Addressing Teacher-Student Racial Bias
In some instances, Sistema teachers are from a different race or ethnic background than their students and families. In the U.S. Sistema field, the racial disparities between faculty/staff and students/families are widely recognized as a challenge, and the issue of... Read More →
Symphony for a Broken Orchestra
Found Sound Nation, in collaboration with Symphony for a Broken Orchestra, meticulously recorded the sounds of over 800 broken instruments from the Philadelphia public school district, in an effort to inspire the public to ‘adopt’ these instruments and fund their restoration for... Read More →
Like Your Life Depends on It
It’s a fact: how much a student cares about a piece she is learning makes a gigantic difference to her learning experience. It makes a gigantic difference to how she feels about her ensemble and what they are trying to... Read More →
Dealing With Students Who Have Anxiety
Most young people live with some level of anxiety that they bring to their learning opportunities, and some students carry additional anxieties because of stresses in their life situations. Some definitely need the help of psychological counseling to support them,... Read More →
Check out ASCD Conference Sessions Online
ASCD’s Empower 2019 national conference in March featured a number of presentations that are now available on their website. One presentation focuses on student self-assessment and reflection to deepen mastery. These essential habits for good learning are often ignored or... Read More →
Middle School Classroom Management
“Classroom Management” is always a hot issue for newer Sistema teachers. We at The WE have argued in previous issues that those worries are largely misplaced. Sure, there are some good basic teaching tools every teacher should know, but highly engaging musical... Read More →
EDITORIAL: Don’t Ever Ask That Question Again
“Did you like that piece?” “Tell me what you liked and didn’t like about that performance?” I hear these questions asked of music students everywhere I go in Western cultures. I hear that kind of liking/disliking question in most Sistema... Read More →
Social Change from Within: Learning Human Values Through Music
Social change, the primary objective of most El Sistema programs, is usually thought of as an external challenge. Addressing such challenges as poverty, violence, racism, inequitably funded schools, language barriers, and other familiar obstacles to success often involves outside foundations... Read More →
Group Feedback Sessions: Finding the Right Words
At the General Conference of Sistema Europe and Superar in Vienna, I gave a lecture and workshop on various ways of giving feedback to groups that promotes individual autonomy. Teaching for social change almost always means we teach in large... Read More →
Learning Global Competence
The World Ensemble takes its name seriously, recognizing our mission to connect the hundreds of programs around the world. We always hope our students are aware of, and excited by, being connected to students like themselves around the world. This global-mindedness... Read More →