When you see students who have tattoos, what do you see first-their tattoos or their abilities? Do you assume they have attitude? Do you think they are self-centered or seeking attention? Do you wonder if these students will be successful? Do you think they have the foundational skills they will need to work in your music program or for their employers in the future? That is what educators are talking about these days-not just abilities, but attitudes, work skills, and emotional intelligence. Essentially, that is what No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was all about. But somewhere we began to focus totally on assessed skills in math, reading, and writing. With our stressed economy and stiff competition for the simplest jobs, teaching students how to raise their math and reading scores has not been enough to help students land a good job.
21st Century Skills and WorkKeys Assessments
Now, those who advocate for educational changes speak of 21st century skills. The Educational Testing Service has come to their aid by providing the WorkKEYS test that assesses those 21st century foundational skills. Today, many schools are using this test to demonstrate that their students have all the foundational skills to be successful in the future occupations of our global economy. But what does that have to do with music education? You will find that it is more relevant than you might imagine.
Business and community leaders developed a model of these work skills in the 1990s. Revisions to the model have been made along the way as the results of NCLB assessments have informed educators and business leaders. Since 2008, an emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) has driven grant funding and educational focus. While the arts were listed within the core subjects throughout the process, most recently an emphasis on creativity and the desire to develop new products to stimulate the economy has opened the door for the arts-minded to encourage a change of focus from STEM to STEAM (adding the A for arts). The funding may still be granted toward those areas formerly associated with left-brained, logical-analytic disciplines, but input from artists is being sought—perhaps in reverence to some of our greatest STEM creators such as Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Buckminster Fuller, to name a few. As these inventors demonstrated their abilities to bridge the gaps between aesthetic desires and economic feasibility, many jobs today require the same type of skill sets.
The 21st century skills model defines the desired skill set for students. This functional skill set includes communication (business writing, listening, reading for information, and writing), problem solving (applied technology, applied mathematics, locating information, workplace observation), and interpersonal (teamwork). If you have been paying attention, you probably have heard many of these terms as desired work skills for your entire life. Read any reference form used to hire teachers and these skills will probably appear. The words may not be identical, but the ideas are there. Teachers have always been required to have broad skill sets and the ability to communicate clearly, to think on their feet, work independently, but also work as team players in the school setting.
So how does this relate to us as music educators? Do we have a role in developing 21st century skills? The answer is unequivocally yes. Our students will be the employees of the 21st century. Whether they follow in our footsteps as teachers, enter the world of STEM or STEAM, or become the future politicians who vote on laws like NCLB, our students will be expected to have the 21st century skill set.
Music Skills are 21st Century Skills
It is our contention that participation in excellent music education programs may be one extremely important avenue for students to gain those skills in authentic "work" environments. Vocal and instrumental music programs provide both academic and aesthetic growth opportunities which allow each student to learn individually within cohesive teams. This balance, of developing the creative individual within the working group, may provide the vision needed for 21st century music educators, as well as for 21st century students.
An organization called Partnership for 21st Century Skills is leading the initiative. Information on this organization is available at www.p21.org. Within that organization, several states have created a consortium called 21st Century Leadership States. The current participating states are Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. As educators, it is to our benefit to become familiar with our state initiatives; however, it also might be prudent to look at some of the other states and especially at the overview of the P21 agenda.
Briefly, the P21 framework for 21st century learning includes a set of student outcomes which are a blend of "content knowledge, specific skills, expertise, and literacies." (www.p21.org). The student outcomes include:
- Core Subjects and 21st Century Theme
- Learning and Innovation Skills
- Information, Media and Technology Skills
- Life and Career Skills
The framework also references a set of 21st century support systems to help us accomplish the student outcomes and describes the importance of environments centered on the five Rs—relationships, relevance, rigor, results, and responsive culture. The scope of this initiative is massive and cannot be covered in this article.
The P21 group has embraced a shortcut to help teachers remember the desired skill set. The learning and innovation skills have been simplified to the 4Cs, which include critical thinking, creativity/problem solving, communication, and collaboration. Also, virtually all of the skills assessed on the WorkKeys test can fall into one of the 4C categories. Whether we look at the Educational Testing Service assessment WorkKeys or the Partnership for 21st Century Skills framework, we see that these desired skills are a natural part of any comprehensive music education program. For purposes of this article, the language of the WorkKeys assessments will be used. In the following descriptions, we have underlined test subsets and italicized those terms that describe the actual skills required of the WorkKeys.
