Value of Music Education
Many public schools offer music education as part of their curriculum. Although these classes are required, many schools choose not to allocate enough money into the music programs in favor of better scores on standard tests. Recently there have been many strides to strengthen the importance of music education.
Chris Catalano, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, wrote an article titled “School of Rock strumming up success with hands-on approach” about how a company based out of Burr Ridge is making a fortune with music education. It is called School of Rock and it allows students to just come and play the instrument they like and enjoy time with their fellow musicians. The students get 45-minute lessons weekly then perform a rock performance at the end of each session. Although the classes cost $300, the various locations is packed with students who just want to rock out. I think the institution is a nice way for children to make friends and allows them to relax. I did notice in the article that he mentioned the parent’s jobs maybe to subliminally emphasize that School of Rock is expensive.
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“Marching for P.E. credit is a article written by Thomas Waggoner stating that Marching band will count towards a student P.E. credit in addition to their extracurricular credit required in the curriculum. Supplementary to that, those who complete Band I-IV will also receive the Fine Arts credit. In the end of the article it is stated that color guard will not be subject to the same rules but may be able to get their P.E. credit if they take marching band in the fall. I think that it is good that the educators choose to give those who take marching band the credits for P.E. because it incentivizes them to take that class. Marching band also allows students to get credit for extracurricular and fine art which is also good. Erin Fey, a student from Elk Grove Village, wrote a letter to the Chicago Tribune conveying her opinions about Music’s importance. She explains how wonderful music education is because it will help students be better-rounded and culturally advanced. Towards the end she states that schools put too much influence on English, Math, History, Science and Foreign Language and not enough in Music. Frankly I agree with her. I remember taking music classes during elementary school and forgetting the skill because it wasn’t required in my later schools. Peter Greene, a teacher from Ohio, takes a different approach to music education in his article “Stop Defending Music Education”.
He explains that you don’t need to defend music education by saying it helps with other things. For starters he mentions that it is a tactical error because you are just reiterating that music is secondary to the other subjects. Then he talk about how it is just sad to see music teachers because there are many other reason why music is good but they focus on standardized tests. He proclaims that music is universal and that it is a key thing that brings us together as humans. I think he’s right about how the teachers are going about improving music education all wrong. They need to focus on the other more important factors like how it brings people together and how it is fundamentally driven within us
humans. Although they might be different in their views on how to improve music education, the general censuses is that music education is important to progress children toward a more creative and culturally diverse way of thinking.
Throughout history music has played an important role in society, whether it was Mozart moving people with his newest opera or the latest album from the Beatles. Where would society be today without music? With schools cutting their music programs, the next Mozart may not get his chance to discover his amazing talent. Music programs are essential to education. To fully understand this one must understand how music helps the human body, why schools have cut music programs, and why people should learn music.
Should it be Allowed? Suppose an artist or band sold their music to a record label or landed a deal with a company. Should this be allowed? Artists’ music should be used in advertising. It offers smaller artists a chance for their music to get heard by a wider audience and it is accepted nowadays for bands and artists to put their music in commercials or promote products for sponsors.
Once this is accomplished, students gain personal pride in achieving this new skill. Music programs offer lots of chances for students to develop new talents, whether that is playing an instrument or singing a song. “Music programs in public schools help to foster a student’s sense of pride and self-confidence” (Hoffman 1), and with this newfound pride, students will develop more experience in other areas, like working with others and communicating with different people. Music plays an active role in student’s lives, and as core subject grades begin to rise, “music education remains a key component in a student’s academic success and in positive social and emotional growth” (Hoffman 1). Music forms dignity in a students abilities, offering to give the students a chance to develop their communication and social skills in a safe environment, and give themselves positive feelings about their accomplishments. Without music programs in schools, students will have less pride in their abilities and will not let them gain that safe environment to achieve these experiences with
Sheftel, B. (2002). Music Education Curriculum in Public Schools. PageWise, Inc, Retrieved August 6, 2003
Hundreds of children have learned to love playing music on their instruments in a safe and fun environment. Did you know the music programs are being cut out of schools due to budget issues? According to Do.Something.org these programs are proven to improve academic skills, advanced reading skills, and kids are more likely to stay in school. Music teachers go beyond and above to be the best teachers they possibly can be. Mark does this daily while getting up early for lessons and staying late for extra activities.
