My Thoughts on Music Education
Dr. B’s Wonderful World of Music
My thoughts on music education
Most people have to take some sort of music in their school
lives. Often they start with grade school singing, sometimes the singing
devolves into shouting. (But what can one do: they’re seven year olds!) Then in
middle school students are often given the choice of band or choir. If they’re
lucky they may have an orchestra option. I am of two opinions over this
approach, and I have never come to a satisfying conclusion about it. My
quandary is this: given that music is a core subject according to national
standards, and thus should be taught to every student just like English, Mathematics,
Science, et al, but also given that students who do not wish to participate in
performing ensembles either passively or actively act to sabotage music
classes, is it better to require all students to participate in music, or is it
better to let them opt out and only teach music to students who show interest
and aptitude?
Which one is the more desirable approach?
There have been numerous studies going back many years now demonstrating the benefits of music education on students. Some key benefits are: enhanced vocabulary skills both written and spoken; enhanced cognitive functions especially spatial-temporal reasoning; improved reading and writing abilities; greater sense of self-worth for the participant; enhanced IQ; enhances empathy for others; better performance in mathematics, sciences, and other academic areas; reduced aggressive behavior; encourages perseverance; protects against dementia; and helps refine motor skills. My purpose in this blog post is not to debate the veracity of these claims for music education. (In my mind they are all settled science.) Rather to ask: are these benefits worth the effort it takes to mandate universal participation amongst all students?
Maybe in a future post I will counter all of these
collateral benefits of music education versus learning music for music’s sake.
I have taught in both situations – the first in
circumstances where students participated in music as an elective, and in
circumstances where students were required to participate in either choir or
band. As the teacher it was by far more enjoyable and professionally fulfilling
to teach the students who chose to be there, and they were able to achieve much
more musically than the students who are compelled to participate. Working with
students who did not want to be in the group was very frustrating for them, for
me as the teacher, and especially for the students who did want to be there. It’s
not a fair comparison to equate this situation to a regular academic subject
all students are required to take. In an English class a student can fail to
turn in work, not do homework, and in the end it only affects that student.
Since music is by nature a group effort, it only takes one act of sabotage to
ruin the experience for everyone.
On the other hand, if students are not exposed to music, and
the experience of working together towards a common goal is not afforded to
all, the opportunity to win over recalcitrant students, or have students discover that they actually do have
an interest or talent is lost completely.
I have had experiences on both sides of this. In teaching college I have taught music appreciation, a general education course, for many years. Generally these students don't actively try to sabotage the experience for others, because it is college, so there is that. When I taught for Salt Lake Community College there were ample opportunities to require students to attend concerts from the many professional, semi-professional, and amateur arts groups in the area. I had one student who had never seen a live orchestra performance before. He attended a concert by the Utah Symphony for his first concert report. He came back and informed me that he would be getting season tickets because he enjoyed it so much. Another student informed me that he did not like Classical music at all. But once he heard Smetana's Moldau, he was hooked. He told me that he listened to Moldau nearly every day because he loved it so much. When I taught high school band I had a student who came into the program and was determined to be a problem student. At the end of that first year it was time to sign up for courses for the next school year. This student told me he assumed I didn't want him to return to the band next year. I told him that actually I did want him to participate. He didn't turn around all at once, but he did turn around. By the time he was a senior he had become one of my most trusted, solid, reliable students.
On the flip side, for a short time I taught 7th and 8th grade choir. Students at that rural school were required to be in choir or band. The seventh graders were particularly challenging because I had two classes with 70-80 students in each section. (I also had another teacher that was determined to undermine everything I tried to do, but that's another story.) To say that things quickly devolved into simple crowd control would be an understatement. On the first day of school a few of the students decided to bring a ghost pepper to school and pass it around for taste testing. Without knowing that the ghost pepper was the cause, I had two students vomiting into the trash can, and near chaos with the rest. That was Day 1. In spite of trying to teach mindfulness, daily affirmations, and trying to teach basic music reading skills, too many students in each mass class of 70+ thirteen year olds, I was constantly confronted by two girls who felt the need to shout out contrary opinions to challenge every direction I gave the class (helped in no small measure by the aforementioned teacher). And a few boys who decided that the choir room was the perfect place to hold their daily wrestling matches and foot races. No amount of detentions, loss of grades, trips to the principal seemed to curb these students' determination to destroy any chance of having a positive musical experience.
So the question is: Do the pros outweigh the cons in trying to educate all students in music? Let me know what
you think in the comments.
Articles referenced in this post:
1.
https://www.cmuse.org/music-education-importance-in-schools/ Accessed 20 Oct 2024.
