Be sure that you can identify a few musical characteristics of the music programs in the educational systems of the countries described in this chapter.
63 Argentina: Law in 1884 made music - particularly singing - mandatory subject in elementary school.
-Today - no required musical study, but singing remains a prominent goal in elementary school
64 -Growing interest in contemporary composers
Australia: Strong history of music and arts teaching
65 -Music is required through school years 7 or8
-The arts are collectively a Key Learning Area within the curriculum.
66 Brazil: not a united position on music in schools - absence of continuity
67 -Music is evident in festive celebrations and special events, but not a curricular subject
68 China: From ancient times and into the 20th century, the Chinese viewed music as a means of knowing, morality, beauty and goodness.
69 -Singing by rote is most frