When passionate elementary music teachers get together, the
energy overflows! Regardless of setting,
we tend to be enthusiastically passionate about helping our students achieve high
levels of musicianship without leaving
the spirit behind. We want our
singers, players, movers, composers, and listeners to develop the habits,
dispositions and attitudes that keep music learning engaging, attractive, and inspiring.
When that doesn’t happen—when students don’t respond to our
instruction or participate at maximum levels—it can leave us confused and a bit
frustrated. (That’s certainly the case with me!).
At the recent AOSA conference, several music teachers
gathered around the topic of elementary choirs within the public school
setting. The familiar flow of energy was
there, even at 8:00 am on the
third day of the conference! It was obvious that the folks in attendance value
artistic achievement, joyful classrooms, and full throttle participation from
their kids. It was also obvious that they, like me, become confused and a tad
frustrated when their desire isn’t necessarily reciprocated.
During and following the workshop, questions were posed
related to singing/choral participation at their schools, particularly the
boys. Since we want ALL of our students to participate willingly, happily, and
joyfully in singing, these queries were stated with a desire to remove the
confusion and frustration.
For the purpose of this blog post, the focus is on boy
participation….
“I have a chorus of 65
voices and only 8 of them are boys. I
can’t figure out why more boys won’t join!”
THE QUESTION: DO YOU
WANT BOYS TO PARTICIPATE IN CHORUS?
THE ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY
Then consider…
•Boys do not join unless they see
other boys joining; they are not natural joiners. They need to see and hear from boys who have
joined, hopefully boys with a bit of “power”.
•Boys will (usually) not give up
recess to be in chorus. It’s an unfair choice, and one I always lost (when
trying to maintain chorus once the weather got nice outside).
•Boys respond to competition. I normally posted the number of students
who’d joined the chorus from each classroom, with some kind of “you win” to the
class with the greatest number. Some
boys joined for that simple fact.
•Boys are picky about what they
wear. I had three boys choose to not do choir because I required long pants for
concerts. These fellows wore basketball
shorts only.
•Boys must engage in doing. I remember talking to fellow about why he
decided to join chorus, when it seemed he didn’t really enjoy singing in
general music. He joined because I let him set up the sound system. It was deemed a “manly job” that he could do before
and after chorus.
•Boys often need a visible
incentive. I have purchased their
participation with sundae tokens/certificates to DQ. I know of other teachers who go to the dollar
store to buy miscellaneous things.
Sometimes a teacher’s got to do what a teacher’s got to do!
•Boys in most of my schools “do”
baseball starting in late March. I chose
to end chorus in early March. They knew
the commitment began in late September and ended in March. Approximately 15 rehearsals, total.
•Boys are attracted to field trips,
food, and fun: the 3 Fs. BUT they will
adhere to a high standard of sounding good.
They can be worked and worked hard and tend to respond when the field
trips, food, and fun come as a reward/result of quality work. “Fun”, in this
case, equals stimulating and injecting their natural competitiveness.
Boys have a “need for movement, hands-on projects, and
experiential activities”. A chorus
rehearsal that finds students sitting in chairs the entire time “punishes boys
for their natural tendencies to be active and competitive”. (Helping Boys Succeed in School, Terry
Neu and Rich Weinfeld, Prufrock Press Inc., Waco, TX: 2007).
Don’t let chorus become known as the part of the day when
you sit totally still and listen to someone talk about beauty. (The. Kiss. Of. Death.).
Let them sing with joy, with exuberance, with manly texts
and energy!
_____________________________________________________
Patricia Bourne teaches K–6 general music, fifth- and
sixth-grade chorus, and a sixth-grade marimba ensemble at Canyon Creek
Elementary in Bothell, WA. A frequent guest conductor and clinician, she has served
on the editorial committee of General Music Today and recently authored Inside
the Music Classroom: Teaching the Art with Heart. In 2010, she was named
the Elementary Music Teacher of the Year by the Washington Music Educators
Association. Patty received her BME from Murray State University, MME from the
University of Oklahoma, and doctorate of education from Arizona State
University.
