I keep hearing that teaching music in primary schools proves to be one of the hardest subjects to approach. This is not surprising to me anymore, the amount of time spent in PGCE’s and other teaching courses learning about Maths, English and Science massively outways the amount of time spent learning about music. But teachers are still supposed to teach 30 children about a subject with their minimal experience. For individuals who have a background in music from childhood, this is fine. What about those that have never studied music since secondary school?
The benefits of teaching music in primary school are apparent; it teaches the children about rhythm, lets them get creative & gives them a taste of being a musician. Some hidden benefits are less widely known, and these are some of the main reasons I believe it is a fundamental skill that should be taught confidently from the start of a child’s musical journey.
Music is a critical factor in developing a child’s emotional development.
Compared to a group of children who had never studied music, children opened up to music had much higher empathy levels. Music can be a very emotional tool. We’ve all got that one song that brings back a specific memory. Music has been used to help dementia patients bring back memories they thought they had forgotten. Emotional Development is a near impossible thing for a teacher to teach, but one half an hour music activity a week has been shown to kick start this development. These children’s brains are still growing, bringing music into their lives can do wonders.
Music can help develop a child’s phonics and language skills.
Surprisingly, music can be linked closely to a child’s ability to process language’s sound structures. Children with a musical experience have proven to develop phonological awareness at a much faster rate than their peers without musical knowledge. This all stems from a child’s ability to understand rhythm, which can be taught effortlessly with music. This is most apparent with dyslexic children, who find it much easier to understand language’s rhythm when introduced via music.
Teaching music in primary schools can develop a child’s memory.
Music increases a child’s memory drastically. For instance, when conducting a verbal long-term memory task, like remembering a word in a different language, the children will find it a lot easier to remember if it is sung rather than spoken. That’s the exact reason why tasks like learning the alphabet are always done via song! You’d never remember that if it were just an array of letters right? When children are exposed to musical activities from a young age, their memory tasks’ scores will usually be higher. This all stems down to music sessions developing the child’s hippocampus (the part of the brain used for memory and music).
There are plenty more parallels between music and a child’s overall development. Music increases a child’s attention, maths ability, cognitive development, intelligence, self-esteem and reading skills. So why aren’t primary teachers given more opportunity to develop their music skills during training? With this much input in the national curriculum as a whole, we really can impact children’s lives by opening them up to the power of music.
If you are a primary educator and want to learn more about teaching music in primary schools, why not check out our CPD courses? Join the Academy by clicking here, or heading to academy.themusicalme.com. CPD UK accredits our courses to ensure we provide the highest quality materials to reform your music lessons. For more information, email email@example.com or give us a call on 0800 7565580.
