I’m watching “Ice-T’s Rap School” on VH1 again. This time, the episode is putting its emphasis on the business/entrepreneurship aspects of being a hip-hop artist: show promoting, making business decisions, deciding what kind of music/rhymes are appropriate for a show, and also the social pressures that come with being an artist. Ice-T is confronting the students and trying to reinforce that he thinks that the quality of the music should reinforce how much effort the students put into their work.

I see Ice-T’s response as a real-world example of the need to look at student work from an objective point of view. In other words, if student work is at the center of the conversation, rather than the relationship the teacher has with the student or the context of the work (i.e. previous work the student has done), one can really pay attention to what the student is learning.

Harvard Project Zero researcher and Arts In Education program director Steve Seidel has done a lot of work in the area of how to evaluate student work, and in fact, we take a similar approach when evaluating MIE student portfolios. Seidel runs an occasional conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education known as ROUNDS, in which educators and researchers of different backgrounds come together to discuss student work and learn various conference protocols (the most “successful” of which is known as the Collaborative Assessment Conference) that Project Zero has developed to help facilitate reflective discussion.

Although Ice-T’s approach to evaluating his student’s work seems to be pretty effective, what I have noticed is that the show doesn’t really give the viewer much idea about what other students think about their peers performances or lyric writing. Because of the age of the students (middle school?), and the nature of the project (fairly informal), I suppose it might be awkward to show students engaging in lengthy reflective practices — though in the reality-cutaway sequences, we do see snippets of students reflecting on their work. We also see students practicing for their performances and engaging in both group and individual work. In a way, each episode ends up working as a mini-portfolio of Ice-T’s residency. [Note: Could this be a model for documenting internships? Perhaps... ] Anyways, this makes me wonder how a tool like Seidel’s Collaborative Assessment Conference could be used to help faciliate student reflection, and what effects it would have on student learning.

Finally, and on a separate note, I find myself raising the following questions (now that I’ve seen a couple episodes of the program):

Although ‘entertainment’ is probably what the main focus of Ice-T’s show is, I would urge other MIE advocates to look closely at the world that surrounds them, and see how they might find other environments or situations that could fit within the context of our world: though the field of music-in-education may seem specialized upon first glance, programs like “Ice-T’s Rap School” help to show how ubiquitous, and closely-connected, the world of interdisciplinary music education really is.

-Randy

The MIE Guided Internship Program at New England Conservatory is more than a resume-furthering, experience-garnering entry point into teaching. Through the MIE Research Center’s process for planning and evaluating student-initiated Guided Internships, Conservatory students find opportunities to explore the merits of action research, curriculum planning, data collection, and administrative responsibility.

In her article, “Crossing Boundaries: The Role of Higher Education in Professional Development with Arts Partnerships,” MIENC Site Director and educator Dr. Gail Burnaford writes:

We have found that Gardner’s four roles for students who are engaged in the arts (Gardner, 1973) are useful frameworks for professional development of teaching artists, music teachers, and classrooms teachers. The four roles, composer, audience member, critic, and performer give artists and teachers a frame or empty outline to use in order to ask the inquiry questions, “Why is the child doing this? What is she learning? What is he expressing? What did I as the teacher or artist do to help? What can I be doing next?” (Burnaford, 2003)

I would like to suggest that what Burnaford is describing is at the heart of MIE Guided Internships: that at any given point in time, Conservatory students conducting internships can pause from their work, and choose one of Gardner’s perspectives from which to analyze their work. That it’s in the synthesis of these types of roles, such as in the Artist-Teacher-Scholar model, from which the MIE Guided Internship takes form.

In my work (as MIE Program Coordinator) with current MIE students and recent alumni, I find myself explaining the merits of the Guided Internship Program from this very perspective. Even after students have completed their Internships, they can find ways of understanding their experience from x different role or persona, despite having focused their documentation (most often a process-portfolio) from the perspective of y. (This take-away is yet another reason why we, as MIE Faculty & Staff, are explicit about the importance of rich documentation in student work).

Burnaford goes on to write:

Teacher learning is the way in to student learning; teachers need to experience all four of those roles too. In a professional development context, teachers need to compose; teachers need to practice those roles — even music teachers, because they haven’t done that in the professiona setting all of the time.

Again, I wholeheartedly agree with Gail; and in fact, our MIE Guided Internship Program helps to support the point she is making. Larry Scripp sometimes refers to the Artist-Teacher-Scholar framework as being an entry-point into entrepreneurship, and the proof of this is in the Guided Internships that our students initiate. Some of our students’ more ambitious projects have included: Teaching Solfege via hip-hop beats; coaching (and arranging for) quartets of violin/viola/2 cellos; exploring connections between poetry and rhythms with kindergartens; and a whole host of students conducting various research projects in the MIE Research Center.

