Lehman- Music in today's schools

MUSIC 23241: MUSIC TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, Assistant Professor
Kent State University School of Music
Fall, 2011

CRN:  200910 – Section number: 001 – Class Days: TR 7:45a – 8:35 am - Classroom: SOM E202
Office: Band Office - 330.672.2965 - Telephone: 330.672.2965 (Kent Campus) - E-mail: mneiman@kent.edu
Office Hours: TR 9:00 – 9:55 am (Additional hours available by appointment)

BlackBoard and Text Readings

Submitted by:  Emily Young
Submitted for: Mr. Marcus L. Neiman, lecturer
Date: November 3, 2011

Lehman, Paul R.  (1987). Music in today’s schools: rationale and commentary.
 Words of Note,  Pages 5-16.

    Questions of the importance of music always tend to arise.  Many understand music and other arts to be one of the basics of education. Typical reasons for cutting music programs are time and money constraints. Music is important in understanding culture, emotions, development, and creativity. Every school in the nation should provide a program for the study of music.
    It is difficult to think about what my own education would have been like without music.  My success in music inspired me to be successful in other subjects.  As I learn more about music, I feel that I am learning more about myself and the world.  Music doesn’t necessarily come easy to me, which has taught me that I have to work a little harder than my peers. This and other incredibly valuable lessons can be found through study of the arts.
    I like the way Lehman presents his argument in this article.  He is straight forward and honest about how he feels. He wonders why people continue to question why music should be taught in schools.  Constantly having to fight to get people to understand it’s importance can get old.  The arguments for music education have never changed. Unfortunately, those questions are probably not going to go away. I think the worst problem I see is that fellow teachers in other subjects have a huge lack of respect for our profession.