Peruse through course offerings at any school and you will find the usual, math, biology, literature, social studies, etc. What you may not find is music education. This month, Bay Mills interviewed six music educators from our schools about the importance of music education. This is what they had to share:
Music helps students communicate. “Music, in its essence is expressing emotion,” Sophia Canella of American Montessori Academy told us. Jessica Gibson from Keystone Academy agreed, “It assists with the development of social skills. You have to be able to communicate with music.” Many of these teachers have played either internationally or with international artists, and as Brendan Hieshetter of Richfield Public School Academy said, “Music is a universal language – you can’t dislike the person you’re performing with.”
Music also builds self-awareness. Jessica Gibson explained, “You must be physically aware of how your body is working. How can you adjust yourself to sing better?” Darrius Washington from David Ellis Academy added there is a kinesthesia to music that helps students with coordination and sensory understanding.
Ultimately, music supports other subjects. Gibson added, “What you learn about teamwork in band, you have to apply to soccer.” Bruce Horn from Madison Academy explained, “It’s a discipline that reaches all disciplines.” He shared an example of a theory of scaffolding: giving students the skills to follow techniques that translate to the same activity a student in math class needs to learn. This idea of technique scaffolding teaches students to breakdown ideas and make connections. Darrius Washington explained something similar, how music made him learn to love math and how he witnesses students translate music skills into other subjects.
