Content vs Engagement | Nouns vs Verbs | Classical vs Hip-Hop

By Kiff Gallagher

Thanks Arts Journal for the invitation to participate in the virtual dialogue; sorry I'm a little late to the party. The Music National Service Initiative (MNSi) is in the process of designing an Artist Corps program (called "MusicianCorps," launch Aug '09) that will leverage the talent and energy of performing musicians to expand access to music education...or maybe that should be "music experience" or "music engagement."

I'm struck by the number of voices on the "content vs engagement in arts education" theme. Anti-traditionalists and engagement advocates seem to have all the votes. Bau Graves finds typical arts ed content to be culturally myopic and therefore irrelevant, while Jack Lew sees a problematic generational gap in arts classrooms. Eric Booth is always compelling with his "verbs over nouns" argument for arts education and Susan Sclafani seems to agree when she says "we need to look at what interests students and build upon that."

Are there any dissenting voices in the choir? Does anyone think it's more important to "educate" a youngster in the European cannon than it is to engage her passion for garageband, hip-hop or Taiko drumming (as long as she's building the core skills of musical literacy)? Can a Musician/Artist Corps contribute to current efforts in the field to reach more kids where they are today while helping them develop relevant skills (and joy) through art for a lifetime?

What say ye?

December 1, 2008 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) |

2 Comments

By Kiff Gallagher

on December 2, 2008 6:59 AM

Ahh, "both and;" thanks Richard. Of course you cannot engage without content of some kind –– maybe the question I'm trying to ask is: what's at the core of a quality arts education, and what's it's ultimate objective? To what degree should a child's natural creative drive and particular "arts" interest inform specific curricula and methods? Is that a false dichotomy or are current practices rooted in certain emphases and assumptions about this? I like the balance struck by Ms. Sclafani. Thank you, Kiff

By Richard Baker on December 2, 2008 6:04 AM

Either/or is usually a false choice. It does not represent abundance thinking. Dewey cautioned about dichotomously looking at philosophies. We struggle with the either because there is an or. In creating a both/and opportunities for experiencing and creating arts, students have a more meaningful experience.

This Conversation For decades, as teaching of the arts has been cut back in our public schools, alarms have been raised about the dire consequences for American culture. Artists and arts organizations stepped in to try to... more

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Sam Hope, executive director, The National Office for Arts Accreditation (NOAA);
Jack Lew, Global University Relations Manager for Art Talent at EA;
Laura Zakaras, RAND;
James Cuno, Director, Art Institute of Chicago;
Richard Kessler, Executive Director, Center for Arts Education;
Eric Booth, Actor;
Midori, Violinist;
Bau Graves, Executive director, Old Town School of Folk Music;
Kiff Gallagher
Bennett Reimer, Founder of the Center for the Study of Education and the Musical Experience, author of A Philosophy of Music Education;
Edward Pauly, the director of research and evaluation at the Wallace Foundation;
Moy Eng, Program Director of the Performing Arts Program at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation;
John Rockwell, critic;
Susan Sclafani, Managing Director, Chartwell Education Group;
Jane Remer, Author, Educator, Researcher
Michael Hinojosa, General Superintendent, Dallas Independent School District
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