Music Education Philosophy - Emma Fettig

Many school systems question the inclusion of music education from kindergarten to

grade twelve’s validity as an integral part of students’ development. This is especially true when

there is a budget issue and music seems like the most logical subject to take out of the academic

programming. I personally believe that teaching music is extremely important for students to be

given a space to express themselves, receive support in fulfilling musical potential, and provided

with a space for learning lessons both musical and not. Through several studies, this area of

education has proved to be beneficial to children’s intellectual capabilities, brain plasticity,

capacity for empathy, and self esteem among other crucial areas of the mind and body. This

totals to more benefits than a generic math class, so why is it that music education is capable of

this?

Learning music is one of the greatest processes to boost a students self esteem and

empathy. Though it can be a challenging process, making the class exciting, fun, and informative

and a safe sharing space will help students succeed will do wonders for their self image and

abilities to empathize with their peers. In a study conducted by Merja Hietolahti-Ansten and

Mirja Kalliopuska, 25 music students and 30 general students with a mean age of twelve years

old were observed using the Mehrabian and Epstein Empathy Scale and the Battle Self-esteem

Scale. Those who were actively involved in music, measured high in their amount of self esteem,

while those who were not involved in music, scored lower or moderately on the scale. If music

could just reach those thirty control students of the study, they could possibly have a greater

sense of self worth and confidence in themselves, even potentially with an instrument.With this

confidence, they can even share how they express themselves with their peers, creating a positive

listening environment and space for positive relationship building.

 Not only is music education beneficial to the students' expressiveness, confidence, and

compassion, it also strengthens their levels of intelligence. We teach the subject with the widest

variety of mental abilities such as: time, math, problem solving, memory, spatial awareness, and

linguistics. All areas that are crucial to be developed in children. Many studies have “shed light

on the impact of musical training on child brain development in areas such as speech and

linguistic abilities (Chobert et al. 2014; Kraus and Strait 2015; Moreno et al. 2009), suggesting

that active engagement in music, especially music making activities, facilitates brain plasticity”.

When students are struggling with math, science, English, and are given no other creative space

to express themselves and thrive in school, where are they going to learn these skills? Music can

reach students who have disabilities or do truly have issues with those “core” classes that they

receive every day.

In our music classrooms, students will experiment. Just as the scientific method begins

with a hypothesis, kids will curate their own hypothesis and experiment on instruments and with

programs to find the result. When learning an instrument, a student will not master it straight

away. Just as they do in a math classroom, they will practice and problem-solve to discover what

makes a good sound. In an English classroom, form, linguistics, patterns, and lyricism is taught.

The same goes in a music classroom, with learning aids to help hear what a student might not be

able to see and comprehend on paper. Having access to music education shouldn’t ever be

limited. The studies mentioned back up that doing so would only take away a student’s right and

access to the integral skills that will allow them to thrive later on in their lives and education.
 Works Cited

Amsen, Eva. “Making Music May Not Make You Smarter, but Can Still Be Helpful for

Education.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 23 Aug. 2020,

https://www.forbes.com/sites/evaamsen/2020/08/23/making-music-may-not-make-you-sma

rter-but-can-still-be-helpful-for-education/?sh=487d9fae63ae.

Costa-Giomi, Eugenia. “Effects of Three Years of Piano Instruction on Children’s

Academic Achievement, School Performance and Self-Esteem.” Psychology of Music, vol.

32, no. 2, 2004, pp. 139–152., https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735604041491.

Hietolahti-Ansten, Merja, and Mirja Kalliopuska. “Self-Esteem and Empathy among

Children Actively Involved in Music.” Perceptual and Motor Skills, vol. 71, no. 3_suppl,

1990, pp. 1364–1366., https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1990.71.3f.1364.

Matsunobu, Koji. “Exploring the Unmeasurable: Valuing the Long-Term Impacts of

Primary Music Education.” Music Education Research, vol. 23, no. 1, 2020, pp. 14–27.,

https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2020.1834524.