Music Education for Chinese Pupils - Dissertation Example

 Music Education for Chinese Pupils The Facts Music in Confucianism was regarded as one of the means of governance, as well as a significant factor in educating people and in achieving social harmony. But the situation has changed since 1912, when music education moved into the category of compulsory subjects. Under the economic behavior, also all the parents want their children have a bright future; therefore lots of music teachers became ‘money makers’ because of this policy. The music as a creative art should give more space to students. Nowadays National Entrance Exam forced some of Chinese students study music no longer as an creative arts, they are practicing it for pass the exam with high mark, and they are passing it because of the music skill can give them more 20 credits compare with the others who can’t study music or know music skills as good as they are. Students suffer in the classroom, because music education is not enjoyable anymore. Nowadays students are seeking for material well-being; they do not actually care about arts and music, in particular. Even in an era of globalization such widespread phrase as “Europe is not America, America - not Asia” is relevant. Especially it seems strange that under the comprehensive globalization, China preserves its national identity. Suffice it to mention the peculiarities of the Chinese mentality, Chinese economy, developing rapidly after the Communist, unique educational system; but the Chinese musical art deserves paying special attention. Besides, the purposes of music education, according to the Ministry of Education in China, are directly connected with the fact that Chinese society still can not reject the idea of communism building. So, the tendency “Art for Art sake” is obvious. In the XXI century lots of challenges are facing the music education, and only combining efforts of government and each individual, can make musical education actually valuable for Chinese students. The Facts caused the Problems 1. The Original Conception of Music Value in Chinese Culture It was influenced by the musical traditions of the Middle East, Central and South Asia, South-east Asia. It also absorbed elements of the music of people that were part of the Chinese empire (the Uighurs, Tibetans, Mongols, Manchu, etc.), and, in turn, greatly influenced the music of Korea, Japan and some nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Chinese music has evolved since ancient times under the influence of religious, philosophical and ideological doctrines (Reimer, 1989). In Confucian treatises the concept of cosmological nature of music was developed, its social and political role was highlighted. Music in Confucianism was regarded as one of the means of governance, as well as a significant factor in educating people and in achieving social harmony. According to the ideas of Taoism, the music was to facilitate the natural expression of psycho-emotional reactions of man, its fusion with nature. 2. The Consequences of the New Education Policy The school music education, which was developed during one of the most complex, saturated with global cataclysms, period in the history of the country, gradually became a public system, marked by both significant achievements and serious shortcomings. Nowadays the assessments of achievements of challenges facing China’s school education are prerequisites for successful reform. Music became a compulsory subject in secondary schools of China in 1912. In accordance with the suggestions for the educational course of the country, made by Education Minister Tsai Yuanpey (1912), the role of artistic education plays the significant role in shaping the personality, thus, particular attention should be paid to music teaching in secondary schools. This document determined a new status of the given subject. The lessons of music education ceased to be selective subject and moved into the category of compulsory in both junior and secondary schools (Mingyue, 1985). Further development of music education in the Chinese school was influenced by the Movement of May 4, 1919, which was initiated by the university intelligentsia. The main principles of this movement were full democratization of the country and actions against the closure and isolation of China from the outside world. Influenced by the ideas of the Movement, in September 1922, the Ministry of Education approved of a project of education system reform, developed by China Federation of the educational community. The project was called "The education system Zhensyuy" (“Zhensyuy” is translates as “1922”). The content of the musical education of children and adolescents included singing and playing musical instruments. Primarily, education evolved as singing and became known as “the school song”. Instrumental music-making was almost excluded from the educational program. At schools, it was spread mainly in the forms of extra-curricular activities: amateur ensembles and orchestras. Special preference was given to wind instruments. Thus, from the very beginning of the formation of school music education, training was held both during the lessons and extracurricular activities. The attention was mainly focused on singing and music theory. Playing musical instruments was of paramount importance (Mingyue, 1985). Such situation basically persists at the present time. Thus, pupils, who have no opportunity to choose the subject they really enjoy, are obliged to attend the classes of music. Music is not perceived as high art, for which talent and creative abilities are required; music is something ordinary and common for a contemporary Chinese student. Besides, lots of Chinese teachers insist on the fact that extra-curricular activities be attended forcibly. So, the given fact also contributes to general student’s resentment because of music education. Most of them do music to get extra points and thus, get the advantage over other peers, who do not actually practice music. The purpose of music education was defined as the formation of aesthetic feelings, moral and ethical values ​​that are the cornerstones of the prosperity of both society and human. Thus, the basic musical material for music education was folk music of China. Priority was given to the works and genres, in which the brave, bright, cheerful images dominated. In the opinion of the reformers, such sort of music was supposed to promote the development of strong and happy people. But it is obvious that folklore does not enjoy wide popularity nowadays, and it is necessary to introduce some new material to music education to make it interesting for the students. Ways of Music Education Improvement 1. Government Measures Thus, the music education appeared in schools of China a hundred years ago. Today music education is even more important, due to the fact that the problem of forming a harmonious development of personality is very acute in modern China. The country with a population of nearly two billion, managed to make an unprecedented breakthrough in the field of economy, industry, science and mechanics. Nowadays it is necessary to neutralize the negative effects of urban STD on people. Aesthetic education in schools, which main task is to familiarize pupils with the music culture should be an important factor in solving this problem. So, the education reform requires neat revision and elaboration in accordance with new standards. Taking into consideration the problems, caused by the government education policy, it is necessary to return the music classes a selective character. 2. The Relation between Policy Maker, Learner and Teacher in Music Education Context As it was stated above, the connection between the interest to the inclusion of various arts in the school curriculum and the general cultural level of the country or region is obvious. Since China's economic development is uneven, the level of school music education depends on the circumstances of each particular region. Its implementation requires a high-quality and special logistics, and training of highly qualified teachers, provision of other necessary conditions, which largely depends on economic opportunities of some definite school, town or village. Despite the fact that the schools of China experienced quite active development of primary and secondary school aesthetic education last three decades, there was a number of objective and subjective reasons for this development not to become uniform all over the country. It is a common thing that in the economically developed areas the music education is at a much higher level than in the backward areas. This is true that the urban schools have much better organized classes in music, in contrast to rural ones, which are located in mountainous or economically unviable regions. Musical education in rural schools is at its lowest level throughout the country. Since the development of education is closely linked to the economic situation in the regions and country, it is impossible to eliminate existing differences between rural and urban schools without accelerating the economic development of agricultural areas (Shen, 2001). Usually, if the regional offices of the Ministry of Education or even local schools are interested in implementation of music education, school music education is carried out at a relatively high level, especially if there are some favorable economic conditions of that particular region. If there is no such interest, even in spite of the economic development of a particular, region school music education remains at a low level of development. And vice versa, when the economic backwardness of the region is evident, but there is a high degree of interest in the development of school music education on the part of the regional offices of the Ministry of Education or school management, music lessons in such schools are conducted at a high level. Development of this initiative in the field is observed in a number of Chinese provinces. Such initiative should be implemented throughout the country; moreover, it should become a norm. In recent years, the system of training music teachers for secondary schools expanded greatly. However, the personnel problem is still acute in quantitative and qualitative terms. First, most music teachers do not have sufficient qualifications, in this regard the professional level is to be raised. Moreover, lots of teachers do not have any musical pedagogical education. Thus, according to statistics of 2006, primary Chinese school had 120,000 teachers of music; but there were only 71% of the teacher, whose qualification level met the requirements. In secondary schools there were 67,000 teachers of music, and only 72% of them possessed a sufficient qualification level. Besides the fact that the professional level of teachers, who have special education, is significantly different, there is also an impressive rate of teachers, having no qualifications at all (China Embassy. org). Since the early nineties, the majority of graduates with higher pedagogical education seek to find jobs in large cities and suburban areas. There are both economic and social reasons for such phenomenon. Most of China’ schools (85%) are located in rural areas. Salaries still remain low in rural schools. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a centralized solution to the problem of financial government incentives for teachers of music, working in rural schools (China Embassy. org). 3. The Introduction of European Experience There is a need to identify specific characteristics of each particular locality; it is also important to work out some particular measures to promote musical education locally. Thus, it is possible to level some existing at the moment imbalances and qualitative differences in the aesthetic education of schoolchildren, living in different regions of the country. Such policy of public administration education system in this area was activated in 90-ies of XX century, but it is only the beginning. Solution of the main problems, associated with the revival and implementation of rich and valuable tradition of national culture, developed in the past, should be a conscious whole process. Its implementation requires special scientific justification, methodological elaboration and teacher training, possessing necessary knowledge and skills. Thus, currently, implementation of national traditions into school music education is reduced to folk songs dominance in the training material. For a very long time school music education has been given insufficient attention, both by with the school administration and the Ministry of Education. There was no assessment of music as organic and therefore, an essential curriculum subject. Big population in China leads to harder competitive, consequently, the motivation will be slightly different between Chinese pupil study piano, they see it not as a music tool, but a stair, to get better life, better education. The practice also showed that there was no proper understanding of the role of music in school education; it was simply neglected. “Art Education China has the tradition of valuing art education in educational institutions. The third National Conference on Education argued the European experience of music education implementation can be really useful. In Europe curriculum includes exercises in getting to know the elements of music, Orff instrumentation (where instruments are available), singing, basic music theory and listening. At the secondary schools there are almost enough music specialists. In these schools (grades 7 – 10), music is always taught one 45 minute period per week. Curriculum includes music appreciation, history of music (with listening examples), and singing. Usually there are choral groups and orchestras in all the schools that perform in different occasions and celebrations of the school life (China Embassy.org). Music specialist teachers for primary and secondary public schools are educated at the musical studies departments of universities. General teachers for kindergarten and primary schools are trained in the Education. Departments at the universities and they have music as an elective course for two semesters as part of their Aesthetic Education. Music may also be taken as a specialization. Secondary school music teachers complete the course at a university department of music and pass examinations run by the Ministry of Education. It is obvious that China would only benefit if adopted such experience to its particular needs and objectives of music education. The Change and Adoption of Music Education under the Globalization Processes In accordance with the long educational project for the XXI century, the boundaries of contacts with foreign cultures and the implementation of the most important aspects and features of these cultures will be greatly extended. The conditions for this project were set up by a new government policy, the policy of openness to the world and change, based on the achievements of past years and centuries-old national tradition. Under the conditions of huge multi-national state, not all processes run with the same intensity. Secondary school of China is a gigantic structure covering more than 700 million people of the younger generation of the country today. Therefore, its improvement is not only one of the most pressing, but also complex issues today. Our time is often called the era of globalization. As for the latter process, the scholars, historians, sociologists, economists, view it from different sides. Yes, T. Friedman (2003) argues that globalization - an “unbridled integration of markets, nation-states and technologies that enables individuals, corporations and nation-state to get to any place in the world faster, farther, deeper and cheaper than ever before” (Friedman, 2003). It should be emphasized that globalization is a complex geo-economic, geopolitical and geo-humanitarian phenomenon that produces a powerful demonstrational effect on all life sides of the countries, involved in this globalization process. Apparently, globalization involves strengthening contacts between different parts of the world, which leads to increased uniformity in peoples’ lives of the entire planet (Robertson, 2001). The process of world globalization is a cooperation and engagement of different national ideas and systems under one structural formation. Typically, globalization is closely related to the integration of the global community, so the problems, arising in its course, are also nationwide. In today's world, globalization "hits" the moral, legal and socio-cultural aspects of social life largely. The development of the economic component and the formation of sustainable development require costly human resource because of high science-intensive industrial production, its mismanagement and sometimes-disruptive character. Perception of a man, as a