Talking Up Music Education is a podcast from The NAMM Foundation that shares news and stories about music education. This week we are sharing podcast episodes that highlight the landscape of music education—and how to effectively prepare music teachers to ask for support from their administration.
Highlighted episodes include interviews with: Mike Blakeslee and Denese Odegaard, National Association for Music Education (episode 49); Jane Best, Arts Eduational Partnership, and Earl Franks, National Association for Elementary School Principles (episode 48); Dr. Linda Kimble, Superintendent, Vista Unified School District (episode 32); and Laurie Schell, consultant (episode 23).
“If you build a program, people will fund it,” said Kimble. “People will come forward with drums and trumpets and trombones. You just have to show them that you're committed. And there are many organizations out dedicated to making sure kids have instruments.”
Listen to the Podcasts
Mike Blakeslee and Denese Odegaard, National Association for Music Education
Jane Best, Arts Eduational Partnership & Earl Franks, National Association for Elementary School Principles
Dr. Linda Kimble, Superintendent, Vista Unified School District
Laurie Schell, Consultant
Sound Bites From the Podcast
“It’s a principle of ours that we value music education, and, like NAMM, we will defend it. It's a non-negotiable that music education continues.” - Dr. Linda Kimble
“When the kids engage through music education, they get better self-efficacy, they learn how to work with others.” - Mike Blakeslee
“Our greater message is to make sure that we push that information out to a wide array of stakeholders that make decisions around ensuring that arts and music remain part of a kid's curriculum.” - Jane Best
“So much emphasis [is] being placed on a single test score. We know that a child, his education is more than a single test score. To include arts education, certainly music…[is] critical.” - Earl Franks
“We see a correlation between music participation and ACT scores and grade-point averages in graduation rates. Music students are engaged, focused, happy, and excited to come to school.” - Laurie Schell
“[When mentoring] new teachers…we go in and have a meeting with the principals. It's called the triad meeting, where we come to some agreement about who can talk to whom about what. We always talk about what the school goals, and how we accomplish that in music. Tying what music education is into what the school goals is really important to making that class relevant.” - Denese Odegaard
About the Podcast
Talking Up Music Education is a podcast produced by The NAMM Foundation about music education. Host Mary Luehrsen chats with teachers, parents, students and community leaders who share stories about what they are doing to create music learning opportunities. Please download, share and subscribe to keep up with the stories that make a difference in music education advocacy.
Subscribe to Talking Up Music Education
Where to subscribe: iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher