Manhattanville Music Curriculum

The Manhattanville Music Curriculum Program

During the 1950s through the late 1960s, the United States went through an era of curriculum reform. Throughout this time, multiple organizations, in various schools, were developed, such as, the School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG) , Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC), the Contemporary Music Project, as well as the Manhattanville Music Curriculum Program (MMCP). The purpose of these organizations was to develop new curricula; test and revise said curricula, as well as offer summer programs to train educators in the newly developed curricula. These programs became quite popular throughout the United States among educators, and encouraged educators, in all disciplines, to grow in their understanding

of their content area and how to share that information with their students.
The Start of the Program
The Manhattanville Music Curriculum Program, and other organizations, were the direct result of the United States “failing the space race.” In October 1957, Sputnik, the first successful satellite, was launched into space by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Soviet Union. Politicians and journalists pointed to the United States educational system as being flawed and ineffective to explain the technology gap between the United States and the Soviets. Given the United States “flawed” education system, the United States federal government introduced a piece of legislation “The National Defense Education Act” (NDEA). This legislation allowed for the federal government to contribute more funds to public education than had ever been allowed previously. Under the Umbrella of the Office of Education, President John F. Kennedy created the Cultural Affairs Program. This program is now know as the Arts and Humanities Program (AHP). Upon the creation of this program, the federal government officially recognized arts education.
History of the Program
The development of the MMCP was, in part, due to the previous events at the Yale Seminar of Music Education in 1963, as well as the survey by educator, and future director of the MMCP, Ronald B.

Thomas. Thomas’ survey, “A Study of New Concepts, Procedures, Achievements in Music Learning as Development in Selected Music Programs” brought to light many of the ideals, which Thomas was looking to implement into the MMCP in the coming years.

The MMCP began in 1965 with a one-year study of unique and experimental practices in music education. The primary objective of the program was to develop an alternative music curriculum for grades K-12. Ronald Thomas, a faculty member of the Manhattanville College in New York, led this program. His unconventional approach, which was known to many of the MMCP’s members, brought new methods of teaching to the classroom. Two of the unconventional methods, which Thomas subscribed to, was the spiral curriculum method and the belief that the intuitive abilities of all children to learn and understand concepts themselves which was often reserved for older students. This philosophy can be compared to that of Jerome Bruner, a psychologist. Thomas writes in his MMCP Synthesis about Bruner this statement, “Have you ever considered that . . . Bruner could have written ‘The Process of Education’ just about music?” Although this is the one direct quote that Thomas makes from Bruner, the impact that Bruner had on Thomas and his educational

methods is seen throughout the MMCP. This is especially seen in the spiral curriculum method, which Thomas discusses at length.
The spiral curriculum method allows students to revisit fundamental materials over and over again in order to have a firm grasp of the concepts. These theories of learning, which Thomas included in the MMCP synthesis, can be attributed, in part, to the studies of Jean Piaget and his constructivist theory. The constructivist theory calls upon the learners to gain knowledge through discovery and the exploration for knowledge through all means possible.
Objectives and General Approach Used in MMCP Curriculum
Thomas offers a comprehensive explanation of the objectives, philosophies and general approach used in MMCP curriculum.

Prior explaining these objectives Thomas opens the MMCP synthesis with a series of probing questions, which aim to have the reader reevaluate their traditional views on music education. It reads, in part:

Have you ever considered…that if all of the works and theory from 1780 to 1880 were suddenly lost to the world, music would still exist? That the purpose of education is to open minds and to provide the substance and enthusiasm for continued personal discovery and growth. That notation is only a coding device…it’s a system for translating musical ideas for future recall, not…acquiring or developing musical sensitivity or sensibility… That a composition is merely a statement of someone’s musical thoughts, and everyone has musical thoughts…that the gulf between the educational system and the living creative art of music has grown so huge that a really knowledgeable student…may be intimidated to reject the

art.