Music and Dance Education

Question: Discuss about theMusic and Dance Education. Answer: Key Curriculum Elements Elements such as singing, playing instruments, moving, composing, listening are all part of music and dance education. It is important to teach these key elements to the children for both developing music skills and knowledge, ultimately contributing to education. The importance arises from the fact that music and dance brings forth the creative instinct in the children (Lesiuk, 2005). The aesthetic sensibility of the children also is honed once they are exposed to the elements of music. Education allows children to gain knowledge of different aspects of life and about life governing lessons by uplifting values, skills, beliefs (Ferreri, Bigand Bugaiska, 2015). The personal and social development of the children is encouraged by incorporation of music and dance as part of their education curriculum. The children are inspired to develop competency on a social level, which would help them cultivate values to survive in todays society (Barrett Webster, 2014). Music, most of the times, has a liberal effect on the children. Children seem to express better through art and music than they do by speaking or writing. It is believed that the intellect of children develops due to active participation in music. It has been scientifically proven that listening to music, activates several sections of the brain and paying a musical instrument allows the proper utilization of both the right and left-brains, simultaneously (Fattorini Gallagher, 2015). Therefore, children should always be encouraged to take up some element of music and develop it. The hand eye coordination highly improves while playing a musical instrument or while dancing by keeping a tab on the musical notes in the background. This process allows the children to understand the capacity and the limitations of their bodies better (Sigtia Dixon, 2014). With time, they can work on both the aspects and push beyond their limitations and attain mastership over their skills. From the aspect of a classroom setting, music helps children their passages better by composing a song out of a portion that they find particularly difficult. This will help them simply to recite the song to recall the details (Ferreri et al., 2013). Music helps in creating awareness among the children and makes them alert and this facilitates in swift uptake of information. Rhythm, incorporated with rhymes, helps in better learning of lessons among the children. Education should be aimed at enriching the body, mind and the spirit of the children (Frank, 2014). A healthy ambience of a classroom is achieved by incorporating music while imparting lessons. Music binds the body as well the soul and a teacher who realizes these facts helps the children in understand their life experiences and gain knowledge (Corrigall, Schellenberg Misura, 2013). In respect to the classroom scenario, by incorporating the key elements of music in the curriculum, will help the children to have an all round development, something that the concept of education had previously aimed at. Today, education has a utilitarian aspect, which only equips a child to grow up and earn money. The very essence of education, learning, knowledge is lost. Music on a spiritual note, binds soul, moves masses in a single note. Nothing can help the children to develop the spiritual aspect in them, other than music. I am hoping that with the incorporation of music in education, the children will have a peaceful approach towards life. They will be keen on taking an interest on the personal front to learn about things unknown to them. This trait has been rare among children these days where they have been disinterested in attending schools and looking for reasons for not completing lessons (Wilkinson, 2013). Integrating Music into the Curriculum The Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE), has three stages, namely, Early Stage 1, Early Stage 2 and Early Stage 3, as per the Units of Work. Early Stage 1 comprises of several units such as, Workers in the Community, Transport, Families Past and Present, Identifying Us, the Need for Shelter, the Way we Are, Wet and Dry Environments and Celebrations (HSIE, 2016). I have chosen the unit called Celebrations from the first stage. Celebrations help the children to come across others having different customs and practices in relation to their respective culture. Every community has their own way of celebrating festivals, where they sing songs and dance. For example, Christians sing carols during Christmas (James, 2015). In Brazil, during the Rio Carnival, people dance to celebrate the advent of the Easter month (DeSouza Corey, 2015). Hence, in this way, the children can be taught about songs and dances that are related to different cultures in order to learn about them. Early Stage 2 comprises of several units, such as, Co-operating Communities, Australia: Youre Standing in it, British Colonization of Australia, Places: Then, Now and Tomorrow, People and their Beliefs, State and National Parks, Living in Communities, Who will Buy? I have chosen the unit called People and their Beliefs from the second stage (HSIE, 2016). Globalization has made us stand at a threshold where cultural background is no longer a limitation that hinders people from mixing with each other and learn about each others beliefs. However, many countries are hostile with the idea of mixing of culture. So I have decided, yet again, through songs and by the accompaniment of an instrument, comprehend the faiths and beliefs of others. Given that, the multicultural aspect of Australia, it is necessary for the children to grow up into tolerant and sensitive people who will be respectful towards the faiths and beliefs of other communities (Harris, 2013). Early Stage 3 comprises of several units, such as, Gold, Identity and Values, Australian Democracy, State and Federal Government, Global Environments: Rainforests, Global Connections, Current Issues: Antarctica, Study of a Cultural Group: Bali. I have chosen the unit called Global Environments: Rainforests from the third stage (HSIE, 2016). The education of this particular unit is necessary for the children because they need to understand the importance of the green cover as the rainforests, for restoring the balance on Earth. Children need to be educated to protect the green cover and reduce means of pollution, harming the ecosystem. Children should be made to realize that they are the very future of the planet and the wellbeing of the planet is in their able hands. Therefore, I have decided to make them participate in a musical and organize for a simulation session where they will hear the pre-recorded sounds of the animals, birds and insects that inhabit the rainforests. Lesson Plan for the Musical Activities in the Units of Work of HSIE Lesson Plan for the first unit is in relation to Celebrations. Learning about celebrations can help the students in understanding the morals and beliefs of others cultures. Children can only understand their importance and values and will learn to be sensitive towards others cultures, only when they will learn about them. Learning about others cultures can be facilitated with the help of music and dancing styles and connotations in relation to each community. In this way the children would also learn how similar the celebrations are and how far they differ. I would organize for a samba class for the children, which would help them to learn about both the dance style as well as about the Rio Carnival and how it is important to be aware of this famous Brazilian festival. Since, children are quite acquainted with Christmas carols, sung in churches, or in movies, I can arrange for a free period where the children can be taught some famous carols. This exercise would help them to understa nd the background on the significance of Christmas. Lesson Plan for the Second Unit is in Relation to People and Beliefs. I would organize for sessions where I would ask the students, belonging to different cultural backgrounds as well as practicing different faiths, to come forward and perform, a prayer song that they sing. They will also be asked to explain the meaning of the songs so that the others belonging to other culture can understand its meaning and significance. I would also ask them to compose a prayer song and sing it along with an instrument, which they might be acquainted with. A compound activity as this will help the child to lay greater effect in trying to understand not only his own culture well, but uphold his cultural heritage with pride. Lesson Plan for the Third unit is in Relation to Global Environments: Rainforests. I would organize for a short musical with the children where they will be dressed up as trees, birds, insects and animals. They will sing and dance, similar to a typical musical. In their songs, they will state how pollution is damaging the rainforests and the care we need to take to protect them. They will be enacting real scenes that cripple our society such as hacking trees, burning forests cover, adverse measures of deforestation. Prior to the musical, in order to inspire the children to understand the importance of making the musical, I will conduct a simulation session where I will play sounds that one can generally hear when we step into a rainforest. From the chirping of the birds, to the loud shrieks of the arboreal, I will be playing these to the students so that they learn to identify the names of all these animals and birds. This method will help them learn and retain in their memories the names, much faster than the conventional learning method of looking at a book with pictures and a long description in relation to it (Falconer Green, 2014). In this way, for the three early stages as chosen from the Unit of Works, the lesson plans has been framed, by incorporating music and dance. The efforts will facilitate the children to learn the lessons from the units effectively. References: Barrett, J. R., Webster, P. R. (Eds.). (2014).The Musical Experience: Rethinking Music Teaching and Learning. 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