We Should Continue Music Education in Public Schools

Hi, I stand in the position that "We should not continue music education in public schools". With that out of the way, I'll start with my own opening argument for a rebuttal in round Two. 1. A waste of time for students with little musical talent (who happen to make up the majority of students). In an increasingly competitive society, Music education only proves to be a distraction and a waste of time for many students around the world. Though students can sometimes fit in the time to attend music lessons in their primary years, Second and tertiary years are often filled with assignments, Tests and other co-curricular activities that fills up the average student's schedule[Theguardian. Com, 2018]This is an issue as only a small minority of students are musically talented, And the majority of students that wish to be otherwise academically successful find themselves in utter boredom in music classes. Music classes take up time that a student could be studying for a test, And in higher years where tests and assignments are higher-stake, This proves to only be a benefit for students that wish only to have a career in music. Students that struggle to find time to practise for tests and do assignments often go to out-of-school classes to catch up on the time they lost practising a musical instrument that they have absolutely no inclination to practise. To add to this, Views and assumptions imposed by society tend to teach students that the arts offers little success as a professional job returning money, An increasingly important prerequisite for success in a society where wages and salaries do not correspond to inflation and housing prices tend to be higher than ever, Making music extremely unattractive for students who wish to succeed. I propose that in order to get rid of this issue, Schools discard music lessons in their curriculum and instead allow students to choose, If they're so inclined, To engage in music lessons inside or separate to the school. 2. Often incorrectly taught and therefore pointlessParents and teachers often complain that music lessons suffer from a lack of attention and resources in public schools [insidesources. Com, 2017]. This lack of resources often leads to lessons that creates a feeling of insecurity and doubt in students' own musical ability [Venesile, 2017]. Often amplifying the hatred of music that the non-musically talented happen to posess, Music lessons in public often only allow school advertisements to claim their inclusivity for the arts in order to make their schools more attractive, Or fulfill a role imposed by government-issued curriculums. These half-heartedly supported lessons are taught by teachers with little experience in music or those who lack sufficient credentials [pursuit. Unimelb. Edu. Au] nor the time to teach their subject as these teachers often also teach in other subjects and tend to devote more time training to teach subjects that are not the arts. As a result, Even students with a real passion for music lack any real benefit from learning from teachers that are often unable to teach to their level supported by resources inadequate for a proper musical education. With this established, One can ask the question: Is it worth keeping a subject that is so poorly taught in schools? 3. Too hard to offer in a curriculum in which maths, English and science are becoming more mainstreamYearly, Governments and other institutions bolster subjects like maths, English and science for reasons like massive subject changes, A more positive parental perception of a focus towards more academic success, Competition from other schools, And the general need for a better education in an increasingly competitive world. An area that lacks such an update yearly is the arts, Especially music. Music has been majorly unchanged for centuries, And is being phased out by schools that tend to focus on other subjects for their benefits. In senior years, Where students tend to choose subjects that they feel is more adequate for their level of learning (with only a small minority choosing music as one of these subjects) over less preferred subjects, Schools tend to offer accelerated courses for most subjects apart from music, As most of these subjects have a steep learning curve compared to music. From the needs of a society that is growing extremely competitive to the inability of schools to adequately sustain musical educations in advanced years, Music education struggles to find a place in modern society. Subjects that are often viewed as more important like maths, Science and english are becoming more mainstream and as a result music education in schools is becoming gradually phased out. This provides more of a chance for students to do as they wish- students that do have an interest in the arts may engage in co-curricular and outside classes that provide students with a better experience in music that is more efficient than the one offered in schools, Which often provides less of an opportunity to nurture musical ability and suppresses students with academic ability that would be better suited for other subjects. I'll be looking forwards to rebuttal in round two.