|
If someone were to tell me at a young age that Albert Einstein helped advance science and our understanding of the universe by equating energy and mass and how important these implications are, I would be much more interested in math and how we use it to discover and innovate. Though through-out my years of school I had no idea of the true power of this subject until my later years in high school, and by then I would have missed out on the several years I could of have been taking the subject more seriously. I will come back to this point.
Catering to a child's preference in the arts is important to getting them engaged so long as they understand why they enjoy it. The difference between 'outside' musical influence and music with 'academic integrity' is a discussion no different from "what pop-rock band is more 'cool" or relevant than the other. The music itself is not the issue, it is more a discussion on how willing older generations are to tolerate children's tastes. Referring to my Einstein reference, is it more important to teach why math is important, or the subject matter itself. Is there any motivation to learn quadratic equations if there is no clear explanation as to why they are important? If the student does not know, then the material is irrelevant. That being said, if the student does not understand the role music has in life, what difference is there between teaching Beethoven and 'Pop Goes the Weasel'? The correct answer would be 'who cares'. It is very easy to make arrangements of popular tunes, and the teacher should be willing to engage in the musical culture of the student's generation despite his or her own preference. This article (like most academic articles) was frustrating in how it takes so much effort and time to get a simple point across. If the students have a noticeable preference and they suggest playing a tune they enjoy, the teacher should say 'sure' and give it a try. This does not threaten, or change any of the universal attributes associated with the music discipline that we all attempt to teach, but for many reasons the academic world sees young 'preference' as a threat to music's 'integrity' which is why I believe this article was as long as it was. "Taking popular music seriously will pose direct and significant challenges to our educational obsession with things clear and distinct, and to our predilection to train rather to educate". I find this to be an over-exaggeration. If the teacher is well-educated enough they should be able to make arrangements and research musical styles with ease. It is possible teach popular tunes both new and traditional, the same way it is possible to both train and educate. |