Communication
These are skills which require Reading for Information. Students are required to read and use written text in order to do a job. Cited examples include memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations. Students are also asked to read information that is not necessarily well-written or targeted to the appropriate audience. In these cases, the reading does not include graphics.
In music settings, we require these types of reading skills in addition to the skills we require to read music. One aspect of reading skills in music is that we train students to look across literacy and notational elements. We ask students to scan the overall structural (global) elements. In choral settings we ask students to focus on textual elements. We train our students to look for important sections, phrases, and even specific vocabulary. Not only do we ask students to read music, we ask them to recognize the text and then instantaneously modify the pronunciation of specific sounds. Musicians learn parallel skills in reading text-for meaning and for music performance. Musicians learn to hear what they see and see what they hear. That skill greatly enhances auditory perception (Kraus & Chandrasekaran 2010) and reading ability.
Applied Mathematics
This assessment measures the skills people use when they apply Mathematical Reasoning, Critical Thinking, and Problem-solving Techniques to work-related problems. In music applications, we require students to become skilled in measurement reasoning. Students quickly assess measurements of time, pitch, and intensity. Students use numerical logic in rhythmic counting, measure-by-measure. The recognition of intervals within key signatures requires application skills similar to counting between different bases in math. The same notehead positions on a staff in E major have different values than in E minor. Chord analysis (especially when we use inversions) and melodic contour are a form of geometry as we recognize pitch intervals and chord types at a glance. The analysis skills and problem-solving techniques used in such score analysis mirror those of mathematicians. Perhaps that is why we call it music theory and mathematicians work with theorems.
Business Writing
Business Writing covers neutral to formal writing. Examples include taking meeting notes, technical writing, and forming memorandums. In music settings, students can exercise these same skills by writing critiques, program notes, and publicity releases. Note that this is technical writing rather than creative writing. Having students analyze a piece of music in a written format is certainly an excellent form of technical writing. While the writing itself does not reflect complete sentences, when students mark scores they are essentially performing a musical form of technical writing.
Another aspect of business writing is error detection and editing for correctness. Those taking the assessment are actually asked to perform a task that mirrors the aural dictation used in many music classes. The test requires students to write audiotaped messages that are rewritten exactly or summarized. These tasks are almost identical to the aural dictation tasks used in music dictation except that musicians are required to listen for multiple inputs-time values, pitch values, and text (if present). The task of summarizing audio recorded messages uses skills similar to our routine listening tests wherein students are asked to determine the form of a musical piece and garner the meanings of the sounds. Further, they are asked to determine the genre, historical time period, and even the potential composer of the music. Few students in English class are asked to listen to an audio recorded reading and then determine the meaning of the message as well as the potential author.
Examples of business writing, which can be used in music settings, include the marking of musical scores and making rehearsal notes. In addition, the writing of peer evaluations or critiques of performances are examples of business writing. Writing publicity releases or advocacy editorials is a valuable skill for any arts professional. When students write historical summaries or research biographical material on composers or performers, they are developing the business writing skills valued in any workplace.
Locating Information
The Locating Information subtest measures skills with workplace graphics. Those taking the test are required to find information in a graphic and insert information into a graphic. When students mark scores they are locating information in this manner. Other skills assessed in the Locating Information subtest are to compare, summarize, and analyze information found in related graphics. When musicians analyze scores, scripts from musicals, marching band charts, and choreography charts, they are performing tasks which reflect the locating information subtests. Even more interesting are the characteristics of items which are to be analyzed by the tests. The items are to be very complicated and detailed, having large amounts of information, or challenging formats. The materials are designed to use one or more graphics at a time, and connections between graphics may be subtle.
During music classes, students are asked to draw conclusions based on one complicated graphic or several related graphics (multiple staves) and apply information from one or more complicated graphics to specific situations (score reading). Ultimately the information is to be used to make decisions. With many of the National Music Standards, the locating information and decision making skills are clearly developed. Such examples include sight reading in solo, ensemble and chamber work, improvisation, and individual practice techniques. Every music student reads complex graphics, but those who read and analyze complete scores (whether vocal or instrumental) develop outstanding skills for locating information.
Teamwork
The subtest on Teamwork measures skills for choosing behaviors that both lead toward the accomplishment of work tasks and support the relationships between team members. A team is defined as any workplace group with a common goal and ownership of shared responsibility in achieving that goal. From accompanied solos, to chamber music, to large ensemble experiences, students in music education are required to work in teams. The specific skills to be developed to facilitate teamwork include the ability to:
- structure and process planning (organizing the various parts of a problem or task, sequencing them, and determining who will be responsible for them);
- create and revise team goals (shifting from one objective to another, depending on circumstances);
- integrate or synthesize multiple task components into a coherent whole;
- be flexible in the roles they play on the team using active listening, questioning, and directive behaviors;
- resolve conflict among team members and give negative feedback in a constructive manner; and
- build team cohesiveness by helping to create a feeling of unity within the team.
