Students are encouraged to study, practice, and perform music at home. No
specific assignments are given or required. Individual lessons are
encouraged in applied music (vocal and/or instrumental). Participation in
community and church sponsored groups can help the student improve
musically, can reinforce the skills taught in the music classroom, and can
offer performance opportunities to the student which enriches their lives
and the lives of the community around them. Attendance at concerts, cultural
events, and music performances are also highly encouraged to develop
listening and critical analytical skills.
Four common strands are present in all the arts, according to the curriculum
for the arts, promalgated by the Louisiana State Department of Education for
students in Louisiana public schools. They are: creative expression,
critical analysis, aesthetic perception, and historical perspective.
Students are challenged to be aware of these four strands as they encounter
music, visual art, dance, and theatre in the "real world". Awareness of the
arts and music in particular comes to them, "bombards" them, and is present
around them via the media, radio, and the internet throughout virtually
every waking moment. Students will have to be life long learners in order to
become better suited to make sound judgments about and most importantly,
appropriate appreciation, for music and the arts now and in the future.
The future of our culture depends on them. We must as arts educators somehow
instill through our teaching, an inate sense of what is viable, valuable,
and precious in the art world in each and every student. The cultural past
has very often outlived the civilizations in which they were created. This
historical fact makes our world today a difficult challenge for art
educators and artist alike, as we are the caretakers of this diverse
fabric.