factor in material production in the economic system, became exaggerated. Economic development is harmful not only to the earth's ecosystem, but also to any personality. Actions Thus there is the imposition of values ​​and attitudes that are blindly followed by majority of people. Sphere of human activity, which today is under the dominion of the globalization process, is modern information technology and communication facilities. Mankind has got enormous potential for a sharp rise in development, which helps improve the quality of life for all people without exception. But it is necessary that the principles of morality, equality and justice become major in the relationship between people and nations. Unfortunately, market and monetary guidelines, which are immoral in principle, became the sole regulators of all relationships. Along with the globalization, continuous internationalization of society takes place. It is necessary to apply modern scientific methods, based on research by scientists of various fields of knowledge - general and musical pedagogy, psychology and physiology, musicology, sociology, aesthetics, philosophy, and others. This practice has long been used by most of developed countries. Chinese musical pedagogical literature of recent years is dominated by the empiricism. There are few examples of the application of scientific research methods in school music education at the moment. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the relations between school music education and a science, so that its achievements were the foundation of practice, the actual teaching practice (Shen, 2001). Hitherto, traditional Chinese folklore existed in syncretic form. Music, lyrics, movement, actions constitute an indivisible whole in it. This integrity is a characteristic feature of the national culture, manifested in an exclusive role of its musical theater. Recognition of this reality in relation to school music education is clearly visible in Fundamentals of musical education, as a constituent part of the nine-year schooling program. The school has mastered only some elements of the organic unity, mainly the song; instrumental music and musical theater are much less mastered. This tendency leads to the formation of truncated, distorted ideas about the national musical culture (Law; Ho, 2011). Only a combination of auditory, emotional and intellectual comprehension of this material can form a stable pupils’ interest in this important area of national culture. Conclusion Musical education of schoolchildren is seriously complicated with conditions and time frame of classes. Today it is a norm the class is to admit 50 pupils (that is already too many). In practice, there are more than 60 people in the classes. Ministries of Education and Culture developed a very serious prospective project of implementation of changes in the field of school music education. But it is clear that the rate of hours per week, as well as the material and technical base of the schools, is quite insufficient for the project. In light of all this as a major problem converting the school system we distinguish: awareness of the music and wider - aesthetic education of the organic element of a comprehensive school, its adequate logistical support, increasing the number of teaching hours and reduce the number of educational groups, qualitative and quantitative growth of teachers. With regards to everything, stated above, it is possible to single out such important problems: recognition of music, and even wider – of aesthetic education, as the integral organic element of any secondary school, its adequate logistical support, increase of the number of teaching hours and reduction of the number of educational groups, qualitative and quantitative growth of teachers, strengthening young people's interest in the profession of music teacher of secondary school, creating conditions to improve the existing skills of teachers and teachers' interest in working at rural schools, with the help of economic and moral incentives (salary, social status), reduction of teaching load, while maintaining the existing wage level, targeted research, involving the transformation of the entire school system of musical education of the country and its regions, learning and adaptation of traditional Chinese culture to education paradigms (Law; Ho 2011).Thus, such integrated approach to development of school music education in a combination with the positions, outlined above, will make a qualitative breakthrough in the field of school music education and meet the challenges facing the projects of reform in the XXI century. It is obvious that lots of efforts should be taken to preserve the uniqueness of Chinese music and culture under the economic globalization, which more or less implies country’s openness to the experience, traditions and developments of other countries. The system of music education requires a lot of changes, improvements and deep modifications, since the main task of music education (and aesthetic in general) to promote the formation of a harmonious personality. The XXI century set qualitatively new tasks and conditions for the Chinese education system, and it is up to government, teachers, parents and ordinary people who are not indifferent to initiating the younger generation’s introduction to the beautiful, to make the music education actually valuable for Chinese pupils. References Art Education in China. China Embassy. Org. Retrieved 19 May from Bennett R 1989, Music Education in China: An Overview and Some Issues. Journal of Aesthetic Education. 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