Prompt Post #7: Contemplating Controversey

         Music education has been a constant debate in school districts across the nation. Some school districts have already cut the music programs from their school. On the contrary, other school districts not only allow music education to flourish but advocate that it helps the overall learning experience of a student.

Controversey

         The schools that have cut music education do have valid reasons for cutting it. The main reason is school budget is deteriorating. All the across the nation "it’s estimated that since 2008, more than 80 percent of schools nationwide experienced cuts to their budgets." (Law Street ¶3) Since that happened schools have to make cuts and the arts is on the very top of their list. This is because its valued less than anything else. The arts in general are considered dead because of the job field is almost impossible to be successful in society today. So this can make a justification for schools to get rid of it because they want to see their students become successful people in their field of choice.

         The schools that allow music education to flourish in their schools believes that it creates an enriching learning environment. Studies show that "The research showed more clearly than ever that significantly more of the brain is used during music making than previously thought." (Education World ¶9) This is saying that music uses a significant portion of the brain than once realized. This is because when you are for example playing the piano you are engaging your brain in a multiple ways. The optical lobe of the brain is decoding the sheet music. Using the muscle memory (the hippocampus) in your fingers to play the piece. The auditory cortex (the part of the brain that processes sound) is listening to the music so to make sure its being played correctly. On top of that being overall expressive and bringing the piece to life takes a lot of thought as well. These things are all going on at the same time and it seems like how does anyone do that? It becomes quite natural and they all work together like a symphony. This can applied to core curriculum classes such math because math like music has patterns. For example in singing there's a pitch line and each pitch has a value (Do Re Mi Fa So.....). As the pitch line goes up the value goes up. Kids that learn this system have better understanding of how a number line works. This shows that music can be applied the average students life even when not in the proper setting.

Sources:



Hopkins, Gary. "Making the Case for Music Education." Education World:. Education World, INC., 1 Mar. 2009. Web. 06 Mar. 2016. <http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr123.shtml>.


Metla, Valeriya. "School Art Programs: Should They Be Saved? - Law Street (TM)." Law Street (TM). Law Street Media LLC, 14 May 2015. Web. 06 Mar. 2016. <http://lawstreetmedia.com/issues/education/cutting-art-programs-schools-solution-part-problem/>.