Research to Practice: A Biennial Series

Artsvision a U.S.A. leader in innovative education projects recommended the Arts as a means of engaging the student and teaching across the curriculum. T he class is gathered at one end of the gym and the children are walking around in a tight little clump beating time to a deliberate drum beat. Suddenly the beat quickens and the children begin to spread out across the gym. What are they studying? Energy transfer! (Hoffman 2003). Learning through the Arts was developed in 1994 by Royal Conservatory of Music and is about teaching core academics through arts-based activities (Upitis & Smithrin). The core idea being that learning 'anything' is enhanced when the arts are added and the child is engaged.

A Music program incorporating the leading approaches and philosophies that influence early childhood music and movement in education today is being implemented in a research study through the University of Windsor with 200 three to five year old students who attend a Canadian Montessori school. The music program is based on Kodaly techniques, sequenced to teach concepts of pitch, dynamics, duration, timbre, and form. This study is examining the differences in math scores between students who receive traditional Montessori instruction and those receiving music enriched Montessori instruction. In the Montessori Mozart program, a trained music specialist provides on-site teacher professional development with ongoing discussion encouraged between sessions. Music is incorporated into the curriculum enhancing the child's ability to learn concepts required in many disciplines rather than being treated as a separate area of learning. Over the school year the teachers will have the opportunity to deepen their musical skills, while providing students with a wide range of musical experiences.

Attentive parents have recognized the earliest signs of musical talent at the age of two, when children begin to capture portions of songs and move in response to music (Hargreaves, 1986). Research points out that the first three years in a child's life is a time when music can be used to stimulate the development of nerve connections between brain cells necessary for optimal cognitive development (Hodges, 2000). This further supports the notion that young children will inherently express themselves and music, through movement-tactile and kinesthetic experiences. To reinforce a child's spontaneous musical activities leads to enhanced natural development of communication, expression, and cognition (Weinberger, 2000). Learning occurs through movement and quick emotional associations, until a major leap takes place in brain growth in the elementary years. A sense of physical rhythm begins as early as two years of age through marching and dancing. "The more music children are exposed to before they enter school, the more deeply this stage of neural coding will assist them throughout their lives" (Campbell, 1997, P.192). Therefore, music instruction needs to begin before age seven to obtain optimal brain development (Schlaug, 1999). Research shows that more consideration must be given to the musical experiences of children between the ages of three and eight in order to stabilize musical aptitude (Ball, 1991).

Researchers have found the arts (music most commonly) to have a positive impact on reading, math, writing, self-esteem, and brain development. The value of music in educating the young child is not being recognized, particularly in the area of mathematics. Despite the amount of literature available regarding the effect of music instruction on academic achievement, little has been written on different Montessori music pedagogies and the effect on students' math scores. Dr. Jean Houston of the Foundation for Mind Research says that children without access to an arts program are actually damaging their brain. They are not being exposed to non-verbal modalities which help them to learn skills like reading, writing and math (Roehmann, 1988).

Further research suggests that music should assume a place in the regular school curriculum as it shows its effects on academic achievement and contributes to students' education (Kelstrom, 1998). "Music and the arts are vital to the development and expanse of the human intellect, which in turn results in superior academic and career performance" (oddleifson as cited in Kelstrom, 1998, p.38). Thus it is clear that music has a profound influence upon the academic life of a child and deserves equal status within the curriculum.

If research of students in the school system indicates that learning through the arts can benefit the 'whole' child (Pitman); that the music-math connection in particular keeps coming up over and over again (Upitis & Smithrim); that math achievement scores are significantly higher for those students studying music (Rauscher & Shaw, 1994); and if Montessori education produces a more academically accomplished child (Clifford & Takacs, 1991); and attending a Montessori program from the approximate ages of three to eleven predicts significantly higher mathematics and science standardized test scores in high school (Gartner, A., Kerzner-Lipsky, D., 2002) , then what is the potential for the child when Montessori includes an enriched music curriculum? The results of this study will be available summer 2005. The studies cited here seem to present a compelling argument in favour of the implementation of long-term developmental music programs for all students. Early childhood music education continues to grow during a never-ending search to improve. As we face the challenges of the future, this is truly the time to explore how research and practice reflects the wider world of early childhood education.

"The secret of good teaching is to regard the child's intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination."
M. Montessori