Music is tired of playing behind the scenes in Quebec schools. A summit on the teaching of this art, held Wednesday in the national capital, allowed the musical community to unite to denounce the status of poor relation reserved for music in the education network.
In many schools, music is not on the curriculum. In others, it is taught in inadequate premises — or which simply do not exist.
“I’ve done that before, teaching music in the cafeteria,” says Stéphane Proulx, full-time music teacher and president of the Federation of Educational Musicians’ Associations of Quebec. The cooks prepared the chocolate cakes on the side, the students had to pack banana peels to make room for their instruments. »
This reality is only one of the symptoms of a decline that began at the turn of the century, according to Valérie Peters, full professor at the Faculty of Music at Université Laval. Lack of funding, deterioration of working conditions, lack of political will to promote music education: the findings, brought together in a book presented at the summit, are consensual; now is the time for mobilization to change the refrain.
“There is an emergency,” indicates Stéphane Proulx, because the situation, already difficult before the pandemic, is now suffering from a shortage of labor which affects all the links in the chain of musical training.
“Our teachers are younger and younger and less and less committed,” explains Julie Quimper, director general of the École de musique du Bas-Saint-Laurent. They would rather do 15 hours of dishwashing in restaurants than 15 hours of music instruction. The pay is about the same and the job is undervalued. »
Inadequate initiation
It is important to give a boost, believes the Conseil québécois de la musique (CMQ), especially at a time when digital platforms, by offering millions of works to listen to for a ridiculous price, contribute to devaluing musical creation. and the long apprenticeship that makes it possible.
“With the situation in public schools, we consider that what is offered to students is an absolutely inadequate initiation to train the next generation of professionals, underlines Dominic Trudel, director general of the CMQ. For a young person who has skills and who wishes to learn and improve his musical learning in connection with an instrument, he must absolutely turn to the private sector. »
However, the benefits of music education are well established, maintains Professor Peters. The benefits are multiple and also cerebral, physical, emotional and social. “Even with the elderly, it’s the jackpot, she adds. At a time when the population is aging and cognitive decline is increasing, learning music is almost a public health mission. »
Many at the top have dreamed of music gaining as important a place as physical education in Quebec schools. “Sport has managed to convince everyone that it is essential, and not just a pastime that feels good,” says Dominic Trudel. Why wouldn’t it also be the case with music? »
This ambition still seems far from becoming a reality, however, deplores Valérie Peters. To develop the Lab-École, which must serve as a model for the educational establishments of tomorrow, she concludes, the designers produced 75 sketches for the gymnasium – and none for the music room.