Research Assessment #3

Reagan Rasmussen

27 September 2018

ISM: Music Education

Brown, Laura Lewis. “The Benefits of Music Education.” PBSParents, Public Broadcasting Service,

25 May 2012, www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-benefits-of-music-education/.

Assessment:

This article brought up many interesting points about how educating young students in music

can improve their learning skills in many different areas. It presented facts about how educating

children in music can help develop their entire left side of their brain, which has to do with language

and social skills, but also how it increases the overall IQ of students. It was interesting how the

author cited a study published in Psychological Science, by the University of Toronto at Mississauga

that proved how 1st grade students’ IQs increased differently depending on their involvement in

music education over a year. I have heard before that involvement in music makes a person

‘smarter’, but I didn’t know that it was actually something that could be proven through a study with

distinct results. There was also a study that the article cited, that recorded the brain activity of

students who did 15 months of music practice/lessons weekly and how they “improved sound

discrimination and fine motor tasks” (Brown, 2). The article also mentions how music education

helps to improve memory, concentration, spatial-temporal skills [the ability to “visualize various

elements that should go together” (Brown, 2)], and the ability to take tests with efficiency and

accuracy. Therefore overall, I increased my knowledge about just how much music can help younger

students to develop essential parts of their brain and personality. Knowing all of this new

information points me towards the fact that what I would be doing, by being a band director in the
future, would be very important in the lives of those who I am teaching. It influences my work in

ISM because, as a student in high school, I get to be apart of younger students’ lives in this way. All

of the research and conclusions made in this article inspire me to become a music educator because

of how much I have the possibility to influence the development of my students in all areas of their

life. By being a band director, I would helping students through their journey of learning an

instrument and being in a music program. Everything that I would do in that process would greatly

influence their development and therefore the rest of their lives, which is a pretty powerful thing.

This article presents no facts or conclusions drawn from those facts that I disagree with. Every

statement is backed up with a study, and it came from a professional source. I do however, have

questions about the long lasting impact of music education. This article focuses mostly on the effect

of music education on the development of elementary-age and younger students. I would like to

know if those students remain ahead in academics, socially, or other aspects throughout the rest of

their life. Does a person have to continuously practice and study music in order to reap the benefits

of having music education in their life? Most likely the point the article is trying to make is that,

when a person is young, if they develop good memory and concentration skills, then they will be in

the unbreakable habit of using them throughout their life. Everything presented in this article helps

me to realize just how important the job of music educators are in society, and how young students

are better off in every aspect of their life because of music programs and leaders like band directors.