All Creatures Great and Small

Mel Rooney's blog “To blog or not to blog? is a response I typically hear from many of my colleagues in music education. Colleagues who are articulate, confident, well informed and quite happy to share opinions or a range of education issues: in conversations over coffee, breakout meetings or even reaching out for the roaming microphone in a crowded conference hall.

Mel Rooney's blog “To blog or not to blog? is a response I typically hear from many of my colleagues in music education. Colleagues who are articulate, confident, well informed and quite happy to share opinions or a range of education issues: in conversations over coffee, breakout meetings or even reaching out for the roaming microphone in a crowded conference hall.

So why then are these people often reluctant to put their opinions on the web? These people recognise the value of online forum and discussion and many, like Mel, will testify to being avid readers of online blogs. Sure, some will feel constrained because of employer issues and the need to be seen to be toeing a party line. But again, as Mel has found, once she had her Editorial vetted and approved by the powers that be in her organisation, they were ready to celebrate and applaud one of their employees being seen to make a valuable contribution to public debate. Excellent PR and all that.

Another difficulty is the “I am not worthy” syndrome. You read a blog by someone like say, John Finney, and you think.... no way can I write like that! Well, the good news is that you don't have to. All you need to do is to share honest opinion and experiences. And the experience of a small but significant incident in a small primary classroom in Preston can be just as powerful and worth sharing as, say, Dick Hallam giving an overview on partnership working.

Because the truth is we need both – or rather we need a wide range of perspectives if we are to build up and share a rich and complete picture of music education today.

I don't find writing blogs easy [I am not a 'natural' writer] but I do have a strategy and it seems to work. I often just have the germ of an idea. I don't know where it might lead, but I have a hunch it might be productive. So I just start typing into a word processor -as I'm doing now. And as I type, the ideas unfold. I had no real idea where this blog was going when I started it! When I've finished, I will take a break and come back to it a few hours later – to allow the ideas to run around in the subconscious. I then return – tidy it up and check for spelling mistakes etc.

And that is it. I find it an immensely worthwhile process. The process itself helps clarify my thinking..... and the PR 'spinoff' I get as a freelancer in music education is considerable!