Why music matters in schools

Authors

David Hobson, Musica Viva in Schools

Abstract

The research is clear: music education matters. Active participation in music from an early age is good for children and can help optimise their potential by improving capabilities in a number of essential learning areas. Not all students have the chance to enjoy and learn from musical experiences, however. The 2005 Review of School Music Education found that just 39 per cent of students from Years 1 to 12 had studied music in the previous year, so it is vital that there is a place for music within the national curriculum. Music education should be available for every student and one way to ensure this is through continuing support for programs like Musica Viva in Schools. Giving all children the best tools to express themselves via a sustained and sequential education in music is a great start for developing creativity and assisting learning across all areas of the curriculum. [Author abstract, ed]

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