“It had never occurred to me before that music and thinking are so much alike. In fact you could say music is another way of thinking….”
--Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin makes an excellent point in her quote; music and thinking are so much alike that it is almost as if they are one and the same. Music has a huge impact on the brain. It has been proven that it makes contributions to the development of cognitive and perceptual skills, refines the development of the brain and entire neurological system, and connects and develops the motor systems of the brain in a way that cannot be done by any other activity (Mickela). Since music has such a huge impact on the brain, it is evident that music education is important and should therefore remain an important key factor of kindergarten through high school students’ education.
Many people will argue that music education is important and should remain in elementary through high school education. These people have looked at studies that show that music improves a student’s personal expression, self-discipline, self-esteem, creative abilities, dexterity, coordination, thinking skills, and listening skills. It is through the improvements in these areas that the student advances in other areas as well, making them life-long learners. With the ability to have better thinking skills, listening skills, and creative abilities, the student improves in his or her writing, communication skills, as well as analytical skills, opening up a plethora of ways of learning, thinking, and interacting.
Learning to read music benefits a student in numerous ways. The student’s ability to perform the necessary skills for reading, listening, anticipating, forecasting, memory training, recall skills, concentration techniques, and speed reading, are all enhanced (Mickela). The enhancement of these skills, combined with the improvements of the aforementioned skills, provides the music student with the possibility of earning a higher grade point average and higher SAT scores in all areas (no comma) than the student not in music. These statistics show that music education is vital for our students and should therefore be kept in the schools (Mickela).
However, some people (no “would”) view music education as a luxury that is simply too expensive. ...
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...icials are failing to see just how important music is; it does in fact benefit the student, and can and will help the student with his or her future career.
Music education is beneficial to students. If we want our students to have more self-esteem (you never mentioned self-esteem in your essay, don’t throw it in here), higher test scores, and more personal expression (same with this, this is never mentioned), then music education needs to be kept in school systems. Though it may cost a lot of money to keep the music programs going, it is worth the price. Music keeps kids busy and “off the streets”; it fosters self-discipline and patience through learning how to play an instrument and individual practice. Music builds our culture ensures there will be audiences for symphonies, orchestras, bands, operas, etc. in the future. Music education is the gateway to improvements in learning in other academic areas. It provides students with other ways of looking at things, with other ways of being mentally stimulated. This in turn makes life-long learners out of them, which is what teachers strive for. For these reasons, music education needs to remain a key factor in students’ education.
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.
The American school system has been put under an immense amount of stress in the past few years. Funding has been moved, held back, and/or taken away from various classes. However, one of the largest fights for funding is found in music education. Without funding, music classes are unable to properly educate children in music. With more and more money being taken away, the youngest generation is growing up with less musical intelligence.
Before addressing the need for music instruction in our schools I would like to briefly examine the need for education of any kind. Education is a means of making sure our society has a given set of knowledge. The set of knowledge we perceive ourselves as needing changes based on our surroundings and the issues we are dealing with. In American education's early history we perceived ourselves as needing a set of knowledge that included a common language and common view of history, as well as knowledge of those things with which we would interact every day. In many ways early public education was more a means of social control than an altruistic endeavor. In today's climate we see ourselves as having more diverse needs in our education...
Music education is important for several different reasons. Music is a very valuable resource for students and teachers alike. Research has shown that musical study improves a child's early cognitive development, basic math and reading abilities, SAT scores, ability to work in teams, as well as spatial reasoning skills (VH1, 2003, para4). Music helps students to achieve in areas of intelligence. “Feis, Revecz, the Pannenborgs, Miller, and others are unanimous in finding that musicality and high intelligence go together” (Mursell & Glenn, 1931, p. 20). Studies have shown that preschool children taught with music and songs have an average 10 to 20 points over those without, and by the age of 15 have higher reading and math skills. Another study showed that students that had taken a music appreciation class scored 46 points higher on the math portion of the SAT, and students who had music performance experiences scored 39 points higher than students without any music experience (Harvey, 1997, para13). Music impacts most other areas of learning. “The area holding the greatest prospects for transfer from music appears to be language arts.” (Hoffer, 1983, p. 46) It has been said that music helps concentration during reading. Music is an affective memory aide, because of its use of rhythm, rhyme and melody. Music for young children helps them to learn language because of the rhythms and patterns involved in learning the songs. The involvement of music in education can help to develop oral language skills, listening skills, and an increased vocabulary. Music can help the comprehension of language and basic facts (Dobbs, 1990, 341, 342).
