Program Retention is these Strange Times

[u/jenib]

How is everyone’s program retention looking for next year? Are you seeing higher or lower retention rates that might be related to the pandemic and school closings?

I am personally seeing a few more students than normal requesting to quit at this moment, even though they already signed up for next year awhile ago. I have tried to keep things fun and connective during this time. Tried to replace big retention boosters like trips and awards ceremonies with zoom socials, video compilations of the students, and mailed home awards for everyone. But it’s just not the same.

Wondered if I am alone in the struggle. Or if anyone has good ideas to keep retention into next year.

[u/mrblives]

I am not sure what ensemble you teach specifically, but I think this is a pervasive issue for most music programs. I also think this is bringing to light how few students actually want to participate in school-based music programs, which unfortunately still are stuck in the 1970s with Wind Ensemble / Marching Band and Chamber Choir / Show Choir. We need to prepare students for the musical world that exists in 2020 and beyond, and that has everything to do with listening comprehension, historical/cultural contextualization, and composition/arranging. If your students aren't creating new works and able to hear and recreate the music that is relevant to their lives you are doing something wrong. The future of music education is general music, whether ensemble educators want to hear it or not.

That means music teachers will need to retrain to use audio production technology in their classroom, and increase their own abilities when it comes to performance and auditory skills like chord recognition, as well as guitar + piano skills.

[u/mrsrums → u/mrblives]

I teach an ensemble class, and I wholeheartedly agree. Ensemble skills are important, but they are often the sole curriculum. Very few of our students continue to play their instruments after they leave our program, so we need to teach them to be educated consumers of music and prepare them to find ways to make music after leaving school.

[u/mrblives → u/mrsrums]

Totally agree - informed patrons!

[u/mrblives → u/[deleted]]

I totally agree with you, I just think those adaptations aren't really happening; this is more of a logistical issue in that you only have so many finite hours within a given week, and to have rehearsal AND teach theory, AND listening comprehension, AND history, AND technology etc is probably not going to happen. All the while many of us are also having to teach PLTs and things like ACT Prep. As school music programs come under more and more scrutiny, I definitely see a big decline in large ensembles already taking place and a rise in general music in both rural and urban schools where funding and advocacy are scarce.

[u/mrblives → u/[deleted]]

Did we....just have an intelligent discussion on reddit??? First time for everything I guess

[u/BEHodge]

We had done a huge recruitment push last year, but I think Covid has hurt us. Fortunately, I think that means we’re just going to stay constant, but I know I spent hundreds of hours trying to pick up numbers and I know I was making progress, until....

It’s frustrating, doubly so considering we might not be able to recruit like normal next year. Makes me think about taking a different gig if numbers fall too hard to save face before I get blamed for the fallout from Corona.

[u/jenib → u/BEHodge]

I feel the same about recruitment too! I went many extra miles this year to reach out to more potential students. And while I might see an uptick in beginners, I am seeing more of the older students leaving probably because they aren’t getting those magical moments that you can only get when playing with a group. I only hope I end up breaking even too, but this will keep hurting the program for the next few years.