Re: new thread - old topic ( NOT BBb vs. CC)


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by GC on March 03, 2003 at 11:09:35:

In Reply to: new thread - old topic ( NOT BBb vs. CC) posted by JoeS on March 02, 2003 at 23:24:15:

Too many of the people who control the purse strings in education can't see beyond the need for Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic (and, of course, Sports). If they can't see the immediate benefit of a cultural program like music education, they'll pull the funding for it at the drop of a hat (or the first drop in school system income). They would never pull funding for P.E. or sports programs, but they can't see that the benefits that are often attributed to sports (teamwork, perseverance, discipline, and so on) are just as strongly reinforced in music programs, with the added benefits in improvement of mental faculties and cultural awareness that the arts also bring.

To these people, music is at best a "frill", not an essential. Trying to convince them that music is valuable in itself is useless; their minds are closed. The only way to get them to keep up funding is to try to make them aware that musical learning improves performance in other areas, and hammer away at those areas.

You're right, however, about the weakness of just saying "music makes kids better at math"; it's sloppily stated and doesn't go far enough. We should also include "music improves self-discipline and mental discipline", "music helps students learn to analyze and reason better", "music students average higher on the SAT", "music students will gain a greater understanding of history, cultures, and languages", and so on.

Music can, as you said, stand alone without comparison to other disciplines as a matter of principle or ideology. However, this is a matter of trying to convince states, local school boards, and other groups to keep funding music, and we need all the ammunition that we can get. I think that it's impossible to get the cultural values of music across to those who do not appreciate or understand to begin with. The only way to understand culture is to participate in it, which becomes preaching to the choir. It's very difficult to instill cultural appreciation in an adult who doesn't have it already, so you have to try other attacks.


Follow Ups: