So just in case anybody was wondering, I'm a music teacher. I'm currently working a hodge-podge of assorted music teaching jobs, which in the course of an average week will see me at three different schools teaching 350 kids over 10 year levels. I do classroom music, specialist singing studies, I direct a choir and assist with the percussion section of a concert band. Sometimes my job(s) drives me crazy, but there are more moments when I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing.
A couple of weeks ago, I watched a decent talkback show (yes, they do actually exist) in which one of the topics was music education. One of the panellists was Richard Gill, a hero of mine. So many questions from the audience and statements from the twitter feed showed that people really don't have any idea how important a good music education is. It's also something I've been thinking about recently, because it's still not 100% guaranteed that I get any of my jobs back next year. So I really need to think about and articulate why music education is important in schools.
1) Music is unique among the arts in that it is purely abstract. It can suggest images, scenes or moods, but it does not state them.
2) Music is universal. If even profoundly deaf people can respond to music, and in some cases become professional musicians, then there must be something in the art form that speaks to all humanity.
3) Music aids brain development. It builds neural pathways that no other activity can. Music activates more areas of the brain than language. I hate using the argument that music makes people better at maths/language/whatever, because music should be studied for its own merit.
It became apparent from the discussion on the show that a lot of people don't understand what a good music education can be like.
1) Music education is not learning to play an instrument. A lot of people object to music education because of their memories of learning (or more likely, listening to other people learning) the recorder. A good music education involves singing, moving to music, active listening and critical analysis, and most importantly, allowing students to create their own music. This can be aided by learning an instrument, but instruments are not the starting and ending point.
2) Music education is not about imposing western art music on students. A good music education introduces students to a wide variety of music from all times, genres and cultures.
3) Music education is not opposed to sport. The two subjects are unnatural enemies, and often compete in terms of funding and laymans ideas of education. Both are important for completely different reasons.
4) Music education is important, despite (or perhaps because) it is not one of the 'three Rs'. It teaches students to think critically and creatively, it allows students to think abstractly, without the bounds of language, it encourages students to strive to be the best without offering answers that are either right or wrong. It is not part of the country-wide standardised tests (which are another issue altogether). Removing so-called 'extra-curricular' subjects from the timetable will result in a generation of children who are really good at sitting standardised tests, but have no way of applying any of this knowledge to real world situations.
So if anybody is trawling the internet and is not yet sure about the value of music education, I hope this clears up a few misconceptions.
