Music Education - Integration With Other Subjects

Integration With Other Subjects

Some schools and organizations promote integration of arts classes, such as music, with other subjects, such as math, science, or English. It is thought that by integrating the different curricula will help each subject to build off of one another, enhancing the overall quality of education. Music education can play a vital role in the development of the whole child and their scholastic journey.

One example is the Kennedy Center's "Changing Education Through the Arts" program. CETA defines arts integration as finding a natural connection(s) between one or more art forms (dance, drama/theater, music, visual arts, storytelling, puppetry, and/or creative writing) and one or more other curricular areas (science, social studies, English language arts, mathematics, and others) in order to teach and assess objectives in both the art form and the other subject area. This allows a simultaneous focus on creating, performing, and/or responding to the arts while still addressing content in other subject areas.

The Learning Maestros is a company whose goal is to create new interdisciplinary musical works and educational materials that explore connections between music and science, literature, visual arts, natural history, and issues of social conscience. It was founded by Julian Fifer and composer Bruce Adolphe. Notable interdisciplinary educational works they have created in collaboration with writers and scientists include "Tyrannosaurus Sue: A Cretaceous Concerto" (for the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago), "Red Dogs and Pink Skies: A Musical Celebration of Paul Gauguin" (in conjunction with an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), "Self Comes to Mind" (created with neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, premiered by Yo-Yo Ma at the American Museum of Natural History, New York), "Let Freedom Sing: the story of Marian Anderson" (with writer Carolivia Herron, premiered by the Washington National Opera), "Zephyronia" (with writer Louise Gikow, for the Imani Winds), and "Witches, Wizards, Spells, and Elves: The Magic of Shakespeare" (for the Chicago Chamber Musicians and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater).

The European Union Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 has funded three projects that use music to support language learning. Lullabies of Europe (for pre-school and early learners), FolkDC (for primary), and the recent PopuLLar (for secondary)

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