Much too often in America today, modern music and art programs in schools are perceived to many as extracurricular activities rather than important subjects that are vital to a students learning and skill development. The truth of the matter is that encouraging music and art education in public schools has a much larger impact on student’s grades, academic performance, and the economy than the majority people realize. Within the next year city school budgets will be dropping by twenty five percent, and despite the fact that music and art programs have been showing a dramatic contribution to student’s learning, this substantial drop in funding for the programs will lead to no dedicated money for art or music programs (Mezzacappa). There is no doubt that a cut in funding for art programs will take a huge toll on students overall grades and test scores. Research has found that the studying of music and art facilitates learning in other subjects and enhances children’s skills in other areas (Brown). Furthermore, providing students with a creative outlet can do great justice in reducing the stress from many other classes and even offer insight for students in possible career paths involving the art field. The art industry today currently supports 4.1 million full-time jobs (Dorfman). By increasing the funding of music and art programs for students preschool through twelfth grade we can see a dramatic increase in the education of children across the United States, assist with skill development in young students, and greatly benefit the economy at the same time.
The position that is being argued is that music should stay in schools. This author is making the claim that music makes children excel in their education. This author uses many different sources. The author relies mainly on studies to back up his argument. The article is recent.
Music has always been an important part of my life. During high school I have developed areas of service and leadership through interests in children and gardening, which will continue to be major parts of my life.
Has a very different approach on defending music education says, “There are so many reasons for music education. Soooooooo many of them. And ‘it helps with testing’ or ‘makes you do better in other classes’ belongs near the bottom of that list.” He does not like the fact that people who argue music should stay in schools only defend the claim that it will make students better in class. They learn a valuable skill and can now use their own imagination, rather than someone else.
Being involved in a first-class music program improves student’s abilities in other academic areas such as study skills, communication skills, and mathematics and science skills. Singing or playing an instrument is a tenuous thing to master; it takes a lot of practice, which involves problem solving skills, perseverance, and a drive for excellence. Students who excel this skill are often better at studying and following through with their goals because they are patient and know how much work it will take to conquer the subject, or school in general. Schools that have music programs that are rated as “excellent” or “very good” have higher graduation rates, 90.9% compared to 72.9% of those without (MENC Staff 4). When children learn to communicate emotions through music, they find it almost effortless to speak and communicate with others in real life situations. In band or choir they learn how to work with others to create a beautiful product, this ability transfers to teamwork in school and t...
The Importance of Arts Education Jane Alexander, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), once said, “Many children are missing out on something which gives their education context, gives their lives depth and meaning, and prepares them to be the future workforce.” This “something” that she spoke of is music and art education. Unfortunately, she is entirely correct. We are currently seeing a dramatic cut in arts education curriculum in our public schools due to the limited amount of time and funding. In many cases, budget cutbacks mean arts education cutbacks.
Assessment in Music Education has been a hot topic for some time now. Questions have arisen about what to assess, how to assess and even questioning whether to assess at all. Pinpointing the issues at hand is the first task in answering these questions but of course, there are different opinions on where the issues start in Music education. Since the early 2000’s, the education system has adopted standards on the federal, state and local levels in an effort to help ensure a standard proficiency. From No Child Left Behind to most recently the CCS (Common Core Standards) has been introduced to states to ensure every student in the USA gets the same education and assessment from Washington to Florida. Due to the stress on assessment, music has been minimized in schools to help maximize the efforts to passing these high stakes assessments. All forms of assessing music in this time span have also been deemed either too easy or unrealistic for ALL students to master. Before deciding an effective way to assess Music Education we must first understand and clearly define where it has come from, what has worked and what hasn’t over the years.
Music is the one intangible way leading into wider knowledge and a greater understanding of mankind. It basically defines man’s experiences and expectations through his or her life. It can be looked at as a way of looking clearly into reality. In most cases, music alters emotions and perception of different aspects of life. It is a beautiful thing that no person should be denied. The emotions agitated up by music define the mood by influencing the mind into a temporary state of fear, joy, pain, sorry, anger and excitement. Sometimes music brings in both sad and beautiful memories.
For many years, music education has been an important part of elementary and high schools around the country. Recently, many schools have been dropping various music programs because it is thought to be unneeded and too expensive to pay for. What theses schools are not seeing is performance of the students with music in their life. There are many ways that music education impacts students positively because it impacts the brain greatly. Various tests of different skills have come to show that students with music education in their elementary and high schools have shown better scores on tests and knowledge in various places of education than students that do not take or have a music education class.
Kristen Pellegrino, an assistant professor of music education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, has a Ph.D. in music education, M.M. in violin performance, and a B.M. in music education and applied violin. ("Kristen Pellegrino, Music Education.", 1). As she elaborates in her journal, music programs can offer a sense of meaning to students partaking in these programs. She talks of how numerous scholars address the connections between the well-being of students and music making. Pellegrino says, “Stefanakis has written about music as a ‘holistic way in which we come to know ourselves and our relationship with the world’” (Pellegrino, 83). To explain further, comprehension of the world around us is heightened when engaged in music programs. Giving students a comprehensive perspective of the world also gives them the understanding they need in life. Being part of music programs that achieve this make many students feel involved, purposeful, and needed. “Music experiences create a sense of meaning and coherence in life” (Pellegrino,