A Philosophy on Music Education
Posted: April 16th, 2016, 4:41 am
Hello forum members. For your possible interest I am posting an essay just completed on music education. The idea for this has been on my mind for some time. here it is.
A Philosophy on Music Education
Education Administrators and politicians in the modern world are so acute about the absolute fundamentals of education – literacy and numeracy. In Australia, as we move further into the twenty first century, the old notions of what constitutes education linger on from the eighteenth and nineteenth century’s industrial revolution. Classrooms may now be equipped with smart white-boards and every child might be provided with a laptop computer, but the old values persist.
Twenty first century pedagogy is driven by training for careers and education for a life that has yet to begin. In the scramble to raise levels of literacy and numeracy NAPLAN testing and assessment procedures make claims for the improvement and competitiveness of students facing a brave new world. This paradigm combined with budget cuts and funding priorities are turning our schools into businesses servicing clients, whilst being managed by people emulating the CEO model of the corporate world. Education administrators are now, more than ever divorced from the realities of the classroom and the needs of those young humans that inhabit them.
The chief casualty of this modern trend in education is the arts and thus music. Who suffers most from this callous approach? The children and the young adults in educational institutions, who are destined to be the citizens of tomorrow, that is who. So, why a philosophy of music education and why consider it now? Artistic expression brings the student, or the artist into the moment. Life is now. There is no waiting for a future existence when school days are done. The arts bring this into focus. Perhaps it is also due to the changing nature of our world and the lack of understanding by administrators on the importance of the arts, not just for the children, but also for the world we make in the future from the dregs of the past.
Before we examine the role of music in education and society let us digress a little. Climate change and global warming is still a contentious issue with politicians, industrialists and skeptics. Skepticism is a positive thing, however the science has been explored and so continues to mount evidence for the assertion that our world is destined for dramatic change. There is no need to go into great length about the whys and wherefores of this planetary concern – that is another story.
Still, in the midst of this concern for rising levels of CO2 and methane in our atmosphere, politicians, engineers and industrialists continue to mine coal, destroy forests and plan to ramp up the development of nuclear technology. I leave the reader to contemplate the likely future for our children’s, children’s children. The history of the twentieth century stands as a testament to the foolishness of our species.
In a world increasingly serviced by computer technology and robotics, why do we persist in training young people for careers and jobs that in all probability will not exist? If the twenty first century world won’t need an industrial workforce, what shall be a relevant education for the youth of today? What is it that human beings are likely to need most, in the foreseeable future?
In the present world people have more leisure time at their disposal than was the case a century ago. The tasks that once employed so many people are now taken over by more sophisticated technologies. What do people do with this surplus of time on their hands? If they have the financial resources, they dine out, visit entertainment venues, attend art galleries and exhibitions and attend music concerts.
Music is evident everywhere we go in the modern world. MP3 players and mobile phones are used to provide musical accompaniment for people on the move. Even though the Internet is now providing free music and the writers and performers are being ripped off, the music industry is still growing. For the career driven educationalist this is reason enough to rethink the scrapping of the arts and music from school curriculums. There are many careers associated with the production, performance and recording of music. This is a fringe benefit of a musical culture embedded within society.
Most of us are followers of music of some genre or another. Music accompanies dance, movies and television commercials. Not everyone acquires paintings, or sculptures, or attends the ballet, but all of us subscribe to music in one form or another. This prevalence of music in society requires music practitioners. We need singers, instrumentalists, conductors, composers, writers, sound engineers, instrument makers; the list goes on.
Music has enormous benefits for any person that is learning to play an instrument, children and adults alike. Aside from the obvious benefits of enjoying music as a player and learning new skills, there are many others that may not be so obvious. Playing a musical instrument engages the same part of the brain that works with mathematical problems. Music assists with numeracy. Performing and writing songs engages the brain in the same way as does poetry and story telling. Music assists with literacy.
The writing of music is engaging the brain in the same way as writing or learning any other language. This is the case with conventional notation, or tablature, or lyric and chord charts. The writing and reading of music assists with literacy and numeracy. Thus, music helps children to switch on those parts of cognitive function in their minds that are needed for various other studies in the basics of education. Then there are the psychological and somatic benefits of music.
