Music offers students opportunity to interact intellectually

Even as Chennai is limping back to normalcy after reeling for over a week under the impact of nature’s fury that has not spared any person from any walk of life, artists and organisers are responding in various ways to provide relief to the affected as best as they can.

While sentimental responses like cancelling their concerts is certainly not uncommendable, I think that performing and donating the proceeds to the relief efforts is certainly a better blend of emotion and effectiveness. This is what I have planned to do in this season to the best of my ability.

Music — an enhancer: The season is as good a time as any to highlight how relevant music is to every part of society in the overall scheme of things. It is not only an entertainer but an enhancer. My responses to divisive talk in any quarter about how our music is narrowly confined to certain classes as well as my own pioneering efforts since 1994 in rural schools have been well publicised enough to be known across the board.

But I am going to share some thoughts on a slightly different note here at the general academic level. When I was in the Central Government’s Core Committee for Music Education in Schools, I had submitted to the panel that it is high time that India starts taking a holistic approach to education as is being done in several other countries.

Incomplete edu: n my recent visit to the USA, I noticed that Steam has become the new hot word in education in such countries. It stands for a comprehensive approach to education — science, technology, engineering, arts and math. In other words, it is being recognised that education without music is incomplete. Recently, a panel of experts gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to discuss ways to elevate music education — and the arts in general — across the board in a country that already has school music programmes of unimaginable variety, sophistication and organisation, including Western Classical Orchestras, Jazz Bands, Marching Bands and Choirs in almost every city. The same Facebooking, Instagraming children are also as familiar with Mozart, Bach,

Beethoven etc, showing that being modern doesn’t mean a complete lack of pride in and abundance of contempt for the classical — as it has come to be misunderstood in our own country’s school-college generation, thanks mainly to the so-called ‘comedy’ scenes in many movies. It is all the more imperative for our educators to step in and look at the big picture.

From STEM to STEAM: In a recent event called “Music Education Powers STEAM: The Broader Minded Role of Music in Preparing a 21st Century Workforce”, sponsored by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), a great case was made about how music could actually enhance a student’s overall progress and quality. The panel included Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon and moderated by Matt Wallaert, a behavioral

psychologist with Microsoft/Bing.

India’s legislators as well as corporate giants must get under one roof to power our country’s next generation along the same lines.

New thinking: It is increasingly obvious to thinkers in many parts of the world how music develops key skills in students, including self-reflection, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation. Music offers students the chance to interact intellectually, kinetically, and emotionally, allowing them to take ownership of their world through creation and expression. As one of the panelists remarked, “One of the things that arts and music do uniquely is to help children discover who they are as a person and their relationship to their fellow human beings. ”

One more thing that has come to be appreciated recently is that too much of attention and dialogue about science-technology education and career readiness tends to focus on very

high-achieving students whereas a strong music education program can help struggling students reach higher levels. India needs to address this at the earliest so that it can become a far stronger country in the near future.

If the music season can enhance awareness about all these, it would have exceeded its goals positively.