Music in Education

With the increasing emphasis on the new federal law known as "No Child Left Behind", music, art, drama, and dance have taken the back seat in education in order to fund "the basics". What so many people don't realize is how music education actually goes hand in hand with learning how to read (Shane, 1997; Foley, 2006), learning how to perform math problems (Foley, 2006), and learning science (Shane, 1997). Aside from contributing to the development of intellectual skills, the arts also contribute to both social and emotional growth (Weinberger, 1994-2001). One of the most important reasons in the failure of many schools to incorporate the arts into education is funding because the school budgets are so tight. "Society has had a sporadic love affair with the arts. In times of plenty, the arts flourish; in times of scarcity, the arts are in danger. This is especially true in arts education" (Fox & Goodheart, 2001). Unfortunately, as a result, children lose important social, cultural, and intellectual skills that enhance their educational experience and their lives as a whole. Studies show children who participate in music programs, for example, have increased spatial skills (Shane, 1997), improved interpersonal communication skills (Weinberger, 1994-2001), and improved grades (survey), including improved SAT scores (Arts study impacts SAT scores, 2001).

According to my interview with Patrice Parham, paraprofessional at Coralwood Center in Tucker, Georgia, pre-kindergarteners who participate in music classes are better able to get an understanding of rhythms, beats, and movement. For example, they learn how to follow directions by learning how to sing on cue. She finds that it instills discipline into their daily lives (personal communication, 11/7/06). Foley (2006) stresses the importance of nerve cells (neurons) in children. "During childhood, the neurons hunger for stimulation. Music and motion provide the perfect opportunity to reinforce the connections between nerve cells. This stimulation causes the neurons to branch out, forming the crucial communication links known as axons and dendrites." (Foley, 2006)

Education in the arts brings children from diverse backgrounds together, contributing to the learning experience, including language and culture. My personal experience as a substitute piano instructor and participating in concert and marching bands has been that music is a great form of interaction and expression for children, particularly children who want to learn something new. For example, learning how to read music is learning a new language. According to The National Association for Music Education, the arts are one of the five fundamental components of basic education. Because of the role of the arts in civilization, and because of their unique ability to communicate the ideas and emotions of the human spirit, every American student, preK through grade 12, should receive a balanced, comprehensive, sequential, and rigorous program of instruction in music and the other arts. This includes students in public schools, private schools, and charter schools, as well as home-schooled students (MENC, 1907-2007).

Why is music so important to children in their early years? "Discovering that babies can hear and listen to music in the womb, and when born will recognize the music of their mother's culture in preference to other musics, tells us that children have innate abilities to absorb musical information from all they hear around them" (Young & Glover, 1998, p. 3). This is significant because it shows the importance of sound to newborn infants and how crucial pitch discrimination can be. Young & Glover (1998) describe how music can be positively incorporated into young children's lives for positive experiences. This will contribute to positive development later as well. But as Young & Glover (1998) note, it is difficult to carry a message about the importance of music in words because the sound is not present.

As children develop and begin school, music can be incorporated into their lives to assist them in math and science. According to Shane (1997), the Shaw/Rauscher study revealed preschool children with music training dramatically enhanced abstract reasoning skills - those necessary for learning math and science. What we know so far is that experience in music - particularly instruction - has a long-term effect on brain development as it relates to spatial reasoning. Spatial reasoning is used for understanding math problems such as ratios and proportions, as well as in physics - essentially, anything that requires comprehending the relationships between two objects (p. 18).

An additional experiment on first graders found that music programs go hand in hand with "No Child Left Behind" because reading scores are also improved. In a study published by Hurwitz, Wolff, Bortnick and Kokas (1975) on whether music instruction improved reading performance in first graders, the experimental group received Kodaly training, which uses folk songs and emphasizes melodic and rhythmic elements. The control group consisted of children who were matched in age, IQ and socioeconomic status at the beginning of the study and who received no special treatment. The music instruction was extensive, five days a week for 40 minutes per day, for seven months. Students were tested on reading ability at the start of the school year and then tested again at the end of the year. After training the music group exhibited significantly higher reading scores than did the control group, scoring in the 88th percentile vs. the 72nd percentile (Weinberger, 1994, p. 1).

This connection between visual and audio is a critical step in the learning process, or, as stated above, the correlation between two objects. To be more specific, after children can understand a language, they learn to read by "[1] visually recognizing words, [2] learning the correspondences between visual parts of words (graphemes) and their spoken sounds (phonemes), and then [3] achieving visual recognition of words without going through the earlier stages" (p. 2). The second stage, the part involving the phonemic stage, in which children sound out syllables and words, is facilitated by music. "The findings support the conclusion that good pitch discrimination benefits learning to read by enhancing the second, phonemic stage of learning" (p. 2).

What would the educational landscape look like if all students were required to participate in music? Would reading and math scores skyrocket? Would children acquire a better appreciation for the sciences? Would they be more well adjusted emotionally? Would they be happier? These are some of the questions we should ask ourselves when considering whether or not music should be a required subject in education, as these studies indicate children with music education have improved reading and math scores, acquire a better appreciation for the sciences, and are more well adjusted emotionally.

Participation in music assists students in academic areas other than reading, math, and science. In Ohio, 4th, 6th, and 9th grade students with instrumental training were compared to those who did not receive instrumental training.

Results show that instrumental students outperformed noninstrumental students in every subject and at every grade level. Instrumental students at both levels of SES held higher scores than their noninstrumental classmates from the fourth grade, suggesting that instrumental music programs attract higher scorers from the outset of instruction. Results also show a pattern of increased achievement by lower SES instrumental students, who surpassed their higher SES noninstrumental classmates by the ninth grade in all subjects (Fitzpatrick, 2006).

And according to students I surveyed at RBC High School in Red Bank, New Jersey, seniors who participated in marching band, concert band, chorus, music lessons, music theory and/or music appreciation scored significantly higher than their non-music counterparts, although sophomores with the same music training scored slightly lower than their non-musical counterparts. Some students at RBC High School did not know their grade point average and could not be counted in the survey. Only sophomores and seniors participated in the survey. Questions ranged from whether or not the student participated in concert band, chorus, or marching band and if they had ever participated in any of these activities. Other questions involved whether or not students had ever taken courses in music theory or music appreciation, whether they were taking or had ever taken music lessons, their year in school, and their grade point average. The survey was based solely on student response.

Perhaps it can be extracted from this survey that the longer a student participates in music programs, the higher their grade point average will become, based on earlier findings that music participation improves grades overall.

A study of Verbal and Math SAT scores for participants and non-participants of music education, conducted by the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, showed more profound results. Music students scored significantly higher in both Math and Verbal compared to those with no arts coursework.

It is evident music enhances a child's educational experience. But because more emphasis is placed on spending on "the basics", music has, unfortunately, taken the back seat in education. The blame may be placed on the high cost of running school systems and the pressure placed on the public to fund it via taxes. People frequently vote against school board budgets because of the effect on their taxes. For example, senior citizens may vote against school budget increases because they are on fixed incomes, and receive little direct benefit from the program. Other citizens may also contend they don't receive direct benefit from the programs music, art, drama, and dance offer, causing them to vote against school budget increases.

Raising taxes is one alternative, however, there are other creative ways funds can be reallocated to infuse the arts in classrooms across the country. Calling for the creation of private foundations that raise money for a specific cause is one possible avenue. Another alternative is through parent funded foundations. In addition, partnerships with local nonprofit cultural institutions can work to develop comprehensive arts programs. Private foundations are coupling with cultural institutions to spend money on "arts education partnerships" (Goodnough, 2001). If states aren't providing it, parents might be interested in funding these programs through parent funded foundations.

Some schools have always recognized the relationship between the arts and learning, and have maintained a commitment to rich internal resources (arts specialists, general classroom teachers who have ongoing learning opportunities in the arts, involved parents) linked to carefully chosen external resources (long term, carefully planned partnerships with museums, performing arts centers, community centers, and other community organizations). These schools have continued to offer well integrated arts experiences to their students, bucking the national trend begun in the 70's. At these select public schools, administrators and faculty have recognized that art does not deter focus on the basics of learning nor distract students from working for higher achievement (Fox & Goodheart, 2001).

PS 156 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York has developed a partnership with a few New York City nonprofit cultural institutions (Goodnough, 2001). The employees of these institutions assist in writing the courses and often visit the classrooms, instructing students about various art forms (Goodnough, 2001). More schools are feeling compelled to form partnerships in order to engage children in these critical programs.

Partnerships begin when people are brought together around a common need. Those identifying the need engage in formal and informal research in order to develop a shared understanding of the context, history and character of the issue to be addressed. Programmatic approaches to addressing the area of need take shape and common values emerge. In the next stage of the partnership there is a continual exchange between action and reflection that results in a continually evolving structure designed to respond to opportunities and need. In the best partnerships, guiding principles are made explicit and agreed upon by all participants (Fox & Goodheart, 2001).

At schools like PS 156 in Brooklyn, New York, museums, concert halls, and theaters all play a significant role in art, music, drama and dance. This interaction has proved positive for the learning process.

Now, cultural institutions as large as the New York Philharmonic and as small as neighborhood dance troupes have become a permanent part of the city's educational landscape. They want to cultivate future audiences and impress potential donors at a time when improving public education is considered an especially pressing and honorable cause (Goodnough, 2001).

Despite progress being made and the accompanying inspiration, there are some drawbacks. According to Goodnough (2001) improvements are taking longer than previously anticipated. She states there are a few reports of strained relations involving teachers who declare instruction in the arts is too time consuming. She also reports only the most driven institutions are seriously incorporating the arts into their schedules.

Communication is crucial for children's development. Without having the ability to communicate ideas, thoughts, and emotions, many children would fall behind. Music programs offer an alternative means of communicating in addition to assisting them in their academic studies. As Ken Robinson, co-chairman of the Conference on the Future of Arts Education and a professor of arts education at the University of Warwick in England put it, "We still need to teach the basic skills, but students today need an education that recognizes a much wider range of intellectual abilities and ways of communicating (Goodnough, 2001).

According to the principal at P.S. 156, reading and math scores have improved since working with cultural institutions. "Our reading scores have improved every year, and I can say that our children now enjoy writing" (Goodnough, 2001). Convincing parents and students alike that the arts "are as important an academic subject as math, reading, and science" is key (Goodnough, 2001). "One way of getting families to value the arts as much as they value math is to measure student progress with traditional assessment tools, and New York State has started doing so" (Goodnough, 2001).

Helping children learn how to express themselves through music is critical for social and emotional growth. In addition to improving reading and math, the arts improve social and emotional growth (Fox & Goodheart, 2001).

Students who participate regularly in the arts develop self confidence. They see themselves as capable of doing work that is personally satisfying and publicly acknowledged. Because serious work in the arts requires persistence, students develop self-discipline and come to understand what it means to make multiple revisions to achieve high standards. Because so many art forms are collaborative in nature, students often develop the crucial ability to work on a common project with others (Fox & Goodheart, 2001, p. 2).

With these important findings, music, art, dance, and drama can be integrated into educational schedules through partnerships with museums, performing arts centers, community centers, and other community organizations, or through parent funded foundations, in order to enhance children's educational experience. As schools become motivated to learn about how the arts positively affect learning capabilities, those seeking value in the arts will take the necessary steps to incorporate them into education. As previously noted, these programs improve grades and assist in reading, math, social and emotional growth, physics, language, culture, and interpersonal communication skills, ultimately assisting in "No Child Left Behind".

References

Fitzpatrick, K. (2006) The effect of instrumental music participation and socioeconomic status on Ohio fourth-, sixth-, and ninth-grade proficiency test performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(1), 73. Retrieved 28 October, 2006, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.nu.edu/pqdweb?index=9&did=1083174961&SrchMode

Foley, M. (2006). The music movement, and learning connections: A review. Childhood Education, 82, 175. Retrieved 28 October, 2006, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.nu.edu/pqdweb?index=2&ded=1020050481&SrchMode

Fox, L. & Goodheart, C. (2001) Creative schools, connected communities: Developing partnerships for arts education. New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved 08 November 2006, from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/arts/goodheart2.htm

Galligan, A.M. (2006) Introduction: Education in the arts. Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 3.

Goodnough, A. (2001) Educational cyberplayground: Helping city schools bring a taste of the arts to students. New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2006, from http://www.educyberpg.com/Music/abby.html

MENC. (1907-2007) Where we stand: The role of music in American education. The National Association for Music Education. Retrieved 2 November 2006, from http://www.menc.org/information/prek12/stand.html#role

Shane, R. (1997) Music and the brain. School Music Dealer, 18-21, 36-37.

Arts study impacts SAT scores (2001) . Retrieved 30 October 2006 from http://www.vh1.com/partners/save_the_music/text/tools/satchart.pdf

Amro Music Musical quotes (2001) Retrieved 1 November 2006, from http://www.amromusic.com/community/quotes.html

Weinberger, N.M. (1994-2001) Music and cognitive achievement in children. MuSICA Research Notes, I(2). Retrieved 1 November, 2006, from http://www.musica.uci.edu/mrn/V1I2F94.html#cognitive

Weinberger, N.M. (1994-2001) Musical building blocks in the brain. MuSICA Research Notes, I(2). Retrieved 1 November, 2006, from http://www.musica.uci.edu/mrn/V1I2F94.html#cognitive

Young, S. & Glover, J. (1998) Music in the early years. Bristol, PA: The Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc.

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