Music for kids

[olaness]

Let me draw your attention to a statement made by Dame Liz Forgan, chairwoman of the Arts Council of Great Britain: http://press.artscouncil.org.uk/content ... wsAreaID=2" target="_blank

I find it a shame that this statement would in my lifetime actually be considered 'bold'. However the fact that it is really highlights the state the education system is in in the UK at present. I don't know about the US where most readers here will be from, but the UK is not the only place I've seen the same trends in dumbing down education. In fact in my native Norway it has gotten to such a stage now that because it's negative to tell children that they get things wrong, it's easier to change the correct spelling in the dictionary to comply with the worst and most consistent spelling errors of children who are being refused a chance to learn the language properly (thanks very much, professor Higgins!). This has happened to such an extent that I'm now struggling to read some articles in my own first language, and that is the very small minority that is written with a semblance of correct grammar. And I'm not old, 31, having lived abroad for ten years.

What I do find heartening is that the first person I hear about standing up and speaking against this abomination is someone talking about music! My own music education in school was 'sadly lacking' and my musical upbringing came from a school band privately organised and funded, after school hours. As a father of a little girl of now ten months, I find it imperative that I give her better opportunities and intellectually a better upbringing than I got myself. With two musician parents, she has had the pleasure (?) of sitting through many a rehearsal already, and she likes it loud! Carmina Burana in a far too small hall at a physically painful volume was her favourite so far... And she has sat through the whole Ring Cycle (the smithy song got her really excited) and most of Brahms' chamber works and a great deal of Schubert's songs. After reading this article I promptly put on some CDs of more 'challenging' music - Cage and Ligeti, two favourites of mine - in order to attempt making this music more normal in her ears, and so that she hopefully in the future will not feel this type of music challenging, only enjoyable.

I believe a lack of exposure to more challenging literature - not only in music but in all arts - at a young age is one of the reasons why much of western modern high art is in decline. People are just not given the opportunity to acclimatise to it and understand it properly.

Here is my challenge to you all with small (or not so small) children: Play great music to them, be it the choices of Dame Liz or myself or something totally different, just don't mullycuddle them with sanitised and simplistic music. Take them to galleries and exhibitions of the great masters and the up and coming greats of tomorrow. Read great books for them - avoid the ones with the author's name in gold on the front - or give them the great classics as gifts. And anyone with more ideas for things to do to expand the little minds please say!

Ola 'putting on Birtwistle's 'The Minotaur' for her after baby swimming' Ness

[pierso20]

This is a great point. I am not entirely sure how it is her, but it does seem that there is almost apologetic face put on the teaching of classics to children.

Kodaly believed very highly about this. He believed that children deserved the very best. Yes, they learn folk music and "silly" game songs (ring around the rosy, etc), but it doesn't stop there.

Here in the US, many children I am working with have skipped the folk song step all together. They are all jumping right into Hannah Montana. Yes, the music culture has changed, but it is how the children are raised that creates it. Unfortunately, many parents are surrendering music education (and social education) to the media, which is causing this sort of stir.

One such example you gave was how student cannot be told they're wrong. Over here, there is this notion they "your child is special". That all children are special. This has had quite a negative impact on their development. If I am special, then I need better "special" treatment...and it goes on. No, the truth is not everyone is "special". What we mean is, "unique" but children don't interpret it that way. Children are not being educated for the world, but rather educated for the ideal.

Anyway, children do deserve the best music. I hardly consider I-IV-V-VI-V-I and verse-chorus-verse-chorus-chorus to do music justice. There are many more complex musical structures out there. Not even in just classical music, but some progressive rock and others.

I appreciate your post! It is just another chilling reminder of what needs to be done for the future.

[MartyNeilan]

I taught music for nearly 3 months at at small, private, rural K-12 school in the moutains of east Tennessee. (great fit for a hyper Yankee ) The previous teacher who had been there for 10 years did not have a music ed degree and focused on watching movies and weekly parties. There was no music, no instruments, virtually nothing when I got there. I dived in headlong and made the mistake of trying to teach music and build a program. After that fell apart, they brought in a "babysitter" with no music education training, and perhaps no formal music training at all, to finish out the last couple of weeks of the semester. They did hire another real music teacher for the second semester. He left at the end of that same school year. They brought back the "babysitter", who is still their music teacher.
My point:
Some schools really have no interest in actually teaching music.

