapter was a tiny passage on page 106: “Interest in qualitative research grew throughout the 1990s. The journal Update: Applications of Research in Music Education was added to the list.... Update bridges the gap between researchers and practitioners.” Unsure of whether that still existed, I headed over the periodicals section of the NAfME website. Sure enough, it’s one of the six publications. You can get complete online access with your NAfME membership (I wrote, sounding like an advertisement. I have not received any compensation from NAfME.)

Thinking about my own practice, I admit that I rely on the national and state chapters of NAfME for guidance. Being a Feierabend disciple, I often look to FAME as well. Always wanting to know more about the population that I know I could be serving better - the special education community - I look to organizations like Autism Speaks. But no amount of Googling or searching the NAfME website provided the organization I really, really want: the Early Childhood Music Education Association. Now I have another calling.

Mark, M. L. (2008). Professional Education Organizations. In M. L. Mark (Author), A concise history of

American music education (pp. 81-117). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.