Arts and Education

A recent trip to hear a local symphony perform holiday music brought into sharp focus the folly of assuming that the arts are expendable in schools.

Watching a group of musicians as they play is a lesson in just how many aspects of education are well served by keeping music programs as an integral part of the curriculum.

We expect children to learn and retain quite a few things as they progress through the school system. We want them to be able to read, to comprehend what they read, to be able to use math as an every day tool, to have an understanding of science and history.

We expect them to use multiple approaches to solve programs, to work together, respect each other, and the world around them. We want them to help each other and to seek a different direction if the one that is being used isn’t working.

In short, we want them to be full, productive members of society. With this in mind, it is apparent to the Eduskeptic that the arts curricula should always be as valued a part of learning as language arts, math, science, and history.

Musicians, playing in a small group or an orchestra, must work together if they are to produce the intended sound. They have to plan ahead, read and comprehend the language of music, understand how their instrument produces various sounds, follow directions, and lead when called upon.

They are responsible to their own group and the orchestra as a whole. It is important for them to understand what the composer wanted to accomplish with the piece they are playing and what was going on when it was composed.

Musicians must be attuned to the nuances of the music, and be able to follow and respond to the direction of the conductor.

All of these skills are directly related to the entire spectrum of the educational system. In the small school district that the Eduskeptic taught in, a rather high number of the valedictorians and salutatorians at the local high school came from, and still come from, this small district. All of them went through the music program here.

The music teacher, an accomplished musician, retired after a long and distinguished career teaching music and voice to her middle school students. She had to  constantly fight for keeping the program. It is like that in most school districts. The first things to be considered as expendable are the arts programs, despite the reams of research that say how important they are for learning.

Learning to read music and play an instrument demands a very high level of concentration and dedication. One must problem solve. There are no short cuts. Short attention span activities don’t work here. It is the same with reading, math, science. Success takes work.

If any readers of this column have doubts about any of this, please do go to hear your local symphony play. Watch carefully as the experience plays out. It takes the entire orchestra, and everyone associated with the production, to make it work. It is complicated, intricate, and educationally astounding.

As always, assume nothing, verify everything.