On 18 Sep 2011 at 7:51, Phil Daley wrote: > At 9/17/2011 03:53 PM, John Howell wrote: > > >As a practical matter you're correct. But my > >point is that music should be taught as > >rigorously in elementary schools as any other > >subject, and as rigorously as it is in the Kodály > >programs in Hungary. Where we may differ is my > >firm belief that EVERY kid has "an instrument > >worth training," and should be singing throughout > >elementary school, not just the few that are > >identified as "gifted" or "talented," and that > >without that entirely reasonable early training > >they are so far behind that they may never catch > >up with the instrumentalists who HAVE had > >rigorous training in private lessons (because > >their parents could afford them), and thus may > >never have the opportunity to develop the talent > >they do have. > > Good idea, but there is no time for that. > > They don't spend enough time on the standard subjects as it is. > > Perhaps if the school day was longer and/or they went all summer long.
>From a musician, I find this attitude particularly alarming. Music as a discipline has been shown in studies to improve the ability of students to reason and think. Thus, time spent on teaching music properly could make the other teaching more efficient. We had plenty of time for music when I was a kid. I haven't noticed that days are no longer 24 hours in length, though I don't know how many hours kids are expected to be in the classroom any longer... -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
