MINDY PETERSON, NCTM

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

Dr. Anita Collins, who I consider the global godmother of music advocacy, has been working for six years on a simplified music advocacy method. This distilled, efficient method is now available and is designed to empower musicians and educators everywhere to confidently and effectively advocate for music education. Infuse these steps into your work to exponentially expand the life-changing impact of music and experience magnified enjoyment and reward as you work smarter, not harder.

Bonus: Learn about “stealth advocacy” AND get gift ideas for the music teacher in your life (or for your own wish list!).

Guest

I’m so excited to bring BACK to you today a guest who I consider the global godmother of music advocacy. Dr. Collins is an award-winning educator, researcher and writer in the field of brain development and music learning. She is internationally recognized for her unique work in translating the scientific research of neuroscientists and psychologists for parents, teachers and students.

I first became acquainted with her work through the 2014 short film she wrote that has become one of the most watched TED Education films ever, called “How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain.” (It’s 4.5 minutes long; if you haven’t seen it and you’re listening to this podcast, you need to see it! If you’ve already seen it and it’s been awhile, watch it again on double speed to remind yourself how amazing music learning is for our brain.) Dr. Collins is also the founder of Bigger Better Brains, a worldwide platform dedicated to advancing the understanding of music education through neuroscience. She was a guest here on the show back in Ep. 59 (in the infamous year 2020) discussing her brand-new-at-the-time book, “The Music Advantage: How learning music helps your child’s brain and wellbeing.” This book offers comprehensive guidance for parents and teachers on how musical learning enhances learning in ALL areas and developmental stages. She joins us today from Canberra, Australia.

Notes

We discuss:

• The brand-new BBB+ Method, rolling out TODAY!
• Sign up for FREE today to access the 4-week BBB+ Method journey, where each week you’ll unlock key strategies to boost your music education advocacy.
• Who is BBB+ for?
• Why do we need to advocate for music learning anyway?
• Anita says: “Advocacy is our friend, not our burden. The question is, how do we do it in a way that is easy, effective and even enjoyable?”
• Benefits of the BBB FREE membership as well as each tier of the value-added paid memberships.
• The difference between reactive, proactive, and stealth advocacy.
• The many resources available on the BBB website.
• The holiday season is coming! We discuss get gift ideas for the music teacher in your life (or for your own wishlist!).

Connect/Other Resources

• Anita’s website: www.anitacollinsmusic.com.au
• Facebook: @dranitacollins, @BiggerBetterBrains
• Linkedin: @dranitacollins
• Twitter: @bb_brains
• Anita’s books include:
  • The Music Advantage: How learning music helps your child’s brain and wellbeing
  • The Lullaby Effect: The science of singing to your child
• The holidays are coming! Find gift ideas for the music teacher in your life (or your own wishlist!) on the BBB website, including:
  • Music Teaching is My Superpower socks
  • I Turn Notes into Smiles Socks
  • Music Learning Helps School Stress Bundle
  • Christmas Bundles
  • Posters

Other episodes we mentioned or that you may enjoy:

• Ep. 59: How does MUSIC learning impact OTHER learning? With Dr. Anita Collins
• Ep. 183: Amplified Potential – Revaluing Music in Education and Society; with Frank Fitzpatrick
• Ep. 32: The immediate, visible, hands-on power you didn’t know you have, with Save School Music’s John Benham
• View all episodes related to Education & Community

In-Episode Promo

JAMBAR: If you’re a regular listener of this show, you know that my favorite energy bar is JAMBAR. One thing I love about JAMBAR is that the four original flavors are separate and distinct — unlike some bars, whose different flavors seem to all taste the same, there is no flavor fatigue with JAMBAR. (This was especially helpful when we moved recently and were eating them even more than usual!) I love all the flavors, so it took a while for me to settle on my favorite; just as I decided Musical Mango was my favorite, JAMBAR came out with a fifth flavor, Tropical Trio. This bar is like taking your taste buds on an exotic island escape, and it’s definitely right up there with Musical Mango as my favorite. These Certified Organic whole food bars are non-GMO and gluten-free; and include vegan, dairy-free options. Support your active life – and your tastebuds – with JAMBARs. Available at Amazon, select retailers, and jambar.com.

SONIX: This is a quick break to tell you about Sonix, the service that I use to transcribe these episodes. Sonix is an artificial intelligence transcription service that automatically converts audio and video files to text – and can translate to over 40 languages. I transcribe these episodes to make them more accessible. I tried multiple services, and chose to stick with Sonix because of their accuracy, affordability, and because their site is just so easy to use; that’s a big plus for me, to not need to spend a bunch of time figuring out one more platform! While I love podcasts, I do tend to be a very visual learner. I figure other people probably are, too; and having that written form of your work just makes it more versatile. Sonix transcripts make the most of your hard work and can increase traffic to your site. Sonix is spelled s-o-n-i-x. You can check them out with a free trial PLUS an extra 100 minutes of free transcription by using the link sonix.ai/invite/enhancelife100. There’s a link in the show notes. Again, it’s sonix.ai/invite/enhancelife100 for a free trial AND an extra 100 minutes of free transcription. 

Coda

Anita shares a very moving experience with a concert for disadvantaged students and their parents and a parent who did the most unexpected thing at the end.

Closing Words

Thank you so much to Anita for sharing that beautiful story — and for joining us today and putting this new simplified music advocacy program out into the world, starting TODAY! LOTS of links in the show notes, including a link to sign up for the BBB+ Method and a link to my previous episode with Anita. You’ll also find a transcript of today’s episode.

I want give a quick shout-out to Lucy Blanco, a fellow podcaster who recently had me as a guest on her show, Your Ageless Musical Brain. We discussed how parents can support and nurture their child(ren)’s musical endeavors, even if they don’t know much about music themselves. My own parents fit that description, and I describe what they did that was meaningful to me (although I certainly didn’t realize it at the time!) and ideas cultivated during my decades as a piano teacher. I hope my conversation with Lucy leaves you feeling inspired and equipped to provide your child the gift of music, theirs to enjoy for a lifetime!

You can always connect with me on email (mindy@mpetersonmusic.com), Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Until next time, may your life be enhanced with music.

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