Should Music be Part of Standard Education?
Boost brainpower and creativity through music in education despite challenges.

“Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.” ― Sarah Dessen

Music is a massive part of our day-to-day lives. It’s probably the one thing that we all have in common. Everyone enjoys music. There are no borders, restrictions, or divisions when good music is playing. We all dance, enjoy, or cry together to the tune of good music. In light of this, some people wonder.

Why isn’t music a part of the standard education system?

Why must everyone learn Math, yet music is reserved for special programs? In this article, I’ll explore the merits and demerits of adding music to the school curriculum. I’ll also talk about some examples to help paint the picture better. Let’s do it.

Why is it a good idea?

First, why is it a good idea to add music to the standard curriculum? What do we stand to gain from doing that?

Cognitive development

Research shows that music helps with brain development, especially in young children. Music has been found to improve memory, reasoning, and many other mental features in young children. This means music education will not only make every young person music literate but also improve their performances in other facets of life.

Music helps to open up the brains of young people. It’s easier to learn with songs and pictures because they stimulate parts of the brain that would otherwise be difficult to reach.

Social integration

Music helps our kids become nerds, you might be saying, but it doesn’t stop there. Music also helps to boost the social lives of young people. Children can learn to work together when in a choir, for example. Singing in front of others also helps them to overcome shyness as early as possible. Music helps children cross social barriers effortlessly.

The usual narrative is that the nerds and academically excellent kids are shy and awkward while the arts and music lovers are outgoing but could be more academically sound. Imagine a world where we can balance things out.

Creativity

One thing I have found very difficult to teach to adults is creativity. If an adult is unimaginative, it’s difficult to reverse. For a child, however, it’s a blank canvas. Exposing children to the intricacies of music early on will help boost their creativity. Music is one discipline where rules are meant to be bent. There’s no better environment for building creativity than that. Learn the rules so you can bend them.

Songwriting, production, playing instruments, and many other music parts are fertile ground for creativity.

Self-expression

There are many dangers in the world for children, but one of the worst is when children cannot express themselves. Children who bottle up things often grow with so much pain and have no idea how to express themselves even as adults. Music is a great form of self-expression and it can be the perfect channel for your child.

Music gets people to open up. Many artists use their music to speak about their life issues. Imagine having such a release right from childhood. We can stop the trauma before it becomes trauma.

Why should we think twice?

We can agree that adding music to the curriculum is a good idea, but what’s the other side of the coin?

It’s a luxury

Compared to the fundamentals of knowledge, music can be considered a luxury. Subjects like math, language, and science are much more fundamental to understanding how the world works. This means that in terms of the pecking order, music is nowhere near the top. So as nice as it would be to have music as part of the standard curriculum, one must admit it’s more of an extra feature than a necessity.

Lack of resources

Schools are run based on the available resources. Schools need heavy funding to have proper, state-of-the-art facilities. When funding is not enough, not every program can continue. Music especially can be an expensive program to run. The school needs a decent sound system, the students need instruments, and teachers have to be paid as well.

Given that music is not so high on the pecking order as we’ve already seen, it makes sense that it would be one of the first programs to get cut if there’s a shortage of resources. That said, every government should prioritize education so in an ideal world, lack of resources wouldn’t be an issue.

Brain overload

Music takes a lot to master. Some people have argued that making music a compulsory subject for students would add too much to an already heavy workload. You want your kids gifted at many things, but you don’t want their brains overloaded. Music as an optional program for interested students is not a bad idea, but forcing students to do it may create more issues than it solves.

Case Study: Finnish Comprehensive Schools

Now we’ve seen the case from both sides. Let’s look at one example of music programs for children. Several special programs offer music education to children. The Sistema program in Venezuela has helped bring music to the streets of their country. The model has grown and expanded to several countries. One good example of music in public education, however, is Finland.

Finnish comprehensive schools are known for their holistic approach to education. One of the key parts of their system is the addition of music and arts. They offer up to 8 hours of music sessions per week. The Finnish model is proof that music as a part of a standard curriculum can work.

Final Verdict

There’s no question that we should expose children to music from an early age. The benefits are too glaring to be ignored. Whether those advantages are enough to warrant adding music to the standard school curriculum is a different matter. For now, the popular practice is to have an extra music program that children can opt into.

I believe, however, that music should be a part of standard education. A world with children who have better cognitive ability and less social awkwardness is too good for me to turn down. What do you think?