Good morning colleagues and distinguished guests.

Thank you for affording me the

opportunity to speak on music education as a necessity in school curricula, despite possible

budget cuts. During our time together, I hope that you will find clarity as you make your final

decision in these tough economic times.

Collins Dictionary defines music as: “the pattern of sound produced by people singing or

playing instruments”. However, research proves that music has a much deeper and expansive

definition. Therefore, I challenge you to think of music defined as: opportunity, community, and

science.

Sir Ken Robinson speaks to the importance, value, and purpose of music in education

stating that creativity, an innate quality in music, is as valuable as literacy. He explains that

creativity surrounds us; it is in the languages we speak, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and

the environments we design. Robinson continues, stating that as educators we teach our students

to prepare them for the world they will encounter in the future. However, he argues that we live

in uncertainty; an uncertainty that makes it impossible to predict what the world will look like

five years from now, never mind in 20 years when our students are independent and in the work

force.

Robinson imparts that in this time of uncertainty, we must equip our students with the

skill to think critically, arguing that critical thinking is imbedded in creativity. To incorporate

creativity, thus critical thinking, into our students’ learning, we must adopt a whole curriculum

approach to learning – an approach that includes the arts in combination with languages,

humanities, science, and math in school curricula. Robinson finishes, stating that if we do not

incorporate creativity into our schools, we are neglecting our duty to ensure students’ success

and as a result, doing an incredible disserve to our students.

 As previously mentioned, the world is ever-changing. It is during our time together as a

school community that our students navigate this ever-changing world and experience their

formative years. It is during these formative years that they begin to form their own identities

and opinions, which influence the rest of their youth and adult life. Research conducted by

Campbell, Connell, and Beegle found that music provided adolescents with a medium through

which they could construct, negotiate, and modify aspects of their personal and group identities.

Music offered these students strategies for knowing themselves and connecting with others.

Bennett Reimer asserts that music education makes one a better person in various ways.

He states that music, in addition to providing a healthy outlet for repressed emotions and

improving health, improves learning skills, imparts moral uplift, fulfills a multitude of social

needs, challenges individuals with focus, and encourages self-discipline. Reimer claims that

music provides individuals with the experience of discipline, choice, and adaptation, as opposed

to learning about it. Reimer states that through music, a child sensing the flow of a melody and

singing it as it needs to be sung is serving its expressive demands; controlling their behaviour

and immediate needs in the service of a greater good.

Our Canadian identity is deeply rooted in multiculturalism. Therefore, it is crucial that we

seek every opportunity possible to educate and allow our students to experience various cultures.

Through music, we are able to experience and learn about the history, values, and beliefs held by

different cultures. Emily-Jane Hills Orford’s writing offers support for this statement as she has

written: “Community means the importance of grounding the music curriculum in a particular

place and moving to an ever-broadening view, ensuring that all learners come to understand their

place within a growing community, value differences as well as similarities, feel connected to

others, accept and love their own musical traditions, and are empowered to change those things
that should be changed and embrace new perspectives.” This, in addition to other findings,

suggests that sharing music encourages social unity and cohesion as well as continuity and

stability within and between cultures.

Music is the only activity that activates nearly every region of the brain. Daniel Levitin

describes the regions of the brain that are activated in his book, This is your Brain on Music. He

illustrates the involvement of multiple regions of the brain while listening to a familiar piece or

type of music, reading musical notation, recalling lyrics to a song, moving to the beat of a

musical piece, playing an instrument, responding emotionally to music, and performing a

musical selection.

As we have discovered, music offers our students the opportunity for success in the

future through self-discipline, creativity, choice, and identify. Music also offers an opportunity

for community through the experience of a variety of different cultures and a stimulating

education through the activation of every region in the brain. If Alberta Education has in fact

adopted an Inclusive Education approach, every student regardless of cognitive, behavioural or

social ability, should be afforded the opportunity to receive a music education and experience

acceptance as well as a sense of belonging offered through music. Ultimately, our goal as

educators should be to prepare our students for their journey into adulthood by equipping them

with the skills and attitudes that are offered by music. Therefore, in light of the benefits offered

to our students through music education, music should be integrated in children’s earliest

educational experiences and should continue throughout their educational journey.

In order to activate all regions of the brain, be offered opportunity, and develop

community, instrumental, choral, popular music, a variety of cultural music, and Western music

should be taught. In our Elementary classroom, the methodologies that would best serve these
teachings are those coined by Carl Orff and Zoltán Kodály. A quality music education that

encompasses opportunity, community, and the activation of all regions of the brain can only be

offered by a music specialist who has dedicated their life to researching, living, and

understanding music. By cutting music education in our school, you are stripping our students of

their right to experience future success, discipline, choice, adaptation, build identity, participate

in community, and participate in a brain stimulating activity.

In conclusion, I challenge you to consider this statement from Sir Ken Robinson: “Many

highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not. Because the thing they were good at

at school wasn’t valued or was actually stigmatized.” I have wondered why this quote touched

me so deeply and elicited such an emotional response. I came to the realization that during my

time in grade school, how well I did in music was never an indication of my intelligence. What

mattered was my 48% in grade 9 math, my struggle to complete Biology 30, and my poor essay

writing in high school Social Studies. To this day, I often feel “less than” and even “stupid”. No

student should ever feel this way. It is our obligation to offer our students an education grounded

in opportunity, community, and science; all of which can only be offered through the inclusion

of music in our school curricula.

Works Cited
Campbell, P. S., Connell, C., & Beegle, A. (2007). Adolescents’ Expressed Meanings of Music
in and out of School. Journal of Research in Music Education , 220-236.
Hallam, S. (2005). How to Advocate for Music: Personal Stories of Music Education Advocacy.
International Journey of Music Education , 145-148.
Hubing, K. (2015). Sir Ken Robinson on Arts in Education. School Administrator , 23-25.
Levitin, D. J. (2006). This Is Your Brain on Music. New York: Dutton.
Orford, E.-J. H. (2007). A Place of Music: The Importance of Music Education in the Public
School System (Elementary Grades 1-6). The Canadian Music Educator , 38.
Reimer, B. (1989). A Philosophy of Music Education. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Unknown. (Unknown). Definition of Music. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from Collins:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/music
Unknown. (2013). Fast Facts about Mental Illness. Retrieved January 26, 2018, from Canadian
Mental Health Association: https://cmha.ca/about-cmha/fast-facts-about-mental-
illness#.WJa6JvkrLIU
Ward, B. A., & Young, T. A. (2014). Developing Individual Talent and Abilities: An Interview
with Sir Ken Robinson. Language Arts , 157-162.