Observation Skills
To assess observation skills, the WorkKeys test measures a student's ability to succeed at on-the-job training and his or her "learn by doing" skills. The tasks include both visual observation and listening skills. The tests require students to visually observe. Specifically, they are required to notice details, and remember instructions, procedures, processes, and demonstrations in order to generalize to workplace situations that may be similar or very different from what was observed. When we think of students who literally "learn on the job" in rehearsals and are then required to perform on a stage, in a pit, on a football field, in a parade, or at a festival, we have developed this skill set.
The listening skills portion tests whether the student can recall primary information that is given and is correct. The test also measures whether the student provides accurate supporting information to convey insight regarding tone or attitude. When students rehearse and perform music, they must accurately convey the relationships among the pieces of information in the message. Perhaps the clearest example of observation skills is when a music student is asked to read [a]score accurately but follow the conductor's interpretation.
Technology
The final portion of the WorkKeys test covers technology. Technology Literacy is one of the primary initiatives within the 21st century skills agenda. In this case, the skills are for applied technology. The focus is on reasoning, not math. These abilities are found when students can
- analyze a problem and its parts;
- decide what is important;
- decide the order of tasks; and
- apply existing tools, materials, or methods to new situations.
Applied Technology requires students to use complex tools or systems with more than ten components. Some of the most complex tools available are musical instruments. Reading a musical score while performing vocally or on an instrument and simultaneously following a conductor requires the coordination of multiple components. The use of systems like Smart Music™, Garage Band™, and other music technology programs for performance, notation, or audio production are all examples of applied technology. Musicians have always either invented or embraced new technologies as a way to make and preserve music. Students also are asked to solve problems related to sources that are subtle and difficult to diagnose (e.g., error detection), apply technical knowledge (e.g., recognize key and meter signatures), adjust to extraneous information (e. g., read a part within multi-line scores), and understand technical terms (e.g., tempo and dynamic markings).
When considering the music applications of the 21st century and WorkKeys skills, we realize that music students are able to develop these skills under authentic work conditions with the benefit of aesthetic and social enjoyment. As we assist students in developing their personal practice and ensemble rehearsal techniques, we assist them with error detection and score analysis. Also, when our students are mature enough to effectively give and receive relevant evaluations and constructive critiques, it is no wonder that they generally become successful employees.
Conclusion
Some of our 21st century students may have tattoos; they may feel the pressures of timesheets; and, their technologies may seem to change overnight. But if we do our job well, we will find that the satisfaction that students experience from work and life is really about making meaningful and lifelong connections as musicians. The 21st century skills really are the same skills that musicians have developed for centuries.
This list of 21st century skills has already been defined for us. Since we, as music instructors, did not do the defining in this case, our job is tied to application. Each of these skills is represented in what we and our students do every day if we have comprehensive and challenging music education programs. All we have to do is observe our most successful music educators; listen, look for, and document the best examples of 21st century skills in action through our music education programs; and then continue to communicate musical excellence to the world.
We most certainly can use the latest technology, as well as the simplest forms of written and spoken communication, to tell our story. But we have a skill that transcends the 21st century skill set. It is the skill of emotional connection, empathy, which develops through our work as musicians. Research at Northwestern University (Chandrasekaran & Kraus, 2010) has shown that the brains of those who have had musical training show quicker and more intense responses to the cries of human infants-an empathetic response. Chandrasekaran and Kraus said, "Relative to nonmusicians, musicians showed superior encoding of the most acoustically complex portion of the emotional stimuli, consistent with behavioral studies demonstrating enhanced emotional perception in musicians."
In this time of global interactions, economic stress, and political posturing—empathy, the ability to align ourselves with the feelings of others, may be the most important 21st century skill of all. As music educators, we have the opportunity and responsibility of modeling the 21st century skills through our own roles as excellent musicians and effective teachers.
Postscript by Bernstorf: In December 1982, MENC President Russell Getz met with the National Council of Chairs, a group of twelve music educators from across the country who represented various constituencies within MENC. As a very green music educator, I was fortunate to represent the Special Learners group at that meeting. We grappled with a loss in membership for MENC. Teachers were joining different and genre-specific music organizations, as well as other types of educational organizations. We also discussed the problem of music education losing relevance as more modern technology was beginning to enter the school curriculum, and the first music rooms were being turned into computer labs. We quickly realized that all of us knew, inherently, what constituted good music education in the schools, and that, just like Lowell Mason, we wanted excellent music education to continue for America's children.
