“All deep things are song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls!
” ~Thomas Carlyle

 Most people think of literacy as the ability to read the written word
 Literacy doesn’t pertain only to reading but also “writing, thinking, talking, listening and creating”
 So where do we as music educators fit in?
 This presentation will show the role that music can take in academic development

 Budget cuts have eroded music programs across the country for the past 30 years.
 Organizations such as Vh1’s Save the Music Foundation have donated over $34 million to 1,400 public schools in the US helping to keep the music alive
 Unfortunately, music and arts programs are still rapidly disappearing.

 Music is deemed “frivolous, unimportant and void of any academic importance” by school administrators looking to
“streamline” their schools by cutting the arts.
 How can we as music educators turn around these misconceptions of unimportance?
 How does music actually influence the development of children?

 Thanks to modern “brain research,” using music to understand the human brain and how it develops, music educators have a strengthened position on the promotion of music as an academic tool.
 One example is Howard Gardner’s Theory of
Multiple Intelligences which gives music a
“significant place in the development of educational programs.
 A study in 1995 showed that musicians who learned to play a string or keyboard instrument before adolescence had “a larger part of the brain devoted to touch perception.”

 A study in 1997 showed how music can accelerate learning, promote memory development and hand/eye coordination.
 It also showed how cognitive processes are aided by learning music.
 The music of Mozart was used in this study as
“a vehicle for remediating audiological and neurological dysfunctions and facilitating higher levels of brain function.”
 Music companies such as Baby Einstein are promoting music as a learning tool in infants and some even go as far as to say that
“Mozart makes you smarter!”

 Howard Gardner supports that everyone has music as part of their multiple intelligences and that every single child has the ability to develop musically.
 In an article published in 1997,
Gardner concludes that “school districts that "lop off" music in a child's education are simply "arrogant" and unmindful of how humans have evolved with music brains and intelligences.”

 Schools in Oakland, CA participate in a music and academic fusion program called MILE
(Music Integrated Literacy Enhancement).
 MILE is currently being implemented in public schools throughout the Oakland Unified
School District.
 Academic teachers work together with music teachers to create a curriculum that integrates math, language literacy and music.
 Students learn academic material through songs, games and instrumental collaborations.