Marching in Lockstep

Sometimes the small controversies in our own profession can provide a perspective on larger trends in our culture. A proposal is floating through the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) which would limit band directors to participate in no more than four marching band contests/festivals each season. For those who don't follow the sometimes byzantine intricacies of marching band from state to state, FBA runs a district-by-district Music Performance Assessment similar to Concert Band Festival, while a seperate organization, the Florida Marching Band Coalition (FMBC) runs an independent competitive circuit which includes multiple regional contests and a State Championship event held in Tampa each November. In other words, a given high school band could participate in three competitive events in addition to the required FBA MPA.

My understanding of this proposal is that it is a measure to protect the time of our students, born out of parent complaints to administrators which were subsequently passed on to the Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA). Obviously this is a significant issue, as our students have many more demands on their time with work, academics, and other activities than they did 20 years ago when I started as a high school freshman. I think that it is very appropriate as educators that we keep music education at the top of our priority list, and that we act in a responsible manner to protect the time of our students. I have found that students and parents appreciate any efforts in this. Being considerate of our students’ hectic lifestyle increases loyalty to the band program, and reinforces the importance of the events we do schedule.

This being said, I am worried that the current proposal is missing the mark in a fundamental way. As a specific example, during the first semester of the 2007-08 academic year, my students had around 32 public performances prior to winter break. Only a five of these were Saturday marching competitions/festivals. We averaged nearly 1.5 public performances a week, and I know that this is not uncommon in our profession. Bands are called upon to perform a multitude of services for our schools and community, many of which are only indirectly related to the teaching of music. It isn’t an uncommon complaint to hear directors wondering when they have time to actually teach music content amidst the preparations for the next performance. Many of these performances are mandated by administrators who view the band as an entertainment resource for the school community.

With this in mind, the proposal to limit the amount of marching competitions seems less designed to protect student time than a proposal to proscribe certain types of performances. My critical observation is that this particular policy will, in effect, curtail the ability of band directors to structure their program freely without necessarily having the desired results of protecting students' time from abuse. I would hope that the FBA would be able to find a way to put together a coherent position on this issue without lapsing into a mindset of enforced conformity and standardization. While I am personally ambivalent towards competitive marching band, I also believe that divergent approaches towards teaching band strengthen our profession. My fear is that what we have here is the tyranny of good intentions, something we must always remain vigilant over. After all, I believe part of our mission as educators is to foster critical thinking skills in our students which will enable to resist broader authoritarian trends in our society.

First Blog: What am I thinking?

Here I am…stepping into the world of online blogging, adding a little more white noise to the oversaturated online world. For anyone who knows me, I’ve never been particularly shy with my opinions on any number of different topics, which makes the entire idea of blogging just enticing enough to be dangerous.

As of the moment, I’m planning on this blog being primarily focused on issues that come up in my professional work. As a secondary educator, I am in profession which allows teachers little to no “voice” within the system. Thinking outside the box tends to be discouraged, yet those “outside” contrarian thoughts are what I’m most interested in discussing. To clarify, too often (in any of our professions) we view things in parts rather than as whole systems. As such, what I do as a Band Conductor is related in not so distant ways to all other aspects of society. So I’ll probably touch on my other intellectual passions, politics and religion, as well, with the view that life can’t be compartmentalized, and I don't want to limit myself or others to a single topic. If others are interested in joining the discussion, great! Otherwise writing can be therapeutic in and of itself!