{"id":16620,"date":"2014-06-23T15:52:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T07:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=16620"},"modified":"2014-06-23T15:52:23","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T07:52:23","slug":"report-says-dedicated-music-teachers-dropping-in-ontario-elementary-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/06\/23\/report-says-dedicated-music-teachers-dropping-in-ontario-elementary-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Report says dedicated music teachers dropping in Ontario elementary schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TORONTO — An education watchdog is striking some sour notes about the number of Ontario elementary schools with teachers dedicated to helping kids learn music.<\/p>\n

People for Education says in its annual report that only 43 per cent of elementary schools last year had specialist teachers dedicated to teaching the music curriculum _ the lowest percentage in Canada, and down from 49 per cent in 2012.<\/p>\n

Instead, there has been a rise in recent years in the number of schools with so-called itinerant music instructors _ now at 40 per cent _ who group executive director Annie Kidder says are often there to lead a school band rather than teach a proper music class.<\/p>\n

And the watchdog says 29 per cent of elementary schools have no music teacher at all, but that this figure has dropped over the last seven years.<\/p>\n

Though four-fifths of the schools say their pupils had an option of joining a choir, band or orchestra, the group says the arts curriculum doesn’t get special funding and whether any music teachers are available can come down to “pure luck.”<\/p>\n

Kidder says children learning how to strum a guitar or toot a saxophone has benefits that extend beyond music by helping teach creative thinking, something that comes in handy when getting work in the increasingly brainpower-driven economy.<\/p>\n

“When you talk to people in business now, they feel that capacity to think creatively, to innovate, is a core part of being an entrepreneur _ being able to lead a change in a knowledge economy,” she said.<\/p>\n

“These aren’t just nice things to do you if you can get to them. They’re very important skills for all kids to have in the 21st century.”<\/p>\n

Schools in larger districts are more likely to have dedicated music staff, while those in smaller areas can be left out completely.<\/p>\n

The report surveyed 1,349 elementary and secondary principals across a range of school boards and also highlighted children’s health programs, aboriginal student engagement and early childhood education, among other topics.<\/p>\n

Kidder said that while itinerant teachers have a role to play, they can’t replace a dedicated music teacher who can conduct a full school music program and hit all the right notes.<\/p>\n

“Itinerant teachers are useful but they are not the people that are there teaching a very complex arts curriculum that’s compulsory.”<\/p>\n

“So it’s left up to classroom teachers to teach. Some of them can, and some of them really struggle to teach it,” she said.<\/p>\n

Kidder said that she hopes the newly re-elected Liberal majority government doesn’t take an axe to education funding as it seeks to balance the books, calling the spending an investment that “pays off tenfold later.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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