Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1201983
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 JANUARY 2020 OPINION THROUGHOUT history, mu- sic has been an important part of human life. Studies show that music helps children in numerous aspects of their de- velopment. Apart from helping the child to build relationships and connect with other people, music is a source of stress relief and it also helps to improve the child's brain development. Thus, music is an extremely important subject for children of all ages and ethnicities. In his Republic, the Greek philosopher Plato described music as a fundamental part of education. It is clear that edu- cation and the development of students' personalities demand that music education should be inserted in the school curricu- lum in the same way as other academic and non-academic subjects are. There may be ed- ucators who have doubts about music education and whether it is rich in possibilities that can contribute to all areas of the child's development. I think – or rather, I strongly believe – that music education should form part of every school curriculum since it provides so- cial interaction, development of physical coordination, cognitive skills, and memory. It is an in- trinsically worthwhile subject and absolutely central to any concept of education. Indeed, the idea that music education develops certain qualities of the mind has a long history that can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosophers. Some curricula tend to focus far too much on cognitive develop- ment and pay little attention to the affective side. Certainly, mu- sic education contributes to chil- dren's emotional development, self-expression, self-knowledge, and feelings. The curriculum of music as a subject should al- so be concerned with the emo- tional development of the child through creative self-expression. Another valid reason for in- cluding music education in the curriculum is that regular mu- sic education leads to improved performance in other subject areas. R. Gagne suggests that good study habits acquired in any subject are likely to transfer to other subject areas. This prin- ciple is not applicable solely to highly talented music students. There are many below-average students who excel in music ed- ucation but struggle in almost every other subject. Music can therefore give more opportuni- ties to these particular students to achieve some sense of success despite their poor performance in other subjects. The value of the expressive arts in education is universally accepted and its place in every school curriculum goes with- out question. However, music is wrongly regarded as a weak sub- ject in the curriculum. As a re- sult of frequent generalisations and misleading comparisons be- tween different artistic subjects, the educational world would not dispute the value of a child's at- tempts at creative expression in drawing or painting; yet, similar attempts at creative work in mu- sic, although having a compara- ble value, is looked down upon. However, music education is part of aesthetic education, which, in turn, is part of the general education of the child. Through experience with music, the learner would be increasingly capable of feeling, creating, dis- covering, performing, learning, and thinking. It is very contra- dictory, therefore, to treat music education as a field of study that lacks in possibilities. Is music ed- ucation of any real human value? The answer is undoubtedly a re- sounding 'yes'. Psychologists have frequently turned their attention to music and this is not surprising in any way. Nothing surpasses music when it comes to demonstrating capabilities such as the chaining together of units of skill, the ex- amination of muscular coordi- nation, or aspects of aural per- ception and memory. Jean Piaget (1896–1980), orig- inally a biologist, is one of the leading figures of cognitive de- velopment theory. According to Piaget, the young learner ma- nipulates objects while acquir- ing concepts into that learner's acquiring concepts of pitch, du- ration, dynamics, and other ele- ments of music that are aural, or not concrete in a physical sense. The content of children's music should include their identity, their bodies, and their feelings because of their egocentric na- ture. Creative and improvisato- ry activities are encouraged be- cause of their vital significance in learning. The creative process is necessary for self-fulfillment. It seems that students respond to learning whenever they can be- come personally involved in this process, regardless of aptitude or socio-economic background. To be creative is to think in new and different ways. Music involves the cognitive (intellectual) and psychomotor (physical) abilities and is learned through the integration of these areas of learning. Indeed, music education can enrich experience in ways that other subjects can- not. Through music education, students learn about themselves, other people, and humanity in general. It is particularly useful in situations of cultural plural- ism since it is probably the best medium for understanding oth- er cultures. It is valued because it gives insight into human ex- perience and enables students to delight in living. It is correct to say, therefore, that every child has a right to en- gage directly and practically in music. This is accomplished by including music education in the curriculum in order to pave the way for acquiring skills, knowl- edge, experience, and values. The Music Curriculum for Pri- mary and Secondary Schools in Malta starts with an important statement, which says that 'in music education pupils should be engaged in the three inter- related activities of compos- ing, performing and listening/ appraising, thereby acquiring skills, knowledge and under- standing and hence enjoyment of the subject.' Music has a distinctive contri- bution to make to the aims of any school curriculum. Com- posing, performing and listen- ing/appraising provide learners with opportunities to develop successfully. Music education helps students by giving them possibilities to develop their independence and use their creativity. Appreciating the rel- evance of music in their lives can motivate students to enjoy learning and to develop the skills and attitudes needed to succeed across the curriculum. Students learn to cooperate with others to reach a common goal through singing, playing, rehearsing, and performing music. Children develop an awareness of differ- ent musical parts and the roles and contributions of different members of a class, choir, or en- semble. They learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excel- lence and reap concrete rewards from their hard work. Composing also develops stu- dents' critical skills by giving them opportunities to evaluate their own work and the work of others. Music education pro- motes students' awareness of na- tional and global cultures, both past and present. Early music education can help develop the brain areas which are responsible for language and reasoning. There is a link be- Simon Farrugia Let the kids face the music Learning about music through a range of styles, genres, and traditions can help students develop enquiring minds and learn to process information, reason and question Simon Farrugia is a music teacher and an active researcher