Comments on: Larry Scripp on “Music’s Evolving Role in Education”

By: dakota benedetto

dakota benedetto — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:44:02 +0000

I was really struck by the concept of the artist-teacher-scholar. As a visual and performing arts teacher, I feel like this concept is applicable across the board, with all sorts of professions: those who consider themselves only teachers, or only artists, or only scholars. Even those who don’t consider themselves any of the above! It makes me wonder how students might respond if THEY were encouraged to become (or convinced that they already are) artist-teacher-scholars. The cyclical process of learning-doing-sharing seems to make so much sense for every aspect of education and daily life.

By: guillermo.marini

guillermo.marini — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 04:25:25 +0000

Building on what Danielle said, I’m also interested on the interdisciplinary role that music may play in developing common skills with other disciplines. Considering some of those skills, as depicted in point 4, I find fascinating the metaphorical relationships that we may find between the different disciplines and music: What is color to music and to the visual arts? What is proportion to music and to math? What is a specific feeling like joy to music and to literature? I believe that the research on these metaphorical relationships is fundamental to an effective development of interdisciplinary education.
In addition, being Argentinean I’m also interested in an international and cross-cultural approach towards the teaching and learning of music. I know that there are certain institutions (for example: International Baccalaureate Organization, University of Cambridge International Examinations, etc.) that include in their syllabus music courses with an interdisciplinary perspective. Wouldn’t it be really enriching to compare those organizations perspectives with LTM’s, see what they have in common and what differentiates them and why?
Another question that I had while reading the article is how to finance music education projects like LTM. Are there specific organizations that advocate for music in the United States? In the world?

By: joybelle125

joybelle125 — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 04:13:10 +0000

Scripp’s article on Learning Through Music – Music’ Evolving Role in Education really helped me question and ponder the idea of education through music and the arts in general. I am torn between two seemingly conflicting ideas of believing in and understanding the interdisciplinary power and role of music in aiding in the learning and understanding of other “academic” subjects and that of appreciating music for itself without using it for the learning of math or history. However, perhaps the two ideas are not conflicting, but rather more complementary.
Furthermore, the reason music is seen as such a powerful and instrumental form of teaching and learning stems from the fact that music is something that is so widely appreciated, understood, and enjoyed. Indeed, Scripp’s highlights that “…musicians and educators are now accepting the impact of music learning on all children’s lives, and not just the talented few.” It is this power of music to appeal to and be understood by all, and not just the select few, that makes it worth further researching and studying.

By: guillermo.marini

guillermo.marini — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:32:32 +0000

Building on what Danielle said, I’m also interested in the interdisciplinary role that music may play in developing specific skills in other disciplines. I find particularly fascinating the metaphorical relationship among these skills, clearly depicted in point 4: What is proportion to music and to math? What is color to painting and to music? What is a feeling such as joy to literature and to music? Etc. I believe that the research on these metaphorical relations hold the key towards a truly effective interdisciplinary work with music.
In addition, I know that there are certain institutions (for example: International Baccalaureate Organization, University of Cambridge International Examinations) that foster an interdisciplinary use of music. Being Argentinean, I’m curious about the differences and similarities between those institutions’ approaches and LTM’s. Wouldn’t it be really interesting to compare the diverse findings of these approaches across different countries?

By: max.spayde

max.spayde — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 17:38:24 +0000

Many of the comments I’ve read so far have resonated with me; just as Joy-Leilani said above, I cringe at the thought of subsuming one academic discipline to another. I relate this to part of the conversation we had in S310B on whether there has to be a dichotomy between the arts and more typically core curricular areas. I’m still lost in a fog on this issue.

Also, I agree with Aliza that the way in which music is taught in many of our schools favors not only those who are already musically capable, but also those who can cognitively decode the notes and rhythms on paper. Especially in instrumental music ed., students who are visual learners and already good readers of language have a leg up on students who are aural learners but don’t decode the sheet-music well enough to “read” it. I could probably move from here into a discussion of the coincidality of music participation and school success, but that’s a different subject for a different day.

Finally, Kenneth Kwok touched on the devaluation of improvisation and creativity in large group music classes, and the fact that students can rarely say “this is mine!” I would love to see a model in which students created their own music and later compared it with their peers and with other music which was originally meant to be “regurgitated or resurrected.”

This part of Larry’s article also resonated for me: “Furthermore, because (of) the current era of school accountability, musicians and educators are now accepting the challenge for holding music programs accountable for measuring the impact of music learning on all children’s lives, and not just the talented few.” Measuring impact is job one is schools today, but in order to measure impact, you have to define what you want, you have to define “success.” My own bias is that success is having a passion for your subject and being able to communicate that passion to others, whether that be through writing, speaking, musicing or otherwise.

By: Kaelyn Sophabmixay

Kaelyn Sophabmixay — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 17:24:36 +0000

I found this article interesting in many different ways. First was the construction of an education program for what was formerly a performance based school. It is important for professional musicians to learn the techniques of education (and really it boils down to ways of communicating) as a means of transferring their knowledge to the next generation. This shift in focus from performance to education prompts the LTM response. I agree with the presentation of individual arts programs as a piece of the core academic field. “LTM program values music as much as any other subject area…” One major concern with the program is the approach to assessment. Where traditional classrooms are limited to 32 students (maximum) how are these educators to provide quality feedback and accurate assessment without taking weeks to complete it? One of the unique characteristics about music classrooms is the ability to house larger numbers. This shouldn’t be lost even if the music class is approached in the same light as the traditional academic class. But how do you get to all of the students? (Strategic planning is definitely needed!) I love the five processes and when posted for students to see on a daily basis (around the classroom) this can become an active way towards involving the Making Learning Visible program at Project Zero.