Professional certification.(music teacher certification)

I am probably "preaching to the choir," since many of you who read this column are certified yourselves and support teacher certification. Hopefully, you will share these remarks with each "doubting Thomas" you encounter.

Certification has always struggled to gain in numbers and importance, not only with our own members but also with the public. Members say, "I don't need to be certified because I have a degree in music." To those "doubting Thomases" of certification, I say, a college degree is the beginning of a lifetime of learning, not the end of learning. Rev. Edward A. Malloy in Monk's Reflections, states, "A college degree is not a sign that one is a finished product but an indication that a person is prepared for life."

The public says, "I only care that the teacher live close by and not charge too much, after all Johnny is only a beginner." To those "doubting Thomases," I say, the foundation of music education has to be the very best so that a child will be entranced with learning and excited by all the possibilities surrounding him. The teacher creates the future of music and music-making for each child.

The Certification Commission has established a strong foundation for our Certification Program with the development of the Standards--What a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music Should Know and Be Able To Do. Certification sets a standard of excellence for the teachers that choose to become and remain certified. Certification goes beyond fine performing skills and advanced repertoire knowledge. Teachers that choose to become certified are accepting the challenge of excellence in everything they do as professionals--not just in the teaching of music and their instruments, but being business and marketing managers, being knowledgeable about pedagogy and teaching techniques and being knowledgeable about human development and learning styles. MTNA must market that excellence to the public if certification is to survive.

Last year, MTNA developed the Assessment Tools for the Independent Music Teacher, as one way in which teachers can begin to assess their own studios and teaching skills and prepare for certification. They were placed in the August/September 2004 issue of AMT and are available through the MTNA website.

For me, state and national certification was validation that I was indeed qualified to teach, that I had the skills necessary to help others learn about music, learn about a particular instrument and how to play that instrument with proper technique, fluency and expression. This validation came from my peers and colleagues in a comprehensive presentation of students at all levels of advancement. It challenged and committed me to a lifetime endeavor of continued learning through the certification renewal points program. Being a certified teacher does not allow for complacency in teaching, but makes one always look for a better way to present a technique, to teach the intricacies of a music phrase, to find the best repertoire selection for a student's development and promote the love of music.

I believe that certification will be chosen by our teachers, and certified teachers will be chosen and are being chosen by parents who desire the best musical education for their children. With the advent of student assessment for public school students, parents are more aware and more critical of the education their children are receiving. A colleague of mine who just received her MTNA certification last summer told me, "MTNA and state certification is a quality control for ...