The Importance of Music Education
With all the budget cuts that are currently taking place all around America, taking a look into acknowledging the importance of Music Education is valuable for any principal, administrator, board of education member, parent, student, or member of the community. Music education allows for life-changing events to ensue for all participants. Events such as the Macy’s Parade, Collegiate or local homecoming pep rallies can all impact the future of all involved and drastically depend on the practice of music education to be successful. Music education is the driving force to enable highly skilled performances to ensue. Knowing the importance and benefits that music education brings to society can impact how all decide to carry forward with matters pertaining to the subject.
Creative Outlet
- Music can be an easy avenue for student(s) to learn how to express themselves creatively individually as well as collectively with their classmates
- Allows students who are creative-minded an opportunity to showcase their skills publicly and inspire others while being protected by their school.
- Allows students to become immersed in the field of music and what is required to be successful with the endeavour
- Allows schools to further develop school pride with orchestral/marching/symphonic/ and pep bands/ choirs to sing school fight songs at sporting events/pep rallies/assemblies
- Allows students to develop artistic skills and abilities in a professional setting
- Allows for an instructor to help guide student(s) in making professional connections in the creative endeavour while in school
Education
- In Ancient Greece, music education was important to their education system
- Students who are enrolled in music tend to have better test scores
- In 1988, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) tested fourteen-year-old children from seventeen countries in knowledge of natural sciences. Results of this testing show that the USA, which
spent a longer period on learning math and natural science than any other country, was on fourteen place, and the first three places went to Hungary, Japan, and Netherland. The question is: what do those systems have that the USA education system doesn’t have? Analysis of those education systems shows that those countries have extensive music education in all schools as a part of the national curriculum, which starts with kindergarten, through elementary and secondary school. Music programs in those countries are impressive, and probably they are the reason for
high scores in the field of math and natural sciences.
Brain Development
- Music has effects on the brain that no other activity can emulate
- Research shows that participating in music can impact and improve aspects of conscience, perception, emotions, self-memory, social cognitive process, superior sound processing, motor control, self-awareness, language perception, and more
- Promotes thinking ahead/ planning skills
- Playing instruments uses mathematical thinking and analytical reasoning
- planum temporale an (an important part of the brain which performs a function in
- understanding of language and sound signals in the early stages of life) and corpus callosum (bridge
- between the right and left cerebral hemisphere which function is to transfer all information from one sidebrain on another