PASCUAL, MICHELLE C.

2013-78199
ENG 13, THR 3

Topic: An analysis on the state of Music Education in the Philippines

Thesis Statement: The music Education in the Philippines needs certified music
teachers—actual professionals that are practitioners of the field, performers of their craft
and someone who has knowledge of music reading and notation.

The belittling of the arts is rampant in this world of modern day technology. I myself
log on to different social media platforms and find the opinions of people regarding the
importance of arts and humanities in our lives. You would think that in this era, people would
be more open-minded and out-of-the-box thinkers would be more empowered and would
stand for their beliefs regarding the education system. Some do, and it might deem enough,
but it really isn’t.
Just like politics in this country, being an Iskolar ng Bayan, I personally believe that I
am voting for the right people. And seeing all my friends and colleagues march for the same
people I am voting for, I really did believe that they would win. Why wouldn’t they, for their
popularity is bursting through the roof! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the other
platforms I currently log into dictate the happy predicament I was going for. Unfortunately,
votes were cast and the end product was the very opposite of my expectations. This analogy
concludes my recent point—you only think it is enough because you are part of a tiny
percentage of the mass.
The truth is right there. My circle—all or most of the people around me and are
related to me have more or less the same beliefs and principles that I do. As they say, birds
of the same feathers flock together. Not only do they flock, but in my case, they march and
fight for the same thing. But we, even though gathered together in a huge group, make up
only a drop of this vast sea of population. Thinking that my candidates would win because
people I am engaged with online are posting and endorsing them is pretty naïve and
complacent. It isn’t enough. It never is.
So regarding the topic of music and arts education in general, we might see how active
and alive these societies are in our country, but really, we remain underground. And all we
can do is try to make it mainstream, without selling out just so that we could put food on the
table and money in our pockets. It’s an illusion, you see. Behind these supportive friends and
colleagues pushing you to strive for what you really want, to become an artist or musician or
dancer or poet lies a vast majority of people who think you’re just wasting time and
resources. They may come from your family, even—these zombies molded and played-with
by the corporate world, whom only care about numbers and statistics.
 That statement already answered the question—do we need more arts, humanities
and music educators? Absolutely! I often hear remarks from elderly family members that if
you engage children in music and arts as a child, they most likely would end up running for
that dream, instead of becoming a nurse or a doctor or a businessman or a lawyer or
engineer—careers that are viable for the sustainability of the family. Their cure for that is
giving arithmetic lessons at very young ages, and exposing the child more on the sciences
rather than in arts, trying to find ways to make the child “love” solving equations and
formulas and logic and accounting—the basics of the math and science—so that when they
grow, they would pick the right answers, the right paths, the right careers.
Is there really a right career, though? Every child is different, and special in their own
way. In the field of psychology, there are lots of debates regarding the acquisition of
personality traits of each person. What makes up a person, really? How can a parent raise
the child correctly and healthily? How much control must one provide, and how much
freedom?

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest philosophical issues within psychology. So what
exactly is it all about?

 Nature refers to all the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are—from our physical
appearance to our personality traits.
 Nurture refers to all the environmental variable that impact who we are, including our early childhood,
how we are raised, our social relationships and our surrounding culture. (Cherry, Kendra 2019)

Parents who are into business and the sciences are most likely to pass on such traits
to their child through genetics. But being the blank slate that it is, it is not enough to hope for
the child to inherit such traits—the parents will most likely, expose the child in mind
quenchers at an early age, expecting him to enjoy it just as they did when they were little.
The child might, and might not—we can never be sure. There are children who suck at math
all whilst having mathematician parents. At the same time, there are children who will tend
to suck at painting even when having parents that are artists whom exposed him to visual
arts at an early age. It all boils down to “we never know”. We can try to alter a child’s thinking
all we want, but when he chooses the very opposite of what we want them to be, we might
as well give up. The more a person is constricted from doing what he really aims to be, the
more he struggles and tries to break free.
That said, children must be exposed to all kinds of education. Discrimination must
cease when it comes to learning. A child must be given equal options and must be permitted
to “like what he likes”, just like the never-ending debate on sexual orientation that we will
be forever having. All paths must line, spreadsheet across the table for the kid to choose from.
If all options are available, what do you know, maybe genetics will kick in? Maybe it
wouldn’t? The point is, we have no control.
 Majority of our learnings from primary and secondary schools are linear to math and
sciences. What we lack are educators for arts and music. Cliché as it might seem, but these
subjects are what truly makes us human. These courses are often referred to as “hobbies”,
“not a real career” just because it’s fun and people believe that everyone can do it and it really
isn’t that difficult. Well, in a professional’s point of view, these smart-mouths and mockers
can only attempt. We have these kinds of people belittling us because of the lack of
information, of quality education. Seriously, if only you knew the things taught in music
school, you would cry. Most people drop out. Most people can’t take the pressure. Most
people simply give up. Music school is no different from Law School or Medicine or
Engineering. Seriously, stop comparing them.
You know why there are very few who teach music in the basic curriculums? Because
it is so damn hard! Most of the teachers aren’t even qualified but are obliged to teach because
the Department of Education thinks that everyone is able to give crash courses on music
because it’s just a hobby, so simple, so easy. Children are sponges of knowledge, and
whatever they absorb are truly hard to correct. Kids who grow into aspiring musicians,
taught by these incompetent teachers will more likely fail in the entrance exams, if they don’t
seek help from actual, trained teachers on the field. What is the point of teaching it if you’re
teaching it wrong?
Errors abound the Philippine textbooks used by almost all of the public schools in our
country. Below is an example. The rhythm is written wrongly, and if the teacher handling the
class has no idea about basic note reading, it would either not matter, of be taught
incorrectly. I have attached to the resource section, a link to the actual post where an actual
music student sing what is written. Even fellows who know nothing about note reading
would notice how wrong it is.
 What we lack are actual music educators. Real, trained professionals who are paid
well and are regularized. Music educators find themselves having to defend not only music
program, but also their teaching profession in general. Music education graduates do not
very easily penetrate the field. And even if they do, the Philippine curriculum concerning
music is all bunched up with other courses that are unconnected. The very first introduction
the everyday child has of music is within the subject MAPEH (Music, Arts, Physical Education
and Health). I suppose any instructor with an education degree can teach MAPEH if tackled
only for appreciation, ie. basic concepts, terminologies and history. These are fine, but if
quality education is desired, one must take it to the next level.
In this environment, it is important that music teachers remain strong, and articulate
advocates for the value of music in the complete education of children. All persons deserve
the opportunity to experience a life enriched through active musical participation that
includes creating, performing, and listening to music. Access to quality music instruction is
the most important issue in music education today. Some children have a daily opportunity
to make music during school with a certified music teacher who assists them in creating
music, performing music and responding to music. However, many children do not have this
opportunity. In some cases, children may have a daily access to a music teacher, but that
music teacher may not organize instruction in a way that offers the opportunity to create,
perform and respond to music. Many children have access to a music teacher only a few times
per week and often times, the lack of resources for that music program leads to a subpar
experience for students. Due to a lack of state level policy regarding music education, many
children have no music teacher in their schools.
Schools should not offer any music course unless a qualified teacher is available. A
music teacher must have thorough academic and professional training experience and a
pleasant and dignified personality, alongside the provision of a well-equipped music room.