Success with music performance enhances the self-esteem of the individual engaged in learning and performing an instrument. The emotional expression delivered from songs and instrumental music broadens the emotional experience of the learner. Music assists with the development of empathy and sympathy. These benefits also apply to singing, as vocal skills are learned just like any other instrument. The notion of a special talent for natural born singers is a myth.
Playing a musical instrument improves brain-motor coordination, because it is a physical task. Performance on a drum kit for example involves the coordination of all four limbs with eyes, ears and the brain. Playing a drum kit can be hard work. Such skills can benefit anyone developing skills with sports, or gymnastics.
Understanding sound, the laws of harmony and how instruments are constructed is a science necessary to the function of music. The structure of scales and chords and the intonation of musical instruments is not a random thing. There are laws in the universe that determine the nature of this art form that we call music. Anyone interested in understanding this aspect of music needs to develop a scientific, intuitive and artistic frame of mind. The science and history of music is a broad and complex discipline.
One can see that there are many benefits for the fitness, health and well-being of music students and for amateur and professional musicians. One might suggest all students could benefit from the daily practice of instrumental performance. If all schools adopted some of the procedures in specialist music schools, then both students and society could reap the rewards of such daily activity.
The short sightedness of politicians and administrators is a real hazard for the future of our society. Being an academic, being in power, or acting financially thrifty does not make one qualified to necessarily know what is best for young people, especially in this modern world. Unfortunately there are too many sociopaths that climb to positions of power and we the citizens vote them in to office. That is not to say that all politicians or administrators are sociopaths – that would be absurd. However the nature of the game allows those types of individuals to gain positions of authority. Again, history stands as a testament to such assertions.
We need to think laterally to make decisions about what is best for future generations. We all live on through our offspring and so it would seem logical for us to consider the needs of those that come after us. Or, like those in power, are we so callous that we imagine it all ends with our own mortality? Is the future not our responsibility?
Music may well be the highest of the arts. It encompasses so many realms of human study and expression. It is both complex and simple. Music can make us laugh, cry, inspire us spiritually, or lift us up to realms of the sublime. The education of music in society is vitally important. Music is one of the things that make us human.
A Philosophy on Music Education
Education Administrators and politicians in the modern world are so acute about the absolute fundamentals of education – literacy and numeracy. In Australia, as we move further into the twenty first century, the old notions of what constitutes education linger on from the eighteenth and nineteenth century’s industrial revolution. Classrooms may now be equipped with smart white-boards and every child might be provided with a laptop computer, but the old values persist.
Twenty first century pedagogy is driven by training for careers and education for a life that has yet to begin. In the scramble to raise levels of literacy and numeracy NAPLAN testing and assessment procedures make claims for the improvement and competitiveness of students facing a brave new world. This paradigm combined with budget cuts and funding priorities are turning our schools into businesses servicing clients, whilst being managed by people emulating the CEO model of the corporate world. Education administrators are now, more than ever divorced from the realities of the classroom and the needs of those young humans that inhabit them.
The chief casualty of this modern trend in education is the arts and thus music. Who suffers most from this callous approach? The children and the young adults in educational institutions, who are destined to be the citizens of tomorrow, that is who. So, why a philosophy of music education and why consider it now? Artistic expression brings the student, or the artist into the moment. Life is now. There is no waiting for a future existence when school days are done. The arts bring this into focus. Perhaps it is also due to the changing nature of our world and the lack of understanding by administrators on the importance of the arts, not just for the children, but also for the world we make in the future from the dregs of the past.
Before we examine the role of music in education and society let us digress a little. Climate change and global warming is still a contentious issue with politicians, industrialists and skeptics. Skepticism is a positive thing, however the science has been explored and so continues to mount evidence for the assertion that our world is destined for dramatic change. There is no need to go into great length about the whys and wherefores of this planetary concern – that is another story.
Still, in the midst of this concern for rising levels of CO2 and methane in our atmosphere, politicians, engineers and industrialists continue to mine coal, destroy forests and plan to ramp up the development of nuclear technology. I leave the reader to contemplate the likely future for our children’s, children’s children. The history of the twentieth century stands as a testament to the foolishness of our species.
