Archives for January 2017

3 Reasons Why Brain Research Should Guide Arts Scheduling in Schools

Kinhaven 7-6-16-33There have been more studies of the brain completed in the past twenty years than perhaps the past 200 years combined.  We all have more access to knowledge about how humans learn that we have ever had before.  These brain studies have shown us many things, including how children learn in different ways, how learning changes physical brain structure, and that “talent” as we know it is generally learned and developed — not inborn and inherent.

Yet our public school schedules and offerings have remain unchanged, for the most part, for decades.

As far as school subject offerings are concerned, an abundance of research continues to show that arts education has a profound effect on a child’s life, both within and beyond school walls.  But here is the rub: Some of the most crucial life skills that studying music imparts on a child is not quantified and reflected on the current iteration of local and state report cards — therefore, science has been all but ignored by legislators and administrators.

Regardless of the many reasons to study art for arts’ sake, brain research (and the subsequent data from it) should be more than enough to ensure that the arts are not only offered in their unfettered forms, but are infused into every nook and cranny of school curricula.

Here are three vital human characteristics that research of the brain has shown music provides all students in their school day:

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An Important Truth: Musical Talent is not Born — It is Learned

Kinhaven 7-4-16-14This is a guest post by Dr. Anita Collins.  Anita is an award-winning Australian educator, academic and researcher in the area of music education, particularly in the impact of music education on cognitive development. Anita is a communicator, a conduit between neuroscientific researchers, music educators, musicians, parents and the general public, and works to update our understanding of the purpose and benefits of music education to overall cognitive development and health.  In 2014 Anita was involved with the TED.com network through two project; as author of a short animated film for TED Ed and as a presenter at TEDx Canberra. Both of these projects have been very well received with the TED Ed film reached 14 million and TEDxTalk reaching 1 million views to date.  You can read more about Anita and her work here.

This title could lead you the think that this article is going to be along the lines of “your child can do anything if they put their mind to it”.  Well it is and it isn’t, but I will let you decide where you stand on the question of musical talent after you finish reading.

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