A Teacher’s Example
My love of music began rather unexpectedly in grade eight when I met Mr. Weedmark. I entered his classroom with much trepidation after a disastrous experience in grade seven, mainly due to an overly intimidating teacher who had caused me to shrink into a self-conscious shell. I noticed right away that this teacher was different. From the very first day of class, Mr. Weedmark introduced us to the power of music and story, informing us that we would be engaging in a year-long study of La Traviata, an opera by Verdi, concluding with watching a professional performance at the Royal Alexander Theatre in Toronto. At first we were not impressed, but through Mr. Weedmark’s careful instruction and obvious appreciation of music of all kinds, we were given a love of music and an understanding of its power and influence that has profoundly informed my life, including my perspective and practices as a Christian educator, first as a teacher and then as a principal. While I came from an extremely musical family, Mr. Weedmark awakened in me a connection to music I had yet to experience in any meaningful way and has served as a source of inspiration for my lifelong journey exploring the world of music.
Let Music Be Music
Much has been written about music having a positive impact on both individual students and school culture. Research demonstrates that incorporating music into a school’s program has a significant impact on brain development, the ability to memorize, and the stimulation of creativity and imagination, amongst many other benefits (Ahmed). Music integration also has been shown to enhance positive school experiences for students at all levels, improve school culture, and positively impact student mental health (Eerola and Eerola 98).
However, reducing the rationale for studying music or integrating music into classrooms to simply utilitarian criteria does not do justice to the larger theological understanding of the role music plays as an integral part of God’s creation. In Christian schools, curricular and pedagogical choices should be guided by the centrality of God’s sovereignty over his creation and thus should inform our approach to music education. We sing folk songs, play various instruments, explore digital music, and listen to the harmonies and rhythms of Hamilton because music helps us fully experience God and his creation—all other benefits are secondary.
Studying music provides the opportunity for students to understand God, his creation, and themselves in a manner not possible in other areas of the curriculum.
Studying music provides the opportunity for students to understand God, his creation, and themselves in a manner not possible in other areas of the curriculum. Music allows students to connect deeply: to themselves, to their Creator, to each other, and to the world around them. A recent study suggests that the average person spends over twenty hours a week listening to music, an upward trend impacted by increased access to streaming services and a wider variety of music (IFPI).
The Opportunity
This trend should be seen as an opportunity for Christian schools to either continue or to develop music programs and to integrate music throughout the curriculum. Music is an integral part of students’ lives, providing an opportunity for all teachers to connect with their students, no matter the grade level or subject area. As an English teacher, I presented students with the idea that contemporary music was a form of poetry and provided opportunities for them to analyze, critique, and understand the music on their playlists. I helped students appreciate the often intricate connection between the music and the lyrics and to critically examine the themes and implicit worldviews in their music from a faith perspective, and students helped me better appreciate their musical tastes. These classes led me to an appreciation of genres such as rap, hip-hop, and country—genres I had not previously enjoyed.
Music is also inherently community-oriented, and coming out of the pandemic where music education was difficult—and sometimes impossible—experiencing the communal nature of music is essential. In our individualistic, compartmentalized culture, music is one of the few things we do communally and often collaboratively. We sing the national anthem at sporting events, go to concerts, sing worship songs and hymns in church, and share playlists. As a principal, music has been important in how my staff functions communally. One particular choral version of Psalm 23 guided us through a very difficult year when a senior student who was a staff member’s child was diagnosed with cancer for a second time. We have had groups of staff members sing together at school concerts, had teachers play roles in school musicals, and had a staff member take a student through a year-long project on writing and performing a song using digital resources. Music helps us laugh, cry, and worship together.
Studying and incorporating music into our practice must be connected to the concept of excellence.
Studying and incorporating music into our practice must be connected to the concept of excellence. Admittedly this is a problematic concept in a world where taste and preference is the ultimate standard, where individual truths have replaced universal truth, and dialogue about beauty, truth, and excellence in the arts is almost impossible. This is another opportunity for Christian schools to be counter-cultural and to help students question the accepted elements of our society’s worldview. We do this with humility and an acknowledgement that we engage in this process imperfectly, but as followers of Christ we have been encouraged to seek what is true, noble, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and excellent (Phil.4:8). In my own experience, the most effective manner in accomplishing this is to simply expose students to examples of music excellence, perhaps helping students understand the merit and qualities of the particular work. I’ve done this in a musical appreciation unit where I had various staff members and community musicians introduce selections they viewed as excellent. One parent introduced the sometimes controversial music of Bruce Cockburn, another musician helped students appreciate the use of counter-melody by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and a staff member introduced students to the brilliance of Lin Manuel-Miranda, the musical creator of Hamilton and other musicals. There are multiple ways in which this can be accomplished, but it is important to explore excellence in music from a wide-range of musical genres, including music from other cultures and countries.
The Challenges
Rooting our rationale for engaging with music in the concept of the goodness of God’s creation is not an easy task. We are surrounded by a culture that embraces utilitarianism, individualism, and consumerism. Centering our curricular and pedagogical choices in an often counter-cultural ethos will take a strong sense of commitment and a willingness to engage other stakeholders in our school communities.
A utilitarian approach is sometimes given a Christian veneer that we must also reject. This means challenging the secular/spiritual dichotomy that sometimes dominates discussions around music, literature, and other art forms in Christian circles. Our curricular choices should include a wide variety of music and not simply “songs about Jesus.”
This is an abridged version of this article. To read more, subscribe to the print or digital edition of Christian Educators Journal.
Chris Steenhof is the principal of Bulkley Valley Christian School in Smithers, BC. He loves to fish, golf, coach and officiate basketball, and spend time in the outdoors with his wife and his children and grandchildren.
Works Cited
Ahmed, Kamran. “The Importance of Music in School: Why Music Education Matters.” Stage Music Centre, 15 September 2022, https://stagemusiccenter.com/music-school-blog-winchester-acton-ma/2022/8/7/the-importance-of-music-in-school-why-music-education-matters
Blasco-Magraner, José Salvador et al. “Effects of the Educational Use of Music on 3- to 12-Year-Old Children’s Emotional Development: A Systematic Review.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health vol. 18,7 3668. 1 April 2021, doi:10.3390/ijerph18073668
Eerola, Päivi-Sisko, and Tuomas Eerola. “Extended Music Education Enhances the Quality of School Life.” Music Education Research, vol. 16, 88-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2013.829428
IFPI. “Engaging with Music.” 2023, https://www.ifpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IFPI-Engaging-With-Music-2023_full-report.pdf.