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May 2008
Brain Function and Music
Can listening to music or playing an instrument actually make you learn better? A school in Florida thinks music is a great benefit in education. Through the Violins Against Violence Program, students in third grade receive violins and free lessons. The strings instructor, Robert T. Davis, says, “Numerous studies have shown that children to play instruments do better on standardized tests. Exposure to music also helps with
- Reading
- Encourages socialization and
- Improves a student’s focus and commitment.”
[Tania deLuzuriaga, Miami Herald, Miamiherald.com, May 31, 2007]
Research
Recent research done with 1st and 2nd graders at Pawtucket, RI public elementary shows that arts do increase academic performance.
The study included 96 first grade students participating in a music and visual art program emphasizing sequential skill development integrating these skills into the standard curriculum. One group received the standard curriculum, and the other group received the integrated program.
7 months later, all students were given a standardized test. The students that were in the integrated program were initially behind in reading and had average scores in math. After 7 months, the integrated group of students had caught up in reading and had pulled ahead in math.
In 2nd grade, the same students continued in the experiment. By the end of 2nd grade, again, the students in the integrated arts program were ahead of the control group in math and reading.
Theory
Martin Gardiner, research director at The Music School, theorizes that “learning arts skills forces mental ‘stretching’ useful to other areas of learning: the math learning advantage could, for example, reflect the development of mental skills such as ordering, and other elements of thinking on which mathematical learning at this age also depends.” [The National Association for Music Education, menc.org, May 23, 1996 issue of Nature]
So, when teachers state that the process of learning an instrument or singing in choir benefits students academically—they are right.
Barb Pytel
K-8 Counselor
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