Recalibrating Music Ed's Relationship With Merit
This month, I was the guest columnist in the Southwestern Connection magazine for Southwest ACDA or SWACDA.
In music education, we have long embraced the belief that success hinges solely on talent and hard work. According to this view, if a student is talented and diligent, they will inevitably achieve success—whether by joining an All-State ensemble, securing a college scholarship, or pursuing a distinguished performing career. This framework, which has produced many remarkable musicians from diverse backgrounds, seems to be the ultimate formula for success. However, this perspective has always overlooked a crucial element: luck. Factors such as geographic location, financial resources, race, gender, and access to quality instruction play a significant role in determining outcomes. While raising awareness of these disparities has gained traction in recent years, I believe we need to address an essential aspect that is often neglected.
As the host of our profession’s most prominent discussion platform, I frequently review various opinions on music education, ranging from social media to academic research. The critique of the “meritocracy myth” is prevalent, but I worry that we might be losing sight of the issue at hand.
We must acknowledge two key truths: 1) No perfect meritocratic system exists, and 2) Merit itself, and how to measure it, is not the problem. Many argue that because not everyone has equal access to rigorous music education, we should evaluate students based on different criteria. Indeed, we lack a universal standard for what constitutes a “great” musician, and differing opinions on this can be beneficial.
SRF’s new auto-assess feature is changing the game! My thoughts in the video below!
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