Cross-disciplinary education is in fashion right now, but I have the impression it\u2019s more honored in the breach than the observance, at least insofar as music is concerned.<\/p>\n
My vantage point is limited but informative. As readers of this blog know, I have for years espoused using the story of Dvorak in America to sneak the humanities into Social Studies and History classrooms by the back door.<\/p>\n
I have learned a few things in the process. One is that the usual obstacle is ostensibly curricular: learning standards and standardized syllabi that must be prioritized. Another thing I\u2019ve learned is that this obstacle is more a smoke-screen: teachers shy away from classical music because they feel they don\u2019t know enough to teach it. That may be true, but it\u2019s remediable.<\/p>\n
With a modicum of training, even History teachers innocent of symphonic music will seize the Dvorak opportunity once it\u2019s understood. Because it\u2019s fresh, entertaining, and popular.<\/p>\n
All the \u201cDvorak and America\u201d festivals in which I\u2019ve taken part this year \u2013 via the Pacific Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, and most recently the Buffalo Philharmonic \u2013 have linked to classrooms with teachers who attended the NEH \u201cDvorak and America\u201d Teacher-Training Institute hosted by the Pittsburgh Symphony two summers ago. In Orange County and North Carolina, the participating educators were Music and Social Studies teachers in elementary and high schools. In Buffalo a month ago, the participating educator was Brenda Cowe, who\u2019s the librarian for the Buffalo Performing Arts High School. <\/p>\n
Brenda\u2019s eighth graders studied Dvorak for a period of weeks. They all attended the Buffalo Philharmonic\u2019s performance of the New World <\/em>Symphony. And, amazingly, they all participated in creating Dvorak films.<\/p>\n