“A number of studies have examined music teacher retention and attrition to better
understand why many teachers move to different positions or leave the profession entirely. In one
study, perceived support from administrators, colleagues and parents was a key factor in predicting
whether teachers would remain in the profession (Gardner, 2010). Additionally, Madsen and Hancock
(2001) found that women were more likely to leave than men. Hancock (2008) found a number of
additional factors that increased attrition, including being younger in age, teaching in private or
secondary schools, having low parental or administrative support, and having a low or unsatisfactory
salary. The many roles that teachers fill are sometimes in conflict with each other, resulting in stress.
Scheib (2006) noted that for art teachers who were typically artists or musicians before they became
teachers, the artist and teacher roles often conflict. According to Scheib, there may be insufficient time
for teachers to practice or perform as much as they would like, or they may find that the time they
spend engaging as musicians prevents them from being fully engaged in teaching. This conflict can
lead to role stress, which Scheib found often results in teachers choosing to give up either their
teaching or their musical engagement. It is important that music teachers maintain both their musician
and their teacher roles. Presenting oneself as a musician hen teaching is a positive step and can help
the students see music as something that people do.” (Kos jr, Ronald P, 2018)
 With that said, we can say that it is not only the public that has to be educated in the
importance of music education in our country, but also the administration of schools and the
whole education system. Music intertwines a lot of skill sets for students to be able to
participate in creation, performance and appreciation. It is not enough to introduce
terminologies and musical symbols for the children to remember them—application is the
best and inevitable route. After all, music is all about performance. Music educators worry
about a lot of aspects in teaching, including sound production, interpretation, articulation,
and theory. These basic concepts are needed to achieve quality music education and
appreciation from students. All the five senses are used in achieving such. In schools abroad,
children are taught how to read notes and are referred to as standard, beginner knowledge.
They aren’t really expected to be good at it, they should at least know how to and it is up to
them if they want to develop such a skill. So does playing an instrument or singing or dancing.
It is curious that people still look down on music educators when the Philippines has a
booming entertainment industry.
Music is a comprehensive art. It is a subject that has its own body of knowledge and
it is inherently worth knowing. Its comprehensive nature serves as a foundation for a unified
and comprehensive educational setting. There are a lot of arithmetic concerning the learning
of music. If you look at an actual score, one might find it similar to mathematical equations
and scientific formulas written and read by scientists. Musicians of the olden days have found
ways of transmitting the music that they hear in their minds to a piece of paper and passed
onto the next generation—that in itself is both art and a science. Music has its own patterns
and structures and form and meaning, just as much as mathematical equations do. A single
wrong note does not jeopardize a piece, perhaps, but composers and theorists can give
purpose to that note to make it part of a whole. Case in point, music is a complicated field
that is just as important to a developing human as any other field of art or science there is.
It is saddening how music has not been taught seriously for some years now. Music
seemed to have been scrapped from the daily schedule of subjects, when it should have had
a definite period of time on the day’s program in addition to its correlation with
“appropriate” subjects.
What the administration should do is to invest time and necessary resources and
finance not only special programs for music but also the employment of certified music
teachers for public schools and get actual professionals to write and/or proofread the
materials. Cultural performances must also be encouraged and supported because the
backbone of music education is the exposure of young, absorbent minds to true art in the
form of such performances. Let them engage in workshops headed by the country’s leading
practitioners. Let them be guided by actual performers in the field, and inspired by experts
in every category, whether voice, dance or instrument. At the same time, support the
musicians—treat them as actual professionals. Only then can we achieve actual results—an
education system that is both fun and informative, not discriminant and leading, but
encouraging, nourishing and free.

Resources:
www.verywellmind.com/are-personality-traits-caused-by-genes-or-environment-4120707
m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1400322370127478&id=100004491849567
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/8755123318758837