Musical Education in the Religious and Educational System

Musical Education in the Religious and Educational System


©1999, 2009 Kimberly Hartfield



The musical child develops a sharp awareness of a musical world throughout the early years, extending into the elementary years and on into adulthood. An appreciation for music should be nurtured throughout a child’s formative years by both the religious institutions and the educational systems of the child’s world. But as the spiritual training of children is often neglected, sometimes the majority of the responsibility for their musical training falls on the education they receive in the school system. This makes it imperative for music exposure to be encouraged in the learning environment, as well as for spiritual and recreational purposes.

From the time children hear their mother humming or singing that first lullaby, to the hymns and praise music they hear in the sanctuary, or even in the cultural songs and rhythmic nursery rhymes they hear growing up, they learn to enjoy the many aspects of rhythm and rhyme that music brings to life. Music enriches children’s experiences, through the senses, through the emotions, and through the activities, which make their lives more enjoyable. Children the music, see the movement, feel their emotions, and respond with their actions. Even very small babies show recognition of familiar tunes and rhythms by bouncing and dancing when they hear it.

The importance of musical training in the early years has been praised by many experts. These people often put a great deal of emphasis on how music develops the brains way of thinking, which increases children’s learning and communication skills. Music is also known to boost a child’s self image in the accomplishments that are acquired in musical training and expression. Many children, who don’t do as well in other areas of education, do very well in the musical arts. In the process of their musical learning, they improve in other areas of their education, simply because their self-esteem gets that needed boost from the sense of self satisfaction they feel when they see the smiles of family and friends during and after a musical performance. Some research shows gains in perceptivity, the ability to concentrate, attention span, self confidence, satisfaction in achievement, speech improvement, and less emotional problems, such as withdrawal. Improvements in attitudes and behavior often results in improved teachability. Withdrawn or hostile children can often be brought into a music group successfully. The social conduct of most children can be greatly improved by their musical training.

Children want to sing and have an inherent love of music. They often choose to express this in singing, which occurs in many of their everyday activities. This inherent love of music in ourselves and our children was designed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose in our lives and is ever awakened by our response to the music we use in our worship and praise of Him. We were created by God as musical beings in order to praise Him and communicate with Him on a spiritual level. If we do not nurture the spiritual side of music in our children, then other forms of music will become a substitute for God’s original design and purpose in their lives. This absence of the true purpose of music often leads to inclusion of detrimental lyrics and much harsher sounds as opposed to the more melodic sounds of praise. Music moves our emotions one way or another, either for our good or for bad, often bringing out these emotions into the actions of our everyday lives. It’s just as important for our educational systems to reinforce quality musical environments for our children as it is for our religious systems to instill a spiritual musical atmosphere in our children’s worship. With the right kind of musical training, our children will grow to be well educated, emotionally established, spiritually inclined, and socially acceptable adults who will benefit the society they live in. If we give them proper opportunities in musically enriching and developmentally appropriate activities, in both our religious institutions and our educational systems then they will benefit, and our future society will benefit as well.

With all the benefits a child receives from musical training, we should give them early and ample opportunities to express themselves musically. By giving them these opportunities in their formative years, rather than delaying these benefits until later years, when many of their educational and spiritual foundations have already been laid, we insure that our children will have the lasting rewards of music in their lives. We must choose to include music on its own merits in our children’s education or they may lack one of the most important components and motivating factors in a well rounded, spiritually sound education. The education system should choose to work along side the religious system to produce morally conscious children in today’s spiritually deprived world. Music is the motivating force that can bring our children back to moral soundness and into spiritual awakening.



For Further reading:



Wired for Sound

http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/wiredfor.htm



Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children by Nordoff and Robins (1971)



New Approaches to Elementary Classroom Music by Rebecca M. Herrold (1991)