Enriching Education: Music in Education

In a recent review of studies into the benefits of music education, Stars & Catz found that  academic interest in the topic has taken off since 2008. Of the more than 200 successful  studies that were identified, 80% were published in the last 12 years. 

This recent upward trend in the amount of research being undertaken means that the  already impressive list of boons is only set to expand further. Benefits of music education  

already identified include improvements in academic performance, IQ, attention-span,  memory, language, brain-function, social skills, anxiety reduction and more. 

And despite this, COVID showed that music education is still treated as an extra rather than  a core of the school curriculum. During the pandemic, the subject was once again the first to  be deprioritised when teaching time and budgets were squeezed. For example, New York  experienced a 70% reduction in the music education budget for schools, and President  Trump tried to end federal arts funding altogether. 

Oli Braithwaite is the founder of Stars & Catz, a music education website, and the author of  the review into studies on the benefits of music education. 

He had this to say:  

“The existing body of research already shows one thing clearly: music education acts as an  accelerator to the development of a child’s brain. This makes it a crucial part of the school  curriculum, as it supports learning in all other subjects while, at the same time, reducing  anxiety and improving social relationships. It should be treated as a core pillar, not an extra.” 

I had a chance to learn more in this interview.

Can you share some of the research-based effects of music education?

Since the 1970s research has shown that music education and listening to music in general offers many benefits beyond the art itself. These include improvements in academic performance, IQ, attention span, memory, language, brain function, social skills, anxiety reduction, and more. In fact, a recent review we carried out at Stars & Catz has shown that academic interest in the benefits of music is a growing trend, with 80% of the studies having been carried out since 2008.

  

Why were music programs often overlooked even before Covid?

Many curriculums are still founded on a traditional understanding of school subjects, where the core subjects like English, science and maths are the must-haves, and other subjects like music are nice-to-haves. But this way of thinking is out of date because recent discoveries about the benefits of music education have not yet been fully reflected in the design of many curriculums. Due to this, school targets are focused primarily on the core subjects and music is the first subject to be deprioritised when time or budget tightens, or other circumstances make teaching harder. 

How has Covid affected music education?

COVID-19 was an extreme case of teaching becoming harder at the same time as both budget and classroom teaching hours squeezing. Compounding this issue was the fact that music lessons are particularly tricky to deliver over a video call. So the challenge was already steep for music teachers, but on top of this budget cuts were delivered in some parts of the US, an extreme example being New York's austerity budget of 2021 where music education was cut by 70%.

What are some things parents and caregivers can do to help support music education in schools?

Parents and caregivers can talk to their child's teachers and those who run the school, including the headteacher. They can share what they've learned about the benefits of music education on wider academic performance. This will raise the profile of the topic in the school and may lead to greater prioritisation of the subject. Outside of that, private music lessons are an option, and if cost is a concern then organising group music lessons outside of school, perhaps for a circle of friends, with a private teacher is a cost-effective way to bring the benefits of music education to a child.