chazbell
Oct 30, 2008
Writing Feedback / Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences - Persuasive essay on why music should be in school [3]
heres part 2
Philosophers are the people who study and solve problems with the world around them. Their words should be heeded and considered highly authoritative. They are the ones that analyze a culture's current state and solve the problems with it. The words of the following philosophers relate to the importance of music education.
The Greek philosopher, Plato, once declared, "Education in music is most sovereign because more than anything else rhythm and harmony find their way to the inmost should and take strongest hold upon it, bringing with them and imparting grade if one is rightly trained." This statement implies that music is the single most important thing a student can be educated in, and Plato's beliefs should not be taken lightly. Plato, together with his mentor, Socrates, and apprentice, Aristotle, crated the foundation in which western philosophy is built on.
Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, stated that "Ceremony established the correct manner of physical movement in man, music perfected man's mind and his emotions." Confucius understood music to affect an individual on a cognitive level.
He elaborated on this idea in his teachings of the Li chi: "Music is the harmony of heaven and earth, while rites are the measurement of heaven and earth. Through harmony all things are made known; through measures all things are properly classified". This is interpreted as music bringing a sort of harmony and balance to the world (Eaton).
Music education is unlike any other type of subject taught in schools. It is much more hands-on type experience than say History is. In a standard History class, the majority of class time is spent on listening to lectures and taking notes. With music, however, it's very difficult to learn how to play an instrument by taking notes alone. It requires actually holding the instrument and experiencing music first hand, something that isn't common in standard subjects.
Going to school day in and day out is not the most creatively rewarding activity. It's like taking a finely honed blade and grinding it up and down the pavement. Students are bombarded with a plethora of information a day, taking notes, memorizing names and dates, learning formulas, the list goes on. Not exercising the imagination weakens it and according to Albert Einstein, "Imagination is more important than knowledge". Music is a great creative output for students whose imaginations are dulled by the rough grain of education.
The ability to have an opinion is one of the defining characteristics of a human and as humans, we must exercise this trait. Opinions are hard to come by in History or Math, unless someone disagrees with the idea that George Washington was the first president or that two plus two does in fact equal four. Art is one of the only subjective things in school. It allows individuals to have their own views rather than for someone to tell them what is right and what is wrong.
Rules and guidelines are prevalent through out school from the first day of Kindergarten to last second of graduation. It dehumanizes students to the point where worrying about whether they should be doing this or that for the purpose of pleasing the administration. Music has virtually no guidelines. It's an infinite plain where the mind is free to wander. After a full days worth of following rules and staying in the lines, children of all ages need to express themselves and music is the perfect outlet.
Music can easily teach students in areas where other subjects struggle. Since it has such a unique way of teaching and learning, music can find its way to parts of the brain that remain untouched by conventional subjects.
Group work has always is considered by many to be an easy event, for example, imagine a group math project. Usually one person in the group will know the information that was taught in the class and they will get stuck with the majority of the work, while the other group members enjoy some time off. Now imagine a group project in a music class. The assignment is to compose a short song that will be performed in front of the class. It's impossible for a single person to do all the work for they would have to simultaneously play multiple instruments. Each member would have to contribute ideas to the song, write their own part, and perform it live. In earlier grades this type of work would promote social skills in children which is imperative in the world outside of school.
In the technology driven world that exists today, there is a large focus on computer competency. The modest amount of tax payer dollars are force new programs to compete over each other to be used in the school's curriculum. And music programs are often set aside for these computer based programs (Zhan 18). As seen in the experiment conducted by Levine and Ky, music lessons increased the children's performance in math where as the students who had received lessons in computers or no lessons at all, saw a very minute change in scores. Furthermore, technology based programs are cost inefficient. The prices for a standard quality cello are 800 dollars where as a standard quality computer and monitor can cost around the same price.
The problem here is that computers are outdated almost annually. A cello hasn't been altered since it's inception in 1556.
Education in music was once regarded as the single most important thing a person could ever learn. Philosophers from every corner of the globe agreed upon this matter and felt that music was too important to be discarded. Studies show that music can positively affect test scores and improve spatial reasoning skills. Music is arguably the greatest defining trait when it comes to culture. If it were to be removed from the standard curriculum, it would signify the death of culture. With these facts in mind, how could one justify the education of music not to be a basic subject?
heres part 2
Philosophers are the people who study and solve problems with the world around them. Their words should be heeded and considered highly authoritative. They are the ones that analyze a culture's current state and solve the problems with it. The words of the following philosophers relate to the importance of music education.
