{"id":168,"date":"2017-06-20T17:33:38","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T17:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-music-and-the-child\/chapter\/chapter-1-perspectives-and-approaches-2\/"},"modified":"2017-09-07T15:11:06","modified_gmt":"2017-09-07T15:11:06","slug":"chapter-1-perspectives-and-approaches-2","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-music-and-the-child\/chapter\/chapter-1-perspectives-and-approaches-2\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 1: Perspectives and Approaches","rendered":"Chapter 1: Perspectives and Approaches"},"content":{"raw":"
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Chapter Summary<\/h3>\r\nChildren are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children\u2019s identity and heritage, teaches them to belong to a culture, and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self-worth. As professional instructors, childcare workers, or students looking forward to a career working with children, we must continuously search for ways to tap into children\u2019s natural reservoirs of enthusiasm for singing, moving, and experimenting with instruments. But how, you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I\u2019m working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly, perhaps, how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts?\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\nOver the past several decades, educators, world leaders, and theorists have produced a slurry of manifestos, visions and statements on what education should look like in the 21st century. Organizations such as Partnership for 21st century Learning (http:\/\/www.p21.org\/<\/a>) and The Center for Public Education (CPE) suggest ways to teach such skills to prepare students for the challenges ahead (see the CPE\u2019s executive summary<\/a> on the topic). The results favor integrative and holistic approaches that support the ideals of what a skilled 21st century student should know.\r\n\r\nIn this book, we will explore a holistic, artistic, integrated, and forward-thinking 21st-century approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. Rather than teaching children about music, this book will guide professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children\u2019s lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, in this book we will explore ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.\r\n

An Arts Approach: Visions and Challenges<\/h1>\r\n
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The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction in the life of the nation, is very close to the center of a nation\u2019s purpose\u2014and it is the test of the quality of a nation\u2019s civilization.<\/p>\r\n

\u2014J. F. Kennedy, 1962<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nKennedy\u2019s famous words, now decades old, provided the nation with legitimacy and a vision for the arts and arts education that still resonates today. There is a plethora of evidence regarding the critical role that the arts play in children\u2019s lives and learning. Organizations and researchers have produced countless studies on the arts\u2019 effectiveness and ability to engage children cognitively, emotionally, physically, and artistically: in other words, on a holistic level.\r\n\r\nAccording to the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), however,\r\n

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Children\u2019s access to arts education as part of their core education continues to be uneven across our nation\u2019s nearly fourteen thousand school districts. Some local education agencies currently offer a full, balanced education that includes rich and varied arts opportunities for their students. However, too many schools have succumbed to funding challenges or embraced a narrow focus on tested subjects, resulting in minimal, if any, arts experiences for the children they serve. (2013, p. 3)<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nOne of the challenges facing teachers\u2019 use of the arts concerns a curriculum encumbered by a need to \u201cteach to the test,\u201d both at the state and federal levels. This trend began in the 1990s with an educational reform movement that stressed teacher accountability. Measurements through testing became accepted and standardized under the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and also under the new Common Core State Standards Initiative currently being implemented. National and state laws and a trend toward teaching and testing \u201ccore subjects\u201d reshape social perceptions and create a permanent culture that continually marginalizes the arts in the curriculum. The result impacts teacher perceptions regarding the incorporation of the arts in their lessons as there is a sense that using the arts is somehow a diversion that will take away classroom time from what are considered more \u201cworthy\u201d subjects. The arts, however, can be used effectively to augment this method, motivating students and appealing to their innate artistry and humanity.\r\n\r\nThis book is intended to aid those who have little or no background in music, in order to increase their comfort in integrating music into the curriculum. The material will help guide educators in finding methods to incorporate music with other subjects in a way that is inherently beneficial to teachers and students rather than a hindrance.\r\n

A Holistic Approach<\/h2>\r\nThis book takes a holistic approach to the study of music, drawing from diverse fields such as music education, ethnomusicology, sociology, and cognitive sciences. The book takes into account many different perspectives on a child\u2019s development rather than approaching it by focusing on only one subject. The material in this book is inspired by an approach to holistic education, the goal of which is to lead children towards developing and inner sense of musical understanding and meaning through physical, cognitive, creative, emotional and socially developmental means.\r\n\r\nAccording to the Holistic Education movement, it is essential that children learn about:\r\n
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  1. Themselves: including self-respect and self-esteem<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Relationships: i.e., relationships with others through social \u201cliteracy\u201d and emotional \u201cliteracy,\u201d understanding one\u2019s own self in relation to others<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Resilience: overcoming difficulties, facing challenges, and learning how to ensure long-term success<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Aesthetics: seeing the beauty around them and inspiring awe<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nHolistic education first addresses the question of what it is that the child needs to learn, and places the arts and aesthetics as key elements in teaching the developing child. Similarly, the holistic educator places music and the arts in a central position in a child\u2019s education, emphasizing the artistic and aesthetic experiences that only the arts can bring.\r\n\r\nA holistic approach not only includes children\u2019s cognitive development, but their musical environment and cultural influences. In that sense, the book will address how children use music outside<\/em> of the classroom. How do children experience music when playing or in leisure time activities? How do children think about music? How are they innately musically creative?\r\n\r\nAs an extension, the book also touches on some multicultural aspects of music, and considers the broad role of music and its importance to humanity, thus avoiding an insular and myopic Western Cultural<\/span><\/strong> view of the musical child. How do people in other cultures view music? How do children of other cultures experience music?\r\n

    A 21st-Century Approach<\/h2>\r\nA discussion of 21st-century skills provides an important opportunity to consider change in the current state of the curriculum, future societal needs, and the role of music and the arts. Changing economics and demographics require flexibility and adaptability. What skills will children need to obtain employment? How can children be prepared to contribute and compete in a complex society? How can educators and educational systems meet these needs?\r\n\r\nAlarmed at the condition of American public education, various institutions such as the Kennedy Center, The Partnership for 21st-Century Skills, 21st-Century Schools and the Global Alliance for Transforming Education<\/a> organized to identify particular areas of educational focus deemed crucial for future learning. Their results place a high emphasis placed on student autonomy and independent learning, problem solving, and creativity, all of which are fundamental aspects of the arts.\r\n

    21st Century Skills<\/h1>\r\n<\/colgroup>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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    21st Century Skills<\/h2>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

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    • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Agility and Adaptability<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Initiative and Entrepreneurialism<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Effective Oral and Written Communication<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Accessing and Analyzing Information<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Curiosity and Imagination<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Child-Centered Learning<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Outcome-Based Research and Learning<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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    • Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Cooperation<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
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