[HANASHIR:15065] Re: cantorial certification

[Ros Schwartz <ros_schwartz...>]

Well let's break it down into four components.

1.  One extreme:  continuing education without commitment - a course 
here, a course there, whatever I feel a need for, or a curiousity about. 
  I've taken an online course about Kabbalah, a week-long course in 
playing the Blues, a few classes in Jewish Philosophy, an evening course 
in astronomony ... and I went to Hava Nashira, to sharpen up my 
songleading skills.  I don't think that anyone would object to more 
courses being offered, for more people, in whatever ways the teachers 
and students found suitable.

4.  Opposite extreme:  full time study for official certification / 
investiture / or whatever word / as a cantor.  I don't think anyone is 
suggesting that these courses should be less intensive or easier to 
pass.  We want to know that someone who is certified as a Cantor, or a 
Rabbi - or a doctor, or whatever - has attained a certain advanced 
degree of knowledge and experience.

2 and 3:  in between.  People like to work towards a specified goal - 
and to have some sort of formal recognition of their accomplishments. 
This is why we give kids certificates for finishing Grade 3!  It is why 
my mother went back to school, in her 40s, one course a year, to get the 
Bachelor's Degree that she couldn't get during the depression, because 
there was no money for it.  She graduated when she was 60, we were all 
***so proud*** of her.  It is why my father went back to school in the 
evenings, in his 50s, to do a Master's Degree thesis that he had never 
had the time for before.  (Later he quit, because of the politics.  He 
couldn't get used to being treated with the disrespect commonly accorded 
to students, when he was used to being treated as an adult.)

In what I am calling #2, the student is working towards a particular 
goal - let's say, an "Official Songleader" certificate - but really only 
for their own satisfaction.  Certification as an "O.S." might give me a 
bit of extra credibility when I speak to people who don't know me, but 
ultimately they would hire me based on my performance, not my 
credentials:  they wouldn't refuse to hire me if I didn't have "O.S." 
after my name;  nor would they hire me back, if I did an awful job, no 
matter how many letters I might flaunt.

(Maybe Hava Nashira could include Official Certificates in their 
registration package, to the effect that "Person X has completed a 
week-long intensive Songleader Training Program, in 2003" ... signed by 
members of the teaching staff!  ;-)  )

In what I am calling #3, the student is working toward a diploma / 
certificate / whatever - which they intend to use in job applications. 
Here's where a "Para-Cantorial Program" might be of value:  a specified 
educational program, with clearly defined standards and expectations, 
such that if I am reviewing resumes, I will know exactly what "Cantorial 
Assistant Certification" means.

2 & 3 would give some structure to the process of continuing education, 
which would be of value to students, teachers, and potential employers. 
  But this would require quite a bit of organizing and decision-making 
on the part of those who would administer the programs and offer the 
certifications.  #2 would be more flexible, tailored to the needs and 
interests of the individual student.  #3 would be more standardised and 
structured.

If we were over-supplied with Cantors, there would be less of a concern 
about 2 & 3.  But in view of the shortage, it seems to me it would be of 
great value to focus attention on these intermediate options.  The 
challenge is - who will actually set these programs up, and how.

*     *     *

On a personal note ... a long time ago, in a discussion about songleader 
training, Adrian said that we should not have untrained people leading 
music, it can be disruptive and potentially even harmful - well-meaning 
but inept teachers can risk turning children away from music and from 
Judaism altogether.  I was, at the time, untrained and inept, so I 
didn't feel in a position to protest! - but I thought, and still think, 
that my contribution to my own congregation at the time was still 
greater than the *zero* songleading we had had, for the prior ten years, 
before I overcame my stage fright enough to come forward and sing!  Even 
having someone who can carry a tune, can hold a group together.

Still, I didn't _like_ feeling untrained and inept.  Coming to Hava 
Nashira was, for me, a way to enhance my skills.  I am now at the point 
that I am contemplating asking others to (gasp) *pay* me for my 
songleading work.  I don't have a certificate, but I have training, 
skills and experience that I did not have five years ago.  That, for me, 
is the key difference.

- Ros

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