2.
https://www.savethemusic.org/blog/research/benefits-to-the-brain/ Accessed 20 October 2024.
That is a great question and a wonderful debate. There may not be a universal right answer, but there may be various right answers. Maybe the way to go is to make a Music Appreciation/History class a requirement with part of the curriculum to attend performing group concerts. After that semester or year, let the student decide how they want to proceed. Interesting topic!
ReplyDeleteThe ideal, I think, would be to teach music to younger students in small groups — organized by "interested kids" and "troublemakers" — and scale up class sizes in later years as the kids mature. School budgets and resources being what they are, that's not going to happen. Absent that, I think Mike's idea is probably the best that a lot of school systems could do. An after-school music club might be an option, but the teacher might have to delve into pop music (argh) to get kids to come.
DeleteNot completely sure how to word this, but I'll try my best :)
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think it's almost always better to let people (not just kids) find their own paths and own passions. If you require something that someone does not want to do, 9 times out of 10, they aren't going to enjoy it and they wont gain anything from it. Often times it leads to a distaste for the subject they are forced to learn about. When it comes to music, I don't think it's worth the risk to have anyone end up feeling that way about it. Music is such a wonderful, beautiful, magnificent thing, and it deserves more respect and care than that. If you try and force it on someone (especially a kid), you risk them associating music with negative feelings. And, not to be dramatic or anything, but that is truly a tragic thing. I adore music, and it has gotten me through so so much, but I did not like band, orchestra, or school choir. It took the joy out of something I love. I completely agree that music is such an important thing to learn about, and learn from. But kids aren't going to learn from it if they don't want to. I think a better requirement alternative is just to have a class in any art related subject. I feel like any of the arts can give such a wide variety of benefits as well. I think one common thing about anything to do with the arts would be the way they help you find a new appreciation for the beauty around you. They help you see depth in emotions and open your mind to so much more. Letting people choose just how they want to learn that is really important. It could be music, painting, drawing, pottery, dance, sculpting, and so much more. I think giving the choice would help significantly in a learning environment for sure.
Normally I would agree with you, but we enforce student learning of many other subjects regardless of whether students show interest or aptitude. Why? Because in order to function as a contributing member of society, we expect people to have a basic, working knowledge of core subjects. When people are deficient in their understanding of English, that deficiency shows up in their inability to communicate effectively; a deficiency in mastering mathematics shows up in an inability to manage finances; deficiency in science shows up as an inability to deal with repairs or similar activities. So why is a basic knowledge of music and the arts necessary? The answer is in the fact that music is a core subject in the national standards. Why is it included there? That is the core question.
DeleteI've experienced a bit of the same things, though definitely not to the scale you have. Teaching private piano lessons for more years than I like to think about, I've had my share of students that are there because mom and dad want them to be. They are always the most difficult to teach because they do not have the desire to be there. I've had some that refuse to listen, refuse to follow any kind of direction, won't practice, etc., and the entire lesson is like a root canal with no nerve block. On the flip side, I've also had ones that are there only because mom and dad want them to be and after a bit of time in lessons, discover they're actually decent at learning the instrument.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there should be a balance in making music classes mandatory from K-3 or K-4 then making it optional after that? You'll always have kids that don't want to be there and will be disruptive. When the kids are young, their level and degree of disruptiveness tends to be less vs once you get to high school age, in my humble opinion.
The difference is between group singing and "gang" singing. When I went through grade school, we started classroom singing in kindergarten and continued through 5th grade. In the early grades, the classroom teachers led the singing for a few minutes at a time, perhaps twice or three times a day. Starting in fourth grade , the entire class got those plastic alleged recorders, and we learned the basics of music reading and fingering. In fifth and sixth grades, those who wanted to could join the school choir, which sang three-part (SSA) harmony.
ReplyDeleteIn this way, everyone learned to love music -- or at least tolerate it. Starting out with "gang" singing in junior high is too late.
I noticed that another comment suggested that students should be required to take only those things they are interested in (this is a bad paraphrase, but could be a good summary). My view is that you won't know if you like something until you give it a good, honest try. Hence your experiences with students learning to love classical music, Dr. Brunson. If you learned only what you are interested in, your interests inevitably get narrower and blindered, and you run the risk of knowing all there is to know about nothing at all.
Second note: Music is an art, meaning that there are many ways to teach it and do it right, and yet far more ways to do it badly. Fortunately for most of the "rap" stars, music is not a science like chemistry, in which you misplace a decimal point and blow up the world.
ReplyDelete