feel revitalized. I know my story is not reflective of all or even most teachers, but in a roundabout way the pandemic saved me as a teacher. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the state of our schools and the students that we see each day. The students in my community, like so many others, have been dragged through multiple and varied trauma over the last few years. I don’t need to enumerate them all to say that students across the world have been deeply impacted by a unique blend of stress, confusion, uncertainty and upheaval. For all the awful things we’ve experienced over the past years, my students taught me that we shouldn’t return to “business as usual” but to make big changes in how I engage with them. I believe we need to consider better options to help our students grapple with the combined trauma they have experienced while also addressing the educational losses. To do both, we need to create strong connections and feelings of belonging by building community in our schools. The Arts can be a conduit to create spaces of belonging and positive relationships between a student and a school. Our classrooms are the reason many students come to school. Educational programs like music are or can become the community builders our schools need. Nothing creates positive community, social awareness, and opportunities for group expression like making music. The act of singing, dancing, and playing instruments together toward a common purpose is simultaneously challenging, authentic, and
Southeastern Section Update by Dr. David Betancourt
Response to the New CDPH Guidelines for Music Education Regarding Students with Disabilities 1
With the holidays upon us, many of us find ourselves already planning for our return in January. Here is a little something for your stocking from the CMEA Southeastern Section. On December 1st, CMEA membership were sent the new
joyful. Quality music instruction relieves anxiety and stress and enhances language and speech, especially auditory processing. Our students need positive connections to their school community, not just to remind them of the joy of music and learning but to help mitigate some of the very well-documented learning loss they’ve experienced. OIur music classrooms inherently explore and facilitate inclusion and diversity of cultures with authenticity. “Multicultural music can enhance the moods of children, escalate their acceptance of other children, promote harmony and inclusion among children from different cultures, and most importantly, strengthen their listening skills.” (Dr. Rick Parker citing Rattigan, 2014. GEMS, Multicultural Music and Learning). Equally important is the act of engaging students with culturally relevant experiences. As music teachers, we ask our students to bring their own music to the classroom. These experiences help students to appreciate and understand people with different backgrounds. Having continuous and supported music instruction through elementary school is inseparable from the ideas of diversity and inclusion. I could go on but I think my point is clear: there are roads here worth exploring further. Music is a language of emotions and the art of organizing sound. We need to be teaching our students to speak to each other and remind them what it is like to engage in shared community goals; to find empathy in their hearts for those of different life experiences and celebrate them.
California Department of Public Health Guidelines for Music Education, “School Based Extracurricular Activities.” We are grateful to CMEA for the commitment to this important task. While reading #16 of the “Safety Measures for K-12 Schools,” students with disabilities are not addressed directly, but is followed by a section on disabilities titled, “Additional consideration or other populations.” Part 1 of this section is a brief reference to disabilities and other health care needs. The general comments are followed by a reference to the CDC “Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K 12 Schools,” where in Section 2, it addresses, “Additional considerations for K-12 Schools,” and its subsection “Disabilities or Other Health Care Needs.” It is in this location that specific references to “accommodations, modifications and assistance for students, teachers and staff” are listed as “safety protocols." Three bullet points are given with attention to the implementation of said protocols. In reviewing these protocols, this article will address additional suggestions based on the recommendation that “schools should carefully consider how to address the legal requirements related to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and requirements to reasonably accommodate disabilities…” Each protocol will be addressed in practical terms to assist the music educator in addressing the challenges that may arise when including special learners in extracurricular activities. These comments will be inclusive of students with an individual plan (IEP) or a 504 plan.
1. “Work with families to better understand
1 The term disability referenced in this article is in accordance with Federal definition of child/ren "evaluated in accordance with §§300.304 through 300.311 as having an intellectual and/or physical disability, etc., and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services."
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CMEA Magazine
