Advocacy Guidelines: What Educators Can Do

By Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser

Attitude Concepts For Today

These guidelines can help establish an active, powerful, and efficient communication network. Adapt them to meet the needs of your program.

Unite with other teachers on the music staff. The music department must be unified with itself, totally committed to providing the highest calibre of music education for children.

Be sure your actions are always student-centered. The "I don't want to lose my job approach" is not as effective as the potential lost benefits to children.

You are not alone. Get to know your music parents, community officials, business leaders, etc. Use the information in this manual, and cultivate them for your team. A unified effort involving multiple community resources creates a strong and powerful force.

Use numbers to your advantage. Music is offered to all students, so use the total number of students enrolled in public (or private) schools when discussing the benefits of music education.

Define your purpose. Develop a mission statement. Succinctly state your purpose for involvement in music education. Make this concise document available to anyone who visits your classroom.

Get to know your administrator, school board Members, and school counsellors. Send them invitations to concerts. Ask them how they feel about arts and music education. If they oppose arts in schools, ask them why. The key is to listen, not react and defend. Find out the percentage of funding available to other programs.

Work with your local music dealer, community service clubs, industry leaders, etc. Become acquainted with these community leaders. Invite them to concerts, band parent meetings, advocacy sessions, school board events, or daily rehearsals.

Know your local and state legislators. Find out your local and state legislators' names (and the names of their staff), addresses, phone, and fax numbers. Ask your music parents if any of them have helped during one of their campaigns. Ask these government leaders how they feel about arts education. Invite them to your concerts, and send them your mission statement.

Schedule a concert where all groups perform at the same event. Provide an impressive showcase of talent and consistency within the entire department by scheduling a concert of all music performing groups, grades K-12.

Set up a phone- and fax-tree for efficient communication. Use the letters and ideas in the "Director's Communication Kit for All Band Programs" to frequently communicate with parents, government officials, community leaders, or anyone who should be interested in supporting arts education for children.