Ask the experts: Effects of laws that limit music education

For as long as public schools have existed in the U.S., lawmakers have shaped what is taught and how, using state curriculums to promote different social goals and ideas for the country.

Karen Salvador and Ryan Shaw, associate professors of music education in the Michigan State University College of Music, have conducted two nationwide surveys of music teachers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to examine the effects of rules and legislation in some states that limit or ban educators from talking about certain topics or ideas in their classroom. These are frequently referred to as Divisive Concepts Laws, or DCLs.

Here, Shaw and Salvador discuss their findings, the unique role teachers play as de facto translators and mediators for DCLs in practice, and how teachers can navigate guidance and laws that aren’t 100% clear.

What are Divisive Concepts Laws?

Salvador: DCLs are on the books in 25 states, and they limit or even ban certain lessons about race, history, gender and sexual orientation from pre-K all the way through graduate school. How teachers understand and apply these rules can really shape what they teach and how they teach it.

Some people hate the phrase “Divisive Concepts Laws” because it makes it sound like the concepts themselves are divisive. The reason we use the term is because during President Trump’s first term in office, he made a list of “divisive concepts” that he didn’t want people to use anymore in federal trainings. States picked up that list and turned the guidance into what we now refer to as “Divisive Concepts Laws” in education.

Michigan does not have DCLs at a state level, but there are localities that have attempted — and in the case of one township, succeeded — to pass such laws. Now, with President Trump’s second term, there are federal executive orders regarding topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion in schools, and it’s not clear how those policies will play out.

What do these laws look like in practice for music teachers?

Shaw: Much like a literature teacher who has to think carefully about choosing books with potentially controversial themes or topics that might fall under a DCL, music teachers are also navigating similar challenges. They have to consider the content of the repertoire they teach — the songs students sing, the pieces they study, and the composers they learn about — all of which could be affected by these laws.

What are some of the key findings from your studies?

Salvador: About three-fourths of music educators think that these Divisive Concepts Laws are making it harder to teach for a variety of reasons, including that the classroom is becoming more polarized, and peers, administrators and parents are more likely to question their pedagogical decisions. But about a quarter of music educators agree with these laws and believe that they take topics off the table that they think shouldn’t come up in a music classroom. That’s really challenging from my perspective as somebody who taught general music because using music from a variety of cultures has always been a huge part of elementary music, and now people are questioning whether that’s something they should do.

Our data shows that music educators are unnecessarily self-censoring material that they wouldn’t have thought twice about presenting before. It’s mainly Black music, such as the blues, that educators are self-censoring. To really explain how the blues work, you have to talk about the Black experience — and there’s concern that could fall under a DCL. That’s unfortunate because we had been making some strides as a profession to recognize the amazing contributions of Black culture to not just the American musical landscape, but to the world’s musical landscape.

Shaw: We had some teachers in our most recent study saying that they found DCLs confusing, hard to interpret, that they might cause them to limit curricular choices, or the way that they taught certain subjects. However, almost 90% of them said that they had autonomy over their instructional choices. There’s a lot of nuances here, and local conditions matter. A district’s political climate, an administrator’s priorities and how leaders frame these laws all can shape a music teacher’s experience. Those factors influence whether teachers feel the impact of DCLs in their classroom — or feel free to teach as they normally would.

When the policy language is ambiguous, or at least hard to understand, educators might make proactive decisions to limit the topics that they address in the curriculum or be worried about responding to student questions. For example, a music class might be learning a song that has tie-ins to the history and legacy of slavery in America. If a student asks a question about the song’s meaning or origin, a teacher might be more hesitant to respond out of fear they’re running afoul of DCL guidance or that a parent or administrator might question their choice to teach the subject.

What role do teachers play in translating instruction from DCLs to instruction in the classroom?

Shaw: Teachers are often included in the group known as street-level bureaucrats. This concept from policy literature says most policy enactment happens through people on the ground. They’re on the front lines of implementation, but they aren’t carrying out policy in a rote or mechanical way. They use their own sense-making, interpretation and values to decide what to focus on and how to implement it. When policies are as vague as these DCLs — or even when they take the form of curriculum and standards teachers must implement — teachers have real power in how they interpret and navigate them.

What advice do you have for educators trying to navigate DCLs?

Salvador: Instead of listening to folks that are trying to fearmonger, read the laws and other policies that apply to your school, district or state. Understanding the exact wording of the law is important because individual districts or even individual schools can either soften or amplify both the political tension around these issues and the way the laws affect teachers and students. By taking the time to learn what the laws say — reading directly from the primary source — you can have a better idea if a lesson is appropriate or not, according to the language of the laws, and also have a rationale for the decisions that you’re making.

Be willing to listen to people who might not agree with you and have a thoughtful conversation. The reason topics listed in DCLs are so polarizing is that different groups of people have been told different information, often with varying degrees of accuracy.

It’s also important for educators to remember that serving the needs of each student is not a fad: it’s our job.

Shaw: We mainly suggest that people find out what the laws actually say and whether they’re even in effect. In some of our studies, we’ve found that many educators aren’t sure if their state has one of these laws, or they think they do when they actually don’t. Knowing the policy and being proactive in communicating about important curricular topics is key. Teachers already do this but making sure parents and others understand what’s coming up in a unit — and why it matters — is even more important now.