A new article by Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor, and Travis White-Schwoch, senior data analyst, both at Northwestern University, summarises the findings from their research to date and looks at three different arguments that might be used to advocate for music:
- the indirect argument (music learning boosts brain and cognitive function that’s important for non-musical learning)
- the incentive argument (music learning has direct impacts on measurable learning outcomes such as school exam results)
- the intangible argument (the deepest benefits can’t be easily measured – eg empathy, pro-social behaviour, controlling our emotions)
Anita Collins then summarised these arguments in the infographic above (and a resource on her Bigger Better Brains membership website), looking at which might be used to best effective with which groups of people.
Sources:
American Scientist: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-argument-for-music-education
BiggerBetterBrains: https://biggerbetterbrains.com/
Music Education Works 