Week Five

This week I learnt to value the importance of listening to music. As stated by Murphy (2017) Listening is the keystone to developing a musical ear and it provides one of the most accessible entry points for enhancing creativity (p. 104). It can be tempting to dismiss listening to music as a valuable activity in the classroom. However, this week has demonstrated how listening to music can facilitate the development of creativity as “listening closely and analysing structures, melodies and creative ideas helps children think about how they can make music of their own” (Murphy, 2017, p.104). This point is illustrated by our own lesson structure, listening, appreciating and reflecting upon music that led up to the creation of a piece of music, the rap. Furthermore, this week’s activities for appreciation of music not only taught me about the qualities of music, but were a catalyst for developing skills such as creative writing.  As John Dewey (1938) argues, if curriculum subjects are taught in isolation, knowledge is disconnected for the rest of experience and not available in the actual condtions of life (pp. 48-49).

Burnard, P., & Murphy, R. (2017). Teaching music creatively (Second edition.). Abingdon, Oxon ;: Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan