Popular Music, Youth and Education - Essay Example

POPULAR MUSIC, YOUTH AND EDUCATION Popular Music, Youth and Education This paper looks at the role of popular music in the lives of young people in the education framework. First, community educational outreach is discussed by going over the place of popular music in social and cultural theory. Next, young people’s use of music in peer groups in a school-life context is evaluated, applying taste and identity to the development of culture. Lastly, popular music and the school curriculum are discussed. The position of for-popular music in school curriculum is taken and the place of popular music in the school curriculum is discussed. Keywords: popular music, youth, education Music plays a big role in the youth today. Some youth use music as a form of identity, while others use it to relax and ‘get away.’ To understand the role of popular music in the lives of young people in the framework of education, we have to look at popular music from a social and cultural aspect, how popular music is embedded into taste and identity of young people and dissect the way popular music is perceived by the education system. Green’s Music on Deaf Ears: Musical Meaning, Ideology and Education explains the status that popular music plays on a social standpoint. Green explains that the set-up of music in classrooms came about because of the roles and eventual division social classes in society. Because the only way to measure skills and set classifications for music was based on the performances of the students, the students who received the most education had enough money for private lessons (Green 51). Therefore, on a social level, it was the higher-class students whose parents set the standard for what music was going to be like in the school system. There was a study done on how social class affected students’ interest in music. 244 students were tested on social, innate and performance-based levels. The study showed that students who had parents that were higher up on the social ladder were more interested in music than students who had parents lower on the social ladder (Green, pp 47-48). The higher class of students also had a higher appreciation for the classical training and thought they had a better understanding of the need, awareness and wisdom that this music brought to an educational setting (Green, 51). The willingness to learn and the likelihood that the students in the higher classes listened to this type of music out of the classroom were higher than students who did not receive this opportunity (Green, 52). The liking of classical music in the upper division and the fact that students who were fond of popular music over classical music not being represented in this study shows the role that music played in society and the relevance in education (Green, 45, 48). According to De Nora’s Music in Everyday Life T.W. Adorno was the biggest advocate of the ‘production of culture,’ an emerging trend that took place in American culture in the 70’s and 80’s (De Nora, 1). Adorno offers a strong insight to this trend and how popular music has embedded itself in culture. In addition to being influential in molding society, Adorno believes that culture plays a part in representing what the society was going through at that particular time in history (De Nora, 2). Other advocates argue that culture dictates how social groups act and behave. For example, in Profane Culture, Paul Willis makes the connection between culture and the labeling of each member of a social group. He says that it is the interaction with culture that gives the overall meaning to the group (De Nora, 6). The constant use of this culture is what makes up social verve. The influence that popular music has in affecting society and culture can be proof that if incorporated into the education system, it can be valuable. Ed Dorn, poet, describes the communal aspect of music as “that great Zero/Resting eternally between parallels’ (1978: 73, De Nora, 4). How then do we wrap our heads around the social construct of taste and identity in music? Simon Frith thinks “the question we should be asking is not what does popular music reveal about ‘the people,’ but how does it construct them” (De Nora, 5)? For example, in Paul Willis’ Profane Culture (1978), the boys’ favorite songs were those that were characterized by fast and powerful beats. This was representative of what Willis called the ‘bikeboy culture’ (De Nora, 6). The boys believing that this type of music had an affect on their social outcome gives them taste and identity. The ‘bikeboys’ believed that they could use music to emotionally carry themselves to this mentality and transition from any social situation (De Nora, 7). Music can be used in real life examples. De Nora explains that music has a place in social norms, wedding music for walking down the aisle, or singing Happy Birthday when it is someone’s birthday, for instance (De Nora, 13). Therefore, music constructs circumstances in our lives, embedding into our social structure of identity (DeNora, 13). Music can be used in advertising and our tastes are somewhat exploited when companies try to sell their products or set the mood for shopping with music (De Nora, 13). These examples show that popular music can feasibly play a part of real life. The role played by popular music in school classroom interaction can be seen through the differences between formal and informal learning and the tensions behind them in regards to popular music. Green discusses the formal aspects that go in the making of music. He classifies this into two classes, the mechanical part and the social aspect (Green, 45). In the mechanical aspect of making music, Green says that formal training can result in high proficiencies of making up and playing music. Also, formal training can result in the understanding of the dynamics of sound and recording. In the social aspect feature, Green says the formal technical skills are used to create different approaches and methods to music (Green, 45). The school system is more interested in obtaining certain levels that can be measureable than they are with coming up with different perspectives. This one-dimensional aspect of only having the mechanical dampers the other opportunities that comes with informal popular music. There are informal aspects of popular music that can be addressed in the way of learning. T.W. Adorno says that music is connected to thinking habits. He uses Arnold Schoenberg’s music as an example of music being used as a tool for teaching internal ways of assessing the world and challenging the method of coming up with conclusions (De Nora, p1). This informal teaching is valuable, and Adorno believes music can be used as a tool to better thinking because of the routine nature and ability to join abstract things together (De Nora p 1). Any subject, math, English and science can all benefit from this informal way of learning that popular music can provide. Willis goes on to imply that since music can be played back in your head this proves that you are able to arrange your thoughts (De Nora, 7). The tensions between formal and learning and popular music has to do with how it was received in the school system. Green believes it is the education system that says what is important music and what is not and therefore puts strains on the social classes (Green, 52). The Early Schools Council setting the standards was biased because it was based on the separation of classes. As earlier stated in this paper, the higher social statuses received the best training and therefore the standards were set to them. Popular music did not have a place in school classrooms because it was representative of lower class. The South East Regional CSE Board incorporated popular music as Mode 1 option in 1982, but the higher level boards never took to it. This divided the classes even more and made popular music lower status and not an option in the education system (Green, 52). The school system may not be using popular music’s benefits to its fullest potential. Sarah Cohen says “focus upon people and their musical practices and processes rather than upon structures, text or products illuminates the ways in which music is used and the important role that it plays in everyday life and in society generally” (1993: 127) (De Nora, 7). If we look at the role of the underlying aspects and benefits of popular music instead of being so concerned with protocol and “systems management” (Michael Apple), we could draw out the benefits of forming behavior instead of one- dimensional stereotypes (Green, 46). We may agree to what music is in school today because it has been set for us. We may, according to Green, be studying the type of music in schools that we do today because someone tells us it’s important (Green, 52). Popular music in the school system is treated with less regard than the traditional type and since it’s the school system that decides what the best method is, popular music may not be part of that plan. I argue that music is an integral part of the learning process and can have a place in the school curriculum. The benefits of popular music in the school curriculum outweigh the detriments and the schools should reconsider their position. Like different types of music appeal to different types of people, music can be brought successfully an education setting (Green, 45). For instance, popular music can be played at the beginning of classes to get students excited and ready for class. The teachers could have a song of the day or music trivia that is tied to the lesson for that day. This would open up the minds of the students, and at the same time allow them to be more interested in the lessons that are going to be taught. By thinking of music as a supplement to learning and not a restriction of, there could be a greater affect on the school’s curriculum. Music in the school can also create a culture that keeps with the students’ sense of identity. Students, if encouraged to keep their identity through their music, would be able to get higher grades because they are secure with themselves and see the impact it has on their education. If teachers allowed the students to listen to their music on headphones while they are studying in class, for instance, the teachers are being supportive of the identity and the image of their students. This can make a difference in the students’ learning. Popular music can also be used to try different approaches to learning. For example, the beats of music can correlate to the memorization, absorption and concentration of the learning material. By opening up the spectrum to include popular music, the schools are helping their students to be better students. With popular music added to the curriculum, there could be more students willing to try a new approach to learning. Cooperation, building a more positive atmosphere and building better tools and creativity for students are all advantages of having popular music in the school curriculum. Popular music should not be seen as something that decreases the learning ability of students. Rather it should be seen as a tool to succeed in the school curriculum as well as life in general. References De Nora, T. (2000) Music in Everyday Life, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Green, L. (1988) Music on Deaf Ears: Musical Meaning, Ideology and Education, Manchester: University of Manchester Press. Read More