The Decline of Music Education in the Public School System

I was lucky enough to attend elementary school in the early 1990’s when music education was still a priority in our education system. Schools had skilled music teachers, music rooms and instruments. There were choirs and school bands. We learned musical theory, the recorder in grade 5 and wind instruments in grades 7 and 8. Unfortunately, music education in the public school system has suffered dramatically over the last 10-20 years. Much of this is due to a lack of funding. No funding means no dedicated music rooms, no instruments and very limited teaching resources. While these things are certainly missed, by far the biggest problem music education faces in Ontario is the lack of specialized music teachers in the classroom.

What we have now are classroom teachers who have little to no music background trying to meet the standards of a very technical and complicated curriculum. When teachers have to scramble to find the tools to fulfill the bare minimum of curriculum requirements, it is no wonder that the outcome of our children’s music education is less than desirable. Musical theory is almost non-existent in the classroom and the students have no foundation to build on. The grade 7 and 8 curriculum assumes that students have access to wind or string instruments and 6-7 years of musical theory. As neither the students nor the majority of teachers possess this knowledge or these resources, music assignments tend to consist of info projects about their favourite band or pop singer in what I know is a frustrating attempt by teachers to fulfill curriculum requirements.

I have spent the last 5 years working on a program to help educators in the public school system understand the Ontario Music Curriculum enough to teach it, and to give them the tools they need to teach it effectively. It is by no means a perfect solution. My program cannot fix the funding and lack of specialized teachers. What it CAN do is dramatically improve the music education of our students.

Last year I was invited to volunteer in a classroom setting teaching early musical concepts to Grade 5 students with no musical background. The students showed enthusiasm towards the instruments I brought in and the content of my lessons, despite the fact that they had no knowledge of even the Grade 1 music curriculum. The evidence is clear. Music education improves students working memory, spatial intelligence, fine motor skills, confidence, test scores and much more.

I know we can do better, and our students deserve better.

My goal as a teacher is to create a lifelong love for music. I truly believe that this program can bring a love for music back into the classroom.