Companies are to blame for the pain that is caused by sweatshops all over the world. The responsibility for ensuring that goods are ethically made lies predominantly on them. Their needs cause the rapid construction of the factories, and they have the final say in how they want the conditions in their factories to be.
Going to college is something that has been drilled into my brain by the public education system since I was in first grade. They obviously did a phenomenal job because here I am, a high school senior, applying to various colleges and universities trying to find the right fit. There are many reasons why I want to go to college, but there is one reason above all others, and that is that I want to be able to share my passion of music with others in hopes of sparking a similar passion inside of them.
There have been many studies done to find how music influences a child’s development. The College Entrance Examination Board discovered that students who took music appreciation classes had higher verbal and math scores than those who did not take the classes. (Stephens 2003) The U.S. Department of Education found that in 25,000 secondary schools, students who were highly involved in the music program did much better in math than any other students. (Stephens 2003) These studies and more have found that involvement in music increases chi...
Exposer to music is crucial to young children’s brain development. Not only does it develop otherwise unused areas of the brain, like the auditory cortex, it increases children's future intellectual enjoyment level (Matter). Music at an early age enhances sensitivity to sound and pitch, which can lead to better phonological and reading skills (Moreira). Without a music program in schools students do not get the full exposure to music and music theory that is needed for brain development.
In most recent years, schools have been fighting to keep music programs alive in school systems across the nation. Some schools believe that due to budget factors, music should be cut out of the academic program, to save some money. But what is widely unknown is that schools that have good music programs do better in areas of math and sometimes reading. A high tech music program called Kodaly, was instituted into the schools of Hungary. If a person were to look at the school today, there are “…no third graders who cannot sing on pitch and sing beautifully” (Dickinson, 1993, p.1). Also, the students of the Hungarian schools academic achievement in math and science “ continues to be outstanding” (Dickinson, 1993, p.1). Another report shows that schools that spend 20% to 30% of their day on music (or the arts), have the highest academic achievement (Dickinson, 1993). One study was conducted involving first and second graders at two Rhode Island public elementary schools to show the effects of musical training on academic achievement. In this study, 96 children were used between the ages of 5-7 in eight first grade classrooms. Four of the classrooms were used as control classrooms, which received the standard amount of musical training; forty-five minutes of music that alternates weeks. The other four classrooms were called “test arts“ classrooms. These classrooms received an hour of music per week. After seven months of this training, the students were all given a standardized test. It was then concluded from the tests, that 77% of the “test arts” classes “…were now at grade level or above in mathematics, as compared to 55% of those in the control groups” (MENC, #1). This clearly shows that if ...
In conclusion I believe that music can create a great impact on ones learning skills and the level at which someone receives and processes new information and how easily they can recall information that has been paired, influenced, or inspired by music.
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
Music is a basic part of everyday life. What makes music unique is its ability to create an emotional response in a person. A music education program should develop the aesthetic experience of every student to its highest potential. Aesthetics is the study of the relationship of art to the human senses. Intelligence exists in several areas, which includes music. The concept of aesthetics allows us to see into ourselves, which in turn helps the development of the intelligences. Not only are these intelligences brought up greatly in music education, but they can be transferred to other areas as well, allowing students to grow more through their other subjects.
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.
Even when children learn music they able to listen, sing, dance, create movement. Listening to music draw out emotions, and playing music can be just like communicating emotions. Some people find this a very powerful experience. “ Music enriches the lives of students and should be considered a necessary part of education.”
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake”. Music is almost as old as the human race and is as much a part of it as anything. So why would anyone choose to get rid of it? An Increasing number of schools across the nation are deciding to cut music education programs. This includes band, orchestra, choir, and general music classes. In 1991, 55.4 percent of public school eighth-graders took part in music classes at school. In 2004, this figure was just 49.1 percent. Money plays a huge role in this statistic: “...when funds are scarce, arts courses are usually the first to be dropped from a school’s curriculum” (“Arts Education”). While many argue that music education is an unnecessary cost for schools, it improves student’s overall well being.