In a world increasingly serviced by computer technology and robotics, why do we persist in training young people for careers and jobs that in all probability will not exist? If the twenty first century world won’t need an industrial workforce, what shall be a relevant education for the youth of today? What is it that human beings are likely to need most, in the foreseeable future?
In the present world people have more leisure time at their disposal than was the case a century ago. The tasks that once employed so many people are now taken over by more sophisticated technologies. What do people do with this surplus of time on their hands? If they have the financial resources, they dine out, visit entertainment venues, attend art galleries and exhibitions and attend music concerts.
Music is evident everywhere we go in the modern world. MP3 players and mobile phones are used to provide musical accompaniment for people on the move. Even though the Internet is now providing free music and the writers and performers are being ripped off, the music industry is still growing. For the career driven educationalist this is reason enough to rethink the scrapping of the arts and music from school curriculums. There are many careers associated with the production, performance and recording of music. This is a fringe benefit of a musical culture embedded within society.
Most of us are followers of music of some genre or another. Music accompanies dance, movies and television commercials. Not everyone acquires paintings, or sculptures, or attends the ballet, but all of us subscribe to music in one form or another. This prevalence of music in society requires music practitioners. We need singers, instrumentalists, conductors, composers, writers, sound engineers, instrument makers; the list goes on.
Music has enormous benefits for any person that is learning to play an instrument, children and adults alike. Aside from the obvious benefits of enjoying music as a player and learning new skills, there are many others that may not be so obvious. Playing a musical instrument engages the same part of the brain that works with mathematical problems. Music assists with numeracy. Performing and writing songs engages the brain in the same way as does poetry and story telling. Music assists with literacy.
The writing of music is engaging the brain in the same way as writing or learning any other language. This is the case with conventional notation, or tablature, or lyric and chord charts. The writing and reading of music assists with literacy and numeracy. Thus, music helps children to switch on those parts of cognitive function in their minds that are needed for various other studies in the basics of education. Then there are the psychological and somatic benefits of music.
Success with music performance enhances the self-esteem of the individual engaged in learning and performing an instrument. The emotional expression delivered from songs and instrumental music broadens the emotional experience of the learner. Music assists with the development of empathy and sympathy. These benefits also apply to singing, as vocal skills are learned just like any other instrument. The notion of a special talent for natural born singers is a myth.
Playing a musical instrument improves brain-motor coordination, because it is a physical task. Performance on a drum kit for example involves the coordination of all four limbs with eyes, ears and the brain. Playing a drum kit can be hard work. Such skills can benefit anyone developing skills with sports, or gymnastics.
Understanding sound, the laws of harmony and how instruments are constructed is a science necessary to the function of music. The structure of scales and chords and the intonation of musical instruments is not a random thing. There are laws in the universe that determine the nature of this art form that we call music. Anyone interested in understanding this aspect of music needs to develop a scientific, intuitive and artistic frame of mind. The science and history of music is a broad and complex discipline.
One can see that there are many benefits for the fitness, health and well-being of music students and for amateur and professional musicians. One might suggest all students could benefit from the daily practice of instrumental performance. If all schools adopted some of the procedures in specialist music schools, then both students and society could reap the rewards of such daily activity.
The short sightedness of politicians and administrators is a real hazard for the future of our society. Being an academic, being in power, or acting financially thrifty does not make one qualified to necessarily know what is best for young people, especially in this modern world. Unfortunately there are too many sociopaths that climb to positions of power and we the citizens vote them in to office. That is not to say that all politicians or administrators are sociopaths – that would be absurd. However the nature of the game allows those types of individuals to gain positions of authority. Again, history stands as a testament to such assertions.
We need to think laterally to make decisions about what is best for future generations. We all live on through our offspring and so it would seem logical for us to consider the needs of those that come after us. Or, like those in power, are we so callous that we imagine it all ends with our own mortality? Is the future not our responsibility?
Music may well be the highest of the arts. It encompasses so many realms of human study and expression. It is both complex and simple. Music can make us laugh, cry, inspire us spiritually, or lift us up to realms of the sublime. The education of music in society is vitally important. Music is one of the things that make us human.