–Randy

I’m watching a show on VH1 called “Ice-T’s Rap School” and its premise parallels the mission of Music-in-Education in many ways. The show puts rapper Ice-T in a New York school, where he acts essentially as a MIE Teaching Artist: he designs his own curriculum, teaches regular classes, does some performing, and also attempts to integrate his lessons with material that students are already learning in other classes. Even in a 30 minute episode, I saw Ice-T work with students on many different levels: In one-on-one sessions to improve on the literary/rhyme elements of each student’s self-written lyrics; talking with students in a class setting about the moral and social implications of hip-hop & rap; modeling performance techniques; and working on the integration of rhyming and dance (and choreographing dance moves), just to name a few.

What’s most interesting to me about this show is that it seems to set itself aside from the whole “reality TV” thing by showing the entire learning process that Ice-T’s students have to go through. Whereas other shows might be content to focus their airtime on catfights between contestants, “Ice-T’s Rap School” stayed true to the educational aspect of the program. Furthermore, the popularity of the program, and its prominent place during weekday primetime (Thursday at 8:30pm) with a very famous artist, goes to show that Artist-Teacher-Scholars are indeed a part of the mainstream culture, whether we call them that or not.

As MIE Program Coordinator, I find myself explaining the merits of teaching artists and the Artist-Teacher-Scholar framework to many inquiring minds. And, until now, I often considered teaching artists to be on the fringe of the traditional model of what’s acceptable in public education. Seeing “Ice-T’s Rap School” has changed my mind: Clearly, Artist-Teacher-Scholars/Teaching Artists are not only acceptable for public education, but they are also at the forefront of interdisciplinary teaching and learning. I will be keeping an eye out for more examples of this in pop culture, and hopefully am also priming the pump for MIE to go primetime.

-Randy

We have currently had 6 classes and in these classes we have discussed everything from poetry to the average attention span of a 3rd grader. I found that I have the attention span of a 5th grader at times, especially when this class meets at thursday between 4 and 6. This past week we took a field trip to the South End Settlements, it is an old building that houses a pre-school program, before and after school program and a community arts center. In December our class will be performing for the after school program and we went to check out the performance space and the types of activities that occur there. While there we had to oppurtunity to watch an African Dance Class, where the emphasis was not perfection but movement and enjoyment. It gave the kids time to figure out what they were doing with gental instruction. We then walked through two classrooms where math and reading were being taught. Each group was no more than 10 students with 2 teachers/tutors. We learned the basics of how an after-school program is run, and was given time to look around the all purpose room. The last stop on our tour was the art center located next door. Inside we found the youngest group that the afterschool program has. They were finishing their pumpkin patch mural by cutting out silver stars and rocket ships. Our trip ended with some time of reflection where the class talked about the size of the program and how it was run. This trip was interesting and I am looking to discuss it further in class on thursday.

-Maggie

Each semester there are a number of students who choose to participate in either the MIE program or the Performance Outreach program here at New England Conservatory. However, what these students may not realize is that their work for either program can possibly count as credit for the other. For example, students who are awarded Performance Outreach Fellowships can often directly apply those experiences as Guided Internships.

-Randy

Violinist Erin Hauch used her Performance Outreach Fellowship as an MIE Guided Internship. Erin got MIE Internship credit for her Outreach work through her thorough use portfolio-based documentation. Her portfolio posed many questions about the work of Artist-Teacher-Scholars and she based her findings on her Guided Internship experiences.

Drummer and percussionist Richie Barshay graduated from NEC in 2005. Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, Barshay has spent the last few years touring and performing with jazz icon Herbie Hancock’s project, “Gershwin’s World,” and as the newest member of Hancock’s quartet. Barshay just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

What was your impetus for getting involved with MIE?

I taught private lessons [while] in high school, but I basically had aspirations like a lot of musicians to do some teaching at some point. My freshman year [at NEC], I was just interested in learning more than I already knew and getting some ideas. I took one MIE class each semester, with Larry Scripp and Warren Senders. Those classes were really mind-opening, and I’m still in good touch with Warren.

Tell us about what the outreach portion of the trip looked like, and how your MIE studies contributed to your experiences abroad.

The toughest part was that there was a big variation of the kids we were performing for. At the American School (Dhaka, Bangladesh), we worked with students from 3rd grade up through 9th grade. The students had only a little exposure to the type of music we were playing, but they had pretty much no knowledge of clave rhythms of Afro-Cuban/Afro-Caribbean music. We’ve been playing together for close to 10 years, and we’ve done a fair number of workshops at schools, so we know from experience how important it is to stay open to playing things by ear. I’d say that we improvise as much while playing as we do when teaching different concepts.

My [MIE] classes with Warren (Senders) are what have influenced me the most as a teacher, especially as far as the mental aspects of my teaching are concerned. Warren teaches that being open-ended with lesson plans can help to deal with expectations within a classroom; for example, thinking of (and treating) an hour-long lesson as if it were a free improvisation.

We did a workshop at Brac University in Bangladesh in which we asked students to come up and play some of the rhythm instruments we were talking about. But instead a university student came up with his rock guitar and said he wanted to play “Hotel California,” so we ended up using some of our Afro-Caribbean rhythms in an improvised version of that song.

What specific aspect(s) of the MIE program have most informed who you are as an Artist-Teacher-Scholar?

Again, my work with Warren Senders and Jerry Leake have proven the most influential. In Warren’s “Cross Cultural” [MIE 351] class, I learned about the difference in the vibe between attending an Indian classical concert vs. hearing someone play at the Regattabar. [In an Indian setting], musicians take 15 minutes to tune their instruments, all the while sitting on the floor with no shoes. Warren showed us how different but how still valid other cultures and their musical techniques are. In other words, you and your students can use these different techniques to do something, but aim towards the same kind of expression. I learned from Warren and Jerry that, through aural training and oral tradition, there is no ‘right vs. wrong’ way of doing things. And naturally, when we were in India we would compare roles of instruments in the Latin jazz context to those in an Indian classical context.

What place do you think the MIE program has in the culture of NEC, and in the larger community of training future professional musicians?

I did both the MIE program and Tonja Maggi’s Performance Outreach program at NEC. Tonja Maggi was incredibly helpful as well, and doing her program helped to build on what I had already learned in my MIE classes.

MIE is really about knowing how and when to be asking questions. It really helps performers to develop a personality–ways of speaking and communicating [to audiences] that are really accessible. The program helps you get to a point where you don’t have to think about talking to a specific audience, you just speak and act like who you are..

Interview by Randy Wong.

Mezzo-soprano Monica Soto-Gil, recipient of a Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, is a senior at NEC and is highly active in the MIE Concentration program; in fact, she designed her Schweitzer outreach project so that it could be integrated with the MIE Concentration. Monica’s Schweitzer project involved teaching preschool music classes for a year at the Hattie B. Cooper Community Center in Roxbury, MA. As music teacher, Monica introduced basic musical concepts, different genres of music, and various instruments to youth from just under three to age six. We caught up with Monica and asked her to reflect on her joint Schweitzer-MIE experience.

What aspect(s) of the MIE Concentration Program have most informed your work at the Hattie B. Cooper Community Center during your Schweitzer Fellowship?

The open relationships with MIE teachers and students have been very helpful. The MIE department is an environment where there is a lot of room for sharing and discussion. The community is very supportive, and I can always rely on teachers such as Paul Burdick to bounce ideas off of. It has given me the liberty to really establish my goals and objectives and get the most out of my project.

How has your work as a Schweitzer Fellow informed who you are as an artist, and as an MIE student?

The Artist-Teacher-Scholar model has been a great source of inspiration. The idea that the three concepts are inextricably linked has helped me in all three areas, especially while working in a school in the community. I am able to use the knowledge I have gained in the field in class and can bring more to discussions. . As an artist, I feel more focused. I have a better understanding of why I pursued this field–of how I can help the community through my art and how the community can help me become a better artist as well. It has been a humbling experience.

To what extent do you see your involvement in the MIE program as central to your work as an artist?

If nothing else, being in the MIE department shows that one more person is interested not only in practicing and winning a job, but in education,, in fortifying the relationships between places like conservatories and their communities. Sharing music with a wide variety of people makes me a better artist; when I hear music through varied ears, I can understand it better, gain different perspectives on it. Showing that this is an essential part of being a performing musician is important to me as an artist, central to my work. Music, especially classical music, is not reaching a very large part of our community. Very often I hear complaints that it is dying.. Education is one of the most effective ways of bringing music to our communities, showing kids how music is accessible and fun. Without us sharing our enthusiasm, they have no reason to see the versatility of music and its place in their lives. They can’t miss what they don’t know is there. I think the MIE department is supportive of that.

What are your future plans in music and education?

After graduation in May, I plan to continue teaching voice and choir at Zumix, an arts organization in East Boston, and will get a teaching certification before going to graduate school for a Masters in Performance. I hope to one day be a part of an opera outreach program.

Interview by MIE Advisor Randy Wong