Research Topic: Should music be an essential subject for kids and teens?
Why are you interested in answering this question? Kids often want to opt out of music education in their teen years, and many people later regret quitting.
My interest in music was birthed in a combination of personal attributes and life experiences which can’t be summed up here, but suffice it to say, I feel music is important. I hoped that my kids would be naturally interested in it and love it as well, but I understand that they are individuals with their own personal attributes, and won’t have identical interests. I felt confident that if I provided them with the education, they would find some aspect of it that they enjoyed and wanted to continue to pursue, and for the most part, I was correct, they did love it, and all enjoyed early music education. There comes a point in any worth pursuit, though, where it doesn’t feel particularly fun, and after persistence and victory over the challenge, the difficult things begin to feel easier, and proficiency relieves the sense of effort, like learning a new language, or increasing our physical activity. As a homeschooling parent, I managed their entire education. I knew they had to know math and english and they knew they could not bend my will on enforcing the completion of their assignments. There was no opting out. Originally, music didn’t fall into the same category for us, but as I saw each of them choose to put aside their music practice in favor of video games or texting, I began to feel that perhaps they were really going to be missing out on something important and life giving, because they weren’t yet able to visualize the benefit they were forgoing, and I reevaluated.
Why is the question important on a broader level? Music is beneficial in all stages of life.
In the below Ted Talk by Anita Collins we learn that, “Playing a musical instrument engages practically every area of the brain, at once.” Many potential benefits arise from this phenomenon can be found in this short informative video. Check it out:
Brain development isn’t the only thing that is aided by playing music. Research suggests that as people age, they may experience lower rates of depression and memory loss when they engage in musical activities, or receive music therapy. One such study can be found in the National Library of Medicine’s article which asks, “Can Music Therapy Improve the Quality of Life of Institutionalized Elderly People?” finds increased social well being and creativity in elderly persons following music therapy.
What is our current cultural understanding (or misunderstanding) of your topic? A trend had been forming in the last couple of decades to roll back requirement of arts being taught in schools because of funding limitations.
Music education has been observed to be associated with increased graduation rates in US High Schools. Despite this, there has been a steady decline in music education in schools around the world. Reasons may include a misperception of the effect of music education on general student outcomes, lack of funding overall for education with a need to cut some programs, and simply an emphasis on “core” educational requirements.
What benefit are you hoping will come from answering your question? Parents and educators making wise choices for the benefit of the upcoming Gen Alpha.
As mentioned, music education is not considered one of the core requirements of education, but should it? How important is music education? Surely we should be diligent to ensure that we are doing right by our kids as they come up through school, to learn and grow as good and capable humans. I aim to explore some aspects which may help to answer the questions and perhaps unveil some potential solutions for advocacy in this area.
Sources:
https://www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain?language=en