Ninasikia mara nyingi kwamba kufundisha muziki katika shule za msingi ni mojawapo ya masomo magumu zaidi. Hii haishangazi kwangu tena, kiasi cha muda uliotumika katika PGCE na kozi nyingine za kufundisha kujifunza kuhusu Hisabati, Kiingereza na Sayansi kwa kiasi kikubwa outweighs kiasi cha muda uliotumika kujifunza kuhusu muziki. Walimu wanawafundisha watoto 30 kuhusu somo fulani kwa uzoefu wao mdogo. Kwa watu ambao wana historia ya muziki tangu utotoni, hii ni nzuri. Namna gani wale ambao hawajawahi kujifunza muziki tangu shule ya sekondari? Faida za kufundisha muziki katika shule ya msingi ni dhahiri; inawafundisha watoto kuhusu rhythm, huwaacha kuwa wabunifu na huwapa ladha ya kuwa mwanamuziki. Kuna faida zilizofichwa ambazo hazijulikani sana, na hizi ni baadhi ya sababu kuu ambazo ninaamini ni ujuzi wa msingi ambao unapaswa kufundishwa kwa uhakika kutoka mwanzo wa safari ya muziki ya mtoto. Muziki ni jambo muhimu katika kukuza ukuzi wa kihisia-moyo wa mtoto. Ikilinganishwa na kikundi cha watoto ambao hawakuwahi kujifunza muziki, watoto waliofungua kwa muziki walikuwa na viwango vya juu zaidi vya hisia-mwenzi. Muziki waweza kuwa chombo chenye kuchochea hisia sana. Sote tuna wimbo mmoja ambao unatuonyesha kumbukumbu fulani hususa. Muziki umetumiwa kuwasaidia wagonjwa wa ugonjwa wa kukosa fahamu kukumbuka mambo waliyofikiri wamesahau. "Kujenga hisia ni jambo ambalo ni vigumu kwa mwalimu kufundisha, lakini shughuli moja ya muziki ya nusu saa kwa wiki imeonyeshwa kuanzisha maendeleo haya. """ Ubongo wa watoto hawa bado unakua, kuleta muziki katika maisha yao kunaweza kufanya maajabu. Muziki waweza kusaidia kukuza uwezo wa mtoto wa kusikia na kusema. Kwa kushangaza, muziki unaweza kuhusishwa kwa ukaribu na uwezo wa mtoto wa kuchanganua muundo wa sauti za lugha. Watoto wenye uzoefu wa muziki wameonyesha kuwa wana uwezo wa kuelewa sauti kwa kasi zaidi kuliko wenzao wasio na ujuzi wa muziki. Yote hayo yanatokana na uwezo wa mtoto wa kuelewa mdundo, ambao waweza kufundishwa bila jitihada kwa kutumia muziki. Hii ni dhahiri zaidi na watoto dyslexic, ambao kupata ni rahisi sana kuelewa rhythm lugha wakati kuletwa kupitia muziki. Kufundisha muziki katika shule za msingi kunaweza kuendeleza kumbukumbu ya mtoto. Muziki huongeza kumbukumbu ya mtoto sana. Kwa mfano, wakati wa kufanya kazi ya kumbukumbu ya muda mrefu ya maneno, kama kukumbuka neno katika lugha tofauti, watoto wataona ni rahisi zaidi kukumbuka ikiwa linaimbwa badala ya kuongezwa. Hiyo ndiyo sababu hasa kwa nini kazi kama kujifunza alfabeti ni daima kufanyika kupitia wimbo! Wewe kamwe kukumbuka kwamba kama ilikuwa tu safu ya herufi haki? Wakati watoto wanapoonyeshwa kwa shughuli za muziki kutoka umri mdogo, alama zao za kazi za kumbukumbu kwa kawaida zitakuwa za juu. Hii yote inatokana na vipindi vya muziki vinavyoendeleza hippocampus ya mtoto (sehemu ya ubongo inayotumiwa kwa kumbukumbu na muziki). Kuna mambo mengi yanayofanana kati ya muziki na ukuzi wa mtoto kwa ujumla. Muziki huongeza umakini wa mtoto, uwezo wa hisabati, maendeleo ya utambuzi, akili, kujithamini na ujuzi wa kusoma. Kwa hiyo kwa nini walimu wa msingi hawapati fursa zaidi ya kuendeleza ujuzi wao wa muziki wakati wa mafunzo? Kwa mchango huu mwingi katika mtaala wa kitaifa kwa ujumla, tunaweza kuathiri maisha ya watoto kwa kuwafungulia nguvu ya muziki. Kama wewe ni mwalimu wa msingi na unataka kujifunza zaidi kuhusu kufundisha muziki katika shule za msingi, kwa nini si kuangalia nje yetu CPD kozi? Kujiunga na Chuo kwa kubonyeza hapa, au kichwa kwa academy.themusicalme.com. CPD UK inathibitisha kozi zetu ili kuhakikisha tunatoa vifaa vya ubora wa juu ili kurekebisha masomo yako ya muziki. Kwa maelezo zaidi, tumia barua pepe kwa email@example.com au piga simu kwa 0800-775-580-786-7.