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Victorian Government Investigating Lack of Music Education in Public Schools

Announcement posted by Monster Music 11 Jan 2013

Monster Music welcomes investigation, calls for schools to “stop neglecting students.”
Monster Music, a network of music teachers that offers music lessons in Melbourne, Perth, and most places across Australia, has reacted strongly to news that the Victorian Government has appointed a committee to investigate why music education is lacking in public schools.

In a highly-anticipated and controversial post on the Monster Music website’s blog, Monster Music takes a serious look at the public school situation, and also covers last year’s $1.9 million funding cut at Australian National University’s (ANU) School of Music. Monster Music has been critical in the past of the public schools’ approach to teaching music, so the new post is no surprise to many in the music community.

The Victorian Parliament’s Education and Training Committee announced the investigation in December 2012. David Southwick, chairman of the committee, wants to know “why kids aren’t taking music programs, why there isn’t more being offered,” and wants to find ways to encourage participation in music programs.

Southwick cites research showing that music improves academic performance in many areas. He also believes that the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) has had a negative effect on music course offerings. He feels that schools become so focused on NAPLAN scores that they “teach to the test” instead of giving students a more-rounded education.

Richard Gill, music director of the Victorian Opera, goes even further: “NAPLAN is a national disgrace and standardised testing is a national disgrace.”

ANU’s School of Music has seen massive budget cuts. They recently decided to cut 13 full-time teaching positions in the School of Music, which will save the school $1.5 million in salaries. According to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), ANU currently runs an $82 million surplus, and the money saved by cutting music teachers is going to be spent on new senior executive administrative posts within the school.

Those responsible for the budget cuts, including ANU vice-chancellor Ian Young, feel that it is “too expensive” to teach students music, especially since a lot of one-on-one teaching is required. Due to a general trend toward budget cuts, universities prefer to run lecture classes with up to 100 students. This saves them a lot of money in salaries.

Danny Achurch, proprietor of Monster Music, has been very critical of the way public schools teach music to their students, and feels compelled to speak out about what he sees as neglect on the part of the schools:

“We are approaching critical mass when it comes to music education in Australian public schools. Administrations are always trying to cut their budgets, and it seems like the first thing to go is always music. Administrators use NAPLAN as so-called ‘justification,’ but their excuses fly in the face of any research concerning music and learning.”

Achurch continued, “Music has been clinically proven to have a positive effect on literacy and numeracy, and is a major factor in creative thinking and socialising. So, any administrator who gets rid of music with the intent of improving NAPLAN scores is actually ‘accomplishing’ the exact opposite.”

Achurch has suggestions for improving participation for schools that do teach music: “Even those schools that teach music teach songs that are so old nobody remembers them except music teachers, but they expect kids to relate to them. Kids want to learn the songs they like, not the songs administrators think they should learn.”

Monster Music is a national network of music teachers in Perth, Melbourne, and most cities in Australia. They give music lessons in guitar, piano, violin, and other instruments. Visit their website for more information: http://www.monstermusic.com.au/ or call them at 08 9335 8881.