Updated

Some educators are lobbying for music to become a mandatory subject in schools, saying it plays a unique role in a child's development.

Source: 7.30 WA | Duration: 7min 9sec

Topics: schools, music, wa

Transcript

ELIZA BLUE, PRESENTER: Now to a push for more music in the new national school curriculum.

Some educators call music phys-ed for the brain, saying doe ray me plays a unique role in children's mental health.

They're lobbying for it to become a mandatory subject like maths and english, but as Claire Moodie reports there's resistance from principals who say the curriculum is already too over crowded.

ADAM GILCHRIST, CRICKETER: Five, four, three, two, one-go.

SCHOOL KIDS SINGING: We're to shout, we're to sing, let the music give our soul a lift...

CLAIRE MOODIE, REPORTER: It was a gig with unique challenges.

Hundreds of school children singing the same song at the same time as almost half a million others across the country.

But for organiser Judith Haldane the performance on the steps of the Perth concert hall this week was worth all the stress.

JUDITH HALDANE, AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MUSIC EDUCATION: On the scale of one to ten, 11.

But it's all come together well.

CLAIRE MOODIE: The "Music Count Us In" event clearly demonstrated that music is good for soul.

But it had another objective too.

JUDITH HALDANE: The serious message is we really do need music education in all schools.

And by people who are trained to do it.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Judith Haldane is one of about 400 specialist music teachers working in WA's government school system.

But with about 770 schools throughout the State some students are missing out.

DR GEOFFREY LOWE, SENIOR LECTURER MUSIC EDUCATION: In some schools it's fantastic and music is really flourishing but in other schools there's virtually none. It is just a sad state of affairs that there isn't the political will to make music an integral part of all schools and all schools curriculums.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Geoff Lowe trains specialist music teachers at Edith Cowan University. He is concerned that schools are now under so much pressure to deliver on literacy and numeracy that music isn't getting the attention that it used to.

DR GEOFFREY LOWE: Something has to give and unfortunately it's the traditional subjects with good educational outcomes like music that are often dropping off the radar purely and simply to make way for, I think, sometimes well intentioned but politically motivated trends.

STEPHEN BREEN, WA PRIMARY PRINCIPALS ASSOCIATION: We are under the spot light on a lot of areas. NAPLAN is a classic one. If you are going to put all of those results up on a website, then schools are naturally going to spend a lot of time on that. That's a big worry.

CLAIRE MOODIE: According to educators, the problem is being compounded by a lack of funding to train music specialists.

And not enough time dedicated to music in teaching degrees, sometimes as little as 17 hours in a four year course.

DR GEOFFREY LOWE: Often when generalist teachers go out on prac, music is the one area they're loathe to engage in on their prac because they just don't feel confident, they just don't feel they've had enough of a background in it to be able to do it effectively.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Under the current system in WA, government primary schools are directed to spend at least 50 per cent of the time table on literacy and numeracy and also mandated to provide two hours of physical education a week.

Geoff Lowe wants music to be given greater prominence, even made compulsory in a new national curriculum being phased in from next year. He says the United Kingdom's already invested heavily in music education and not only because of its links to improved academic achievement in subject like maths and English.

DR GEOFFREY LOWE: The question should be not how does music enhance academic performance in other subjects. The question should be why should music be in the curriculum, full stop.

Music is the only activity that engages both brain hemispheres at the same time. So we use both the left and the right brain hemisphere.

So in a sense music producing, performing and creating music is a little bit like phys-ed for the brain.

It keeps your brain physically healthy. And so that I think is one aspect that we haven't really pursued or we haven't been good enough in selling that aspect that brain music and the brain is about mental health.

CLAIRE MOODIE: While there's recognition that music education is thriving in many WA schools, including the vast majority of private schools, there's concern that it's patchy across the government system.

And sometimes the children who need it most miss out.

JUDITH HALDANE: Especially children who are shy. If they can play an instrument suddenly they get a lot of confidence.

And that flows off into all their other subjects as well.

CLAIRE MOODIE: But the idea of making any other subjects compulsory is being resisted by principals. Who say with the ever expanding role of teachers in society there's simply no room.

STEPHEN BREEN: We've already got a very crowded curriculum in primary school.

What we're saying as a profession is allow us to integrate all of those areas, we're talking about literacy, we're talking about numeracy, we're talking about history, we're talking about music, we're talking about the arts, physical education, let us mould that into a good program, a good day by day program and a good year program.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Do you mean leave it up to individual schools?

STEPHEN BREEN: Yes. Yes.

DR GEOFFREY LOWE: It comes back to the notion of what education is about.

Is it purely about vocational training?

Is it just about training our kids to get jobs or is it about the mind expanding horizons, broadening kids' perceptions and views on the world?

CLAIRE MOODIE: Both Labor and the Coalition are committed to the new national curriculum. So whoever wins Government the biggest changes to education in a century are likely to be phased in some shape of form from next year. While the detail is still being worked out, music educators hope events like this will strike a chord.

JUDITH HALDANE: Look it was fantastic. I think this just shows what dedicated music teachers can do because the power of singing is wonderful and just the power of all those voices was terrific.