What we did not have was a defined skill set that cut across band, orchestra, choral, and general music. After many hours of writing on large sheets of paper and using masking tape to attach those sheets to the walls, we looked at each other and decided that we could agree that music educators must be great musicians and great educators. From that point, we began to flesh out what it meant to be an educated musician.
We did not get close to the nine National Standards at that meeting—that would come later with MENC President Paul Lehman—but we did come together and agree on several things. We agreed that we would work as a team. We would try to solve the problem of maintaining the relevance of music education by observing our most successful music colleagues. We decided that we would listen for, and look for, relevant information, which then could be researched and refined using applied logic and technology. Also, we agreed to establish a common core of goals or standards, with a commitment to communicate those standards to all music educators.
Shortly thereafter, in April 1983, The National Commission on Excellence in Education released A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. That document expressed the same sentiments that we discussed at our December 1982 meeting. It focused on the perceived mediocrity of the American educational system and the lack of support we perceived for educational excellence. The call to arms from A Nation at Risk resulted in a truly focused agenda of reform in education. Music educators and MENC were already primed. We took the call seriously. After several years, many meetings, and strong leadership, the results included nine voluntary National Music Standards (which were actually written between 1992 and 1994, a full ten years after the December 1982 meeting). Over the ten year period, The Carnegie Report gave way to Goals 2000, which moved into NCLB in 2004. Now we embrace the core curriculum and 21st century skills. MENC has become NAfME and it appears we may soon be revisiting the National Music Standards. With each new generation, the skill sets are redefined as well as refined, and the students themselves redefine their own norms.
So, when we see our students with their tattoos, different ideas, packed schedules, and their "LOL" forms of communication, let us remember that they, and we, are all members of the same 21st century. Who among us does not have similar pressures, in our lives, as professional musicians and educators? Are not we all affected and constrained by ideas, people, organizations, and the passing of time?
One of my favorite quotes is by Eleanor Roosevelt. She stated, "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." If we really prioritize our lives as music educators, perhaps we will spend our time this year with this parody as a perspective: Great music educators discuss musical ideas, average music educators discuss performances, and small music educators discuss students.
We must be able to articulate the 21st century skills. We also need to be able to document our activities, which foster those skills. But when it comes to the students, let us spend most of our time with the music and let the rest of the 21st century skills take care of themselves—as did the great music educators of the 19th and 20th Centuries. The irony may be that we have come full circle. In the 19th Century, Lowell Mason (1792-1872) was quoted as saying, "Children must be taught music as they are taught to read. Until something of this kind is done, it is vain to expect any great and lasting improvement" (Blumhofer 129). Perhaps we have now reached a time when the quote should be reversed. If Kraus's and Chandrasekaran's research is correct and musicians really do demonstrate advanced skills in auditory perception, emotional responsiveness, and neural processing, we may want to respond with music as a foundational skill for the 21st century. Perhaps our parody, which reverses Lowell Mason's sentence order, in reality, is more accurate: Children must be taught to read as they are taught music. Until something of this kind is done, it may be vain to expect any great and lasting improvement.
End Note
1 Chandrasekaran and Kraus support the idea that musicians are able to process emotional content in sound more efficiently than nonmusicians. They include citations that support their premise (Thompson, Schellenberg, & Husain, 2004), but also one article does not support their claim (Trimmer & Cuddy, 2008).
- Cited Works
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Blumhofer, E. L. 2005. Her heart can see: The life and hymns of Fanny J. Crosby. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Chandrasekaran, B. and N. Kraus 2010. Music, noise-exclusion, and learning. Music Perception 27(4): 297-306.
Educational Testing Service. WorkKeys. http://www.act.org/workkeys/.
Kraus, N., and B. Chandrasekaran 2010. Music training for the development of auditory skills. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(8): 599-605.
National Commission on Excellence in Education 1983. A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/accountable/.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. www.p21.org.
The Carnegie Report—A Call for Redesigning the Schools 1986. Phi Delta Kappan, 68 (1): 24-27.
Thompson, W. F., E. G. Schellenberg, & G Husain 2004. Decoding speech prosody: Do music lessons help? Emotion, 4: 46-64.
Trimmer, C. G., and L. L. Cuddy 2008. Emotional intelligence, not music training, predicts recognition of emotional speech prosody. Emotion, 8: 838-849.