Over the last past couple of years I have been observing a new trend in the teaching field of music. That trend is uncertified music teachers, or band directors without a degree in music. Do you feel like this is benefital to the students of today, I'm just saying would you allow a person to operate on you if they weren't a certified doctor? I am a music major, and is busting my butt to attain my degree and certification, but they have other counterpoints who have these jobs and did not and will endure the things I am going through now. My question to you is should they keep there jobs?
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But I do see where you are coming from. You just make sure that your band is better than their's when you get it.
That being said certification is like a degree it says that you have the discipline and dedication to meet tasks placed in front of you and therefore SHOULD result in the person being better that's just common sense,
one plus one doesn't have to equal two, you just have to prove that it doesn't...
and in the case of certified vs uncertified directors this is proven all the time...
and they should keep their jobs as long as they perform up to the standards that are placed before them because we all know that certified doesn't always mean qualified...
....but that term correctly is so arbitrary...
we both know how different styles of teaching can be but both achieve the same results...
does that mean that a style can be wrong?
I don't think so as long as the intended results are achieved.
and yes i would allow someone with a degree in music performance teach my students, but not at the expense of someone who is already there degree, certification or not, at the end of the day it's all about performance.
and to be clearer...
it's all about the achievement of the tasks and goals placed in front of you...
if you don't achieve then we have a problem
I will remind you that medical licensing was not a requirement until the late 1700's. While that predates us, that is still not long ago in the grand scheme of things. And at this point in history, in America, teachers did not need to be certified... Mozart, Bach and Handel were uncertified and undegreed teachers... John Philip Sousa didn't have a degree either. Furthermore... couldn't you drive before you were officially licensed to drive? Enough of the history and facts...
The bottom line is, if you are good at what you do, then a degree and certification is merely a formality. Defining "good" is relative to the standards that administration, students, parents, and the community set for a band. If these four areas are satisfied, then there is no need to remove a person from their position.
Also... There are band directors that are uncertified and have no degree that have been beneficial to me in my endeavors and a music educator. I would say that they have obtained a degree in experience...
It is unfair to those that went to school and majored in MUSIC EDUCATION, not music performance, took and successfully passed all courses and tests, fulfilled their field experience requirements, completed student teaching, and filled out all necessary paper work while performing in different music ensembles, to not have a job because an uncertified person is filling the slot. If they want to be a band director, then they should go through the right way, even if it may take them an extra year or two. I have seen several cases where an uncertified director put their heart and soul into a band program only to be replaced by a certified teacher. I don't feel sorry for them at all because they took the easy way out instead of putting in the hard work and enduring what us certified teachers went through.
I was told by my BD that it makes more since to get a music education degree even if you plan on just being a performer, because it will give you something to fall back on (teaching) should your performance career sputter. I have seen a few people switch from music education to music performance just to avoid taking the Praxis, those are the people that I don't feel sorry for.
RJ1919 said:
I will continue to say, if you want to teach, go to school and get your degree.
A college degree is a must. The better bands always have a degreed director running things.
BUT - You look at some bands with a degreed director from certain collleges and wonder... Then theyre trying to send students there lol
Consider this... Most of the people we send our broken instruments off to did not go to school for instrument repair. There are only 3 instrument repair schools in the country. Most people do not attend one. How many instruments to band directors repair on their own? Who taught us how? We learned from watching some one doing it, practicing on a junk horn, and/or doing it on a whim because our budgets won't allow us to repad every single saxophone that needs it or true every mouthpiece receiver on brass instruments... You practice it. You screw up. You cuss. You try it again. You eventually get it. And I believe most things in life to be that way... Even education.
While it seems unfortunate that students become the guinea pigs in this, but willingness to learn on the job and make the mistakes and try again is what happens with ALL teachers. The degree is a formality. Learning music theory is not exclusive to a college degree. Neither is learning to play most instruments. Or arranging music. Or writing/planning/teaching a field show....
The biggest difference is the pay. Next is the lack of influence and bias as it relates to what college the band is styled after.
Chris - Pinnacle of Hummanity... said:
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