Why Do Students Support Music Classes?

Another person in support of music classes is Christopher Bergland, who believes that learning music has a great impact on young people’s mental growth. He positions “music training is a valuable investment for a child’s overall brain development and his or her long-term academic and life success. Also, the joy of playing music and the reward of mastering a musical instrument are immeasurable” (Bergland 1). Obviously, these are good things and all schools should want this for their students. Research shows that music training helps with sound-response, language skills, and academic success (1). Bergland cites Nina Kraus, PhD, and her belief that music can inspire the concept of “learning to learn”. He notes that research shows that the teenage

He positions “Music is an art and a science, and it’s one of the best ways kids can learn creativity and those mythical critical thinking skills…It’s about learning how to think, rather than what to think” (Schwartz 1). The main goal of schools is to educate students to prepare them for the future; giving them the ability to know how to think for themselves is the desired outcome. He also goes on to talk about the many types of disciplinary, social, and intellectual life lessons he learned from music classes. He learned how to be determined and self-assessing and practiced doing his research, making life connections, working with others, and being responsible for his own work. He proclaims “we, as a nation, need music education to teach everyone these lessons and more. It’s what will help prepare students to join the workforce,” (Schwartz 1). These classes do provide students with many skills conducive for success later in

If the requirement of music classes infringes on any student’s religious and/or cultural values, then they should not be forced to take these classes. As for the budget struggles, I know it can be hard to allocate limited funding and that basic educational needs should be met first. I also know, though, that it is often still possible and that it is more than worth the trouble. Also, these classes play a big part in pushing those basic educational needs. However, I do understand that if a school barely has enough resources to do the bare minimum, then music classes do not need to be a priority. For schools that have more wiggle room but still struggle financially, one way to make mandatory music classes more feasible would be to decrease the amount of standardized testing in public schools and use the money that that would save. Annually, states spend roughly $1.7 billion dollars on standardized-testing and everything it requires (Ujifusa 1). Another option is fundraising; yes, there is only so much that that can accomplish, but it is still something. Of course, another solution would be to increase the overall funding for education in general, but that is often not a likely, realistic