Comments on: chorus http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/11/chorus/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:25:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: John Cowan http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/11/chorus/#comment-7362 John Cowan Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:33:41 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/11/chorus/#comment-7362 The Greeks, down there in the roots of our educational tradition, would consider a man with no music grossly uneducated. Why shouldn't some level of music be considered mandatory? Anyway, music *is* mathematics. It's also the art of time. The Greeks, down there in the roots of our educational tradition, would consider a man with no music grossly uneducated. Why shouldn’t some level of music be considered mandatory?

Anyway, music *is* mathematics. It’s also the art of time.

]]> By: Scott Haber http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/11/chorus/#comment-7361 Scott Haber Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:27:02 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/11/chorus/#comment-7361 Dave - I guess I didn't realize how much a change in the chorus schedule would bother me until it actually happended; I understand Carmen's decision which, as you stated, resulted from quite a few teachers' complaints; whether we like it or not, we are in the midst of a "test-driven" curriculum era/mode & that is exactly why the teachers are under so much pressure to produce "results"; the irony is that music (if you want to differentiate it from "chorus") actually helps with math ability & should be promoted, not diminished in importance; and that's in addition to any other aesthetic or artistic reasons; as somebody mentioned in a prior (PACT) email pertaining to payments & funding, we would all like to think we are living in the era of abundant resources (ie, school $$$) which we grew up in, and it simply doesn't exist anymore; if enough parents thought the arts were important, the school would accomodate them, I think; there are a number of people who have stated that they chose PACT primarily because of the Arts Focus program, so I suppose we should recognize that as being one choice that parents have control over, even to a minimal degree, by being able to participate in the program; I hope that during our kids' next 12 years or so (presumeably in public schools) that there may be a significant back-lash against the current narrow focus of back-to-basics test-driven education which has taken foothold; until then, unfortunately, it will be up to the parents to ppursue "extra-curricular" arts & music to balance out their kids' educational experience. Dave - I guess I didn’t realize how much a change in the chorus schedule would bother me until it actually happended; I understand Carmen’s decision which, as you stated, resulted from quite a few teachers’ complaints; whether we like it or not, we are in the midst of a “test-driven” curriculum era/mode & that is exactly why the teachers are under so much pressure to produce “results”; the irony is that music (if you want to differentiate it from “chorus”) actually helps with math ability & should be promoted, not diminished in importance; and that’s in addition to any other aesthetic or artistic reasons; as somebody mentioned in a prior (PACT) email pertaining to payments & funding, we would all like to think we are living in the era of abundant resources (ie, school $$$) which we grew up in, and it simply doesn’t exist anymore; if enough parents thought the arts were important, the school would accomodate them, I think; there are a number of people who have stated that they chose PACT primarily because of the Arts Focus program, so I suppose we should recognize that as being one choice that parents have control over, even to a minimal degree, by being able to participate in the program; I hope that during our kids’ next 12 years or so (presumeably in public schools) that there may be a significant back-lash against the current narrow focus of back-to-basics test-driven education which has taken foothold; until then, unfortunately, it will be up to the parents to ppursue “extra-curricular” arts & music to balance out their kids’ educational experience.

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