The Greek philosopher, Plato, once declared, "Education in music is most sovereign because more than anything else rhythm and harmony find their way to the inmost should and take strongest hold upon it, bringing with them and imparting grade if one is rightly trained." This statement implies that music is the single most important thing a student can be educated in, and Plato's beliefs should not be taken lightly. Plato, together with his mentor, Socrates, and apprentice, Aristotle, crated the foundation in which western philosophy is built on.
Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, stated that "Ceremony established the correct manner of physical movement in man, music perfected man's mind and his emotions." Confucius understood music to affect an individual on a cognitive level.
He elaborated on this idea in his teachings of the Li chi: "Music is the harmony of heaven and earth, while rites are the measurement of heaven and earth. Through harmony all things are made known; through measures all things are properly classified". This is interpreted as music bringing a sort of harmony and balance to the world (Eaton).
Music education is unlike any other type of subject taught in schools. It is much more hands-on type experience than say History is. In a standard History class, the majority of class time is spent on listening to lectures and taking notes. With music, however, it's very difficult to learn how to play an instrument by taking notes alone. It requires actually holding the instrument and experiencing music first hand, something that isn't common in standard subjects.
Going to school day in and day out is not the most creatively rewarding activity. It's like taking a finely honed blade and grinding it up and down the pavement. Students are bombarded with a plethora of information a day, taking notes, memorizing names and dates, learning formulas, the list goes on. Not exercising the imagination weakens it and according to Albert Einstein, "Imagination is more important than knowledge". Music is a great creative output for students whose imaginations are dulled by the rough grain of education.
The ability to have an opinion is one of the defining characteristics of a human and as humans, we must exercise this trait. Opinions are hard to come by in History or Math, unless someone disagrees with the idea that George Washington was the first president or that two plus two does in fact equal four. Art is one of the only subjective things in school. It allows individuals to have their own views rather than for someone to tell them what is right and what is wrong.
Rules and guidelines are prevalent through out school from the first day of Kindergarten to last second of graduation. It dehumanizes students to the point where worrying about whether they should be doing this or that for the purpose of pleasing the administration. Music has virtually no guidelines. It's an infinite plain where the mind is free to wander. After a full days worth of following rules and staying in the lines, children of all ages need to express themselves and music is the perfect outlet.
Music can easily teach students in areas where other subjects struggle. Since it has such a unique way of teaching and learning, music can find its way to parts of the brain that remain untouched by conventional subjects.
Group work has always is considered by many to be an easy event, for example, imagine a group math project. Usually one person in the group will know the information that was taught in the class and they will get stuck with the majority of the work, while the other group members enjoy some time off. Now imagine a group project in a music class. The assignment is to compose a short song that will be performed in front of the class. It's impossible for a single person to do all the work for they would have to simultaneously play multiple instruments. Each member would have to contribute ideas to the song, write their own part, and perform it live. In earlier grades this type of work would promote social skills in children which is imperative in the world outside of school.
In the technology driven world that exists today, there is a large focus on computer competency. The modest amount of tax payer dollars are force new programs to compete over each other to be used in the school's curriculum. And music programs are often set aside for these computer based programs (Zhan 18). As seen in the experiment conducted by Levine and Ky, music lessons increased the children's performance in math where as the students who had received lessons in computers or no lessons at all, saw a very minute change in scores. Furthermore, technology based programs are cost inefficient. The prices for a standard quality cello are 800 dollars where as a standard quality computer and monitor can cost around the same price.
The problem here is that computers are outdated almost annually. A cello hasn't been altered since it's inception in 1556.
Education in music was once regarded as the single most important thing a person could ever learn. Philosophers from every corner of the globe agreed upon this matter and felt that music was too important to be discarded. Studies show that music can positively affect test scores and improve spatial reasoning skills. Music is arguably the greatest defining trait when it comes to culture. If it were to be removed from the standard curriculum, it would signify the death of culture. With these facts in mind, how could one justify the education of music not to be a basic subject?