[olaness]

Marty,

Unfortunately this is happening everywhere. If you allow me to be a bit cynical, it sounds like they're just 'ticking a box' in having music in the school in order to get more money from some funding body and/or better reviews from school assessors.

But since this is the case many places, that's why it will be more and more up to us parents to to train our kids in music and the arts (and any other subject you have a passion for) rather than leaving it to fate (=schools).

Ola

[pierso20]

After that fell apart, they brought in a "babysitter" with no music education training, and perhaps no formal music training at all, to finish out the last couple of weeks of the semester. They did hire another real music teacher for the second semester. He left at the end of that same school year. They brought back the "babysitter", who is still their music teacher.
My point:
Some schools really have no interest in actually teaching music.

Can schools even do this anymore? because of NCLB, you can ONLY teach what it is you have received a degree in....of course, this depends on schools actually adhering to this...


Of course, there are also many schools who have a high interest in teaching music. I suppose it depends where you are.

[Carroll]

Can schools even do this anymore? because of NCLB, you can ONLY teach what it is you have received a degree in....of course, this depends on schools actually adhering to this...

In many, many places they can indeed. In rural areas (like the one Marty taught in and I have taught in for 15 years) we have a great many teachers teaching outside of their area on waiver. Some of these have been on waiver for my entire tenure here. At another sytem I interviewed with, they had faculty who had not even finished High School, much less college. I would have been the ONLY advanced degree holder on staff. NCLB cannot change the fact that rural areas are severely underserved.

[pierso20]

Can schools even do this anymore? because of NCLB, you can ONLY teach what it is you have received a degree in....of course, this depends on schools actually adhering to this...

In many, many places they can indeed. In rural areas (like the one Marty taught in and I have taught in for 15 years) we have a great many teachers teaching outside of their area on waiver. Some of these have been on waiver for my entire tenure here. At another sytem I interviewed with, they had faculty who had not even finished High School, much less college. I would have been the ONLY advanced degree holder on staff. NCLB cannot change the fact that rural areas are severely underserved.

Well, thus is the state of things. That is very interesting.

And you're right....it can't really change things. It's an interesting challenge and contradiction in the education system: A push on the amount of knowledge we are 'required' to learn because the USA is falling "behind" and yet, there is little care for actual education for students. And rural areas obviously have their own set of challenges, just like inner city.

[Arkietuba]

Thank you so much for posting this. It is something that seems to be a trend, however, don't assume that this is an epidemic though. I can't speak for the rest of the country but here in the Little Rock area schools do pretty well (with a few exceptions). My high school was a huge public school in the inner city (1,400 students) and yet we excelled in many areas and our teachers did what they needed to do to teach us. I never had a teacher compromise their knowledge to make me feel better if I was wrong on anything. My music teacher gave us many opportunities to get out and experience music and make our own ensembles. I learned more in most of my high school classes than I have in some college level courses. I attended Arkansas Govenor's School and that completely opened my mind as to how I should think. I'm not saying that the entire state of Arkansas is like this but our area is doing pretty well.

I do think that there is a trend in making kids feel better about themselves and making them think that "they have to go to college". I actually had a high school English teacher tell our class that everyone shouldn't go to college, that it's proven that a lot of people just aren't "right" for college. It was perfectly fine to be a garbage truck driver/dishwasher/custodian (which it is, I was a dishwasher and made good money my sophomore year in college). I think we need to just be "real" with students and tell them how it is, whether they're right or wrong. We don't need to be "p.c." Also, we need to either just get rid of the whole standardized test thing or completely revamp it...it's so stupid and the teachers, most times just end up teaching the test. I had to learn writing skills during band class in high school...really? Isn't that why I took English Literature?