Standard #1 from NAfME is the best one I think. “Singing alone AND in small groups a varied repertoire of music.” It is of course, crucial in vocal and general music. But it’s value is also present in instrumental focused courses as well.
Here’s the thing. It is our job, as music educators to teach individuals. “Ensemble music” is a medium to reach people. Individual people. The group is not the goal. Student learning and growth is the goal.
In this return of “Car Thoughts” I will take you through a short explanation of how I conceive of individual singing assessments as part of a wholistic choral music curriculum. Towards the end, you will even hear some thoughts from my daughter Clara who just completed the 9th grade version of my class. I ask her to reflect on her pre-test back in October all the way to her 2nd semester final that she had done the day before. We will also go over the pedagogical and philosophical reasons that I believe that it is our obligation to insist that every individual student deserves individual feedback on their progress. Being allowed to hide in the group causes equity issues.
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In this short-ish episode, I will focus on the singing alone part of that National Standard #1. We will cover the singing in small groups standard in a future episode.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
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