Features

Creativity in the Classroom

ASCAP Foundation President Marilyn Bergman is greeted by educators prior to her keynote speech on "Creativity in the Classroom." Pictured (l-r) are: President of NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) James Cassara; Senior Instructional Manager for Arts Education, NYC Department of Education, Sharon Dunn; Bergman; Director of Music, NYC Department of Education, Barbara Murray; music teacher at P.S. 150 in Manhattan Maria Schwab; and Principal, Long Island City High School, New York, William Bassell.

Teaching young students about the importance of protecting their creative work

On Monday, January 30, ASCAP Foundation President Marilyn Bergman spoke to more than 700 New York City public school music teachers at a Professional Development Workshop for Teachers of Music, Art and Theater at Long Island City High School in New York. Marilyn spoke about the importance of the Foundation's new program, "Creativity in the Classroom," which is designed to teach young students about protecting their creative work and introducing them early to the concept of "owning" their songs, poems, etc. The substance of Marilyn's speech is of importance to all music creators and it bears reprinting here in its entirety.

Good morning. I am so pleased to have been invited to speak to you today. I want to begin by thanking you for teaching music and the arts to children in the New York City public schools. It's as important a job as any I know. It's the best and, in many cases, the only way for children to learn about the wonders of creativity and the joy of experiencing music, art and the theater.

I am a songwriter. I was educated in the public schools of New York City – PS 208 in Brooklyn to be exact! I was fortunate to have been taught music and its appreciation. I then attended the High School of Music and Art here in New York and I am eternally grateful for the four years I spent there – which I truly believe has enabled me to do what I love and to earn a living from it. I want to make sure that all children who have the talent and commitment will be able to look forward to pursuing their.

"Love of music starts early on and so should an understanding that somebody created that music."

I also have the great privilege of leading a large and prestigious organization, ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, which is made up of over 230,000 songwriters and composers, many of whom earn a living doing what they love. ASCAP assures that they are compensated fairly when their works are performed for profit.

I understand that most of you in this room are music teachers and that the theme for this professional development workshop is: "Music Literacy Through the Lens of Notation." Reading music and learning to sight-read are very important components of a musical education. I'm delighted to know that these areas are being taught in the public schools.

What I want to talk about this morning is an area that is, I believe, not being focused on in the schools — or anywhere else for that matter: And that is, educating young people on the importance of respecting the creative property of those who create music: the composer, lyricist, or artist. This education is vital if we believe that creativity is vital and if we want to see it survive.

Love of music starts early on and so should an understanding that somebody created that music. Music that is a product of someone's mind – the factory of someone's mind – is as real as the paper on which it is written, the instrument on which it is played. "Intellectual Property" as it's called, is property that has value, that should not be used without the permission of the creator, which brings me to the subject of downloading.

At the moment of downloading, does anyone stop to think that it is someone else's property? Does anyone realize that the act of taking someone else's work by downloading it to their computer is wrong? Does anyone really think of it as stealing? And I mean stealing as in shoplifting, as in walking out of an art gallery with a painting without paying for it. The answer is that most people don't think about it, and most definitely they don't equate it with stealing. Music is not tangible, it's true – but, nevertheless, it is real.

Our children grow up in this environment. Granted, intellectual property is a difficult concept, but it is at the heart of copyright law – a law which is based on providing protection for all those whose livelihood depends on what they create. Violating this law not only hurts them, but also impacts a whole line of people in a chain reaction that is spiraling out of control.

This issue of illegal downloading is very important. As you know, just as it's important to reach children early and open their ears and minds to the world of music and art, it is important to introduce them early to this concept in a way they can understand.

You should have in your hand a sheet that we've developed. This is the tree of creative life – a pyramid. It illustrates how many individuals are affected by one illegal act of downloading – in this case, downloading music. Even if one rationalizes the act as only affecting the already wealthy pop star – or the huge corporate record company – this is a real depiction of how many people's jobs are jeopardized, how many lives are changed by this practice which is occurring even as we speak.

Here's the challenge:

1. Who knows what talents are growing among your students and what contributions they may someday make?
   
   
2. How do we teach our children in the schools the need for valuing intellectual property and copyright so that we can assure that some of the would-be creators in your classrooms will someday make their living as authors, composers, songwriters, artists?
   
   
3. How do we teach this concept?
   
   
4. How do we create and enforce a new ethic of behavior?

There have been various approaches in recent times to convey these ideas to the public: There have been ads in newspapers and magazines characterizing the action of downloading as theft; There have been TV commercials; There have been panels; There have been hearings; And there have been lawsuits brought by the recording industry association targeting students at universities and those who download illegally off the internet at home.

In other words, the approaches have been harsh, punitive, negative, and their effectiveness questionable. But one thing there has not been, which is, in my opinion, the most important of all: Education at the most basic level: children at school as they begin to learn and create; as they begin to form values; as they are introduced to the disciplines which will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

So, "Creativity in the Classroom," is what we believe to be an innovative program, which aims to use a positive, proactive strategy to instill in our young people a system which would serve as a foundation for understanding and valuing intellectual property. Telling children that what they have created is their property, and that nobody should use it without asking their permission.

What we suggest putting in place is really simple and straightforward: A program to encourage students to label their creative work with their name and the copyright symbol, a circle with the letter "c" in it, including the year, much as they would see on any published creative work. It focuses on music compositions created by the students, but is readily applicable to all sorts of student work including poetry, stories, English essays, and so forth.

What we hope to do, in short, is to make students understand that they have rights as well as responsibilities. Through this initiative, we hope to enhance children's awareness of the value of creativity, the concept of ownership and later on in
their lives, perhaps, of careers and actually being
paid for their creative efforts.

In the process of exploring this approach, we found all sorts of ways that it supports general learning. The National School Boards Association was struck by how it forms a logical part of values education, and The Secondary School Principals' Organization saw the implications for the related issue of learning about plagiarism.

Of course, in order to achieve our objective of launching and implementing "Creativity in the Classroom," we need your help. As teachers and administrators who have responsibility for the education of our children, I would hope that you are as eager as I am to ensure that the next generation views creativity with the respect it deserves. I would hope that you would be receptive to integrating it into your curriculum.

Suggestions for doing this have included:

• Preparing videos by name artists and composers that kids would recognize conveying our message;
  
  
• Age appropriate material on the concept of fairness and the history of music protection;
  
  
• Basic, simple statistics on the dollars lost to creators through illegal downloading;
  
  
• Dissemination of materials like the pyramid;
  
  
• All of this incorporated into a school code of ethics;
  
  
• Also information about ASCAP and how it works to protect creators;
  
  
• And with the U.S. Copyright Office, a simplified version of the United States copyright form to de-mystify the process of copyrighting a creative work.

ASCAP already has a Junior ASCAP Membership (JAM) Program, and we would love to offer membership to your students who become as passionate about protecting music, as creating it. I'm convinced that this program is the way to build a generation of citizens who respect their creative output as well as others to whom art is a vital part of their lives – as listeners as well as composers – as readers as well as writers – as viewers as well as painters.

And most important— a lifetime of understanding the value of the arts, those who create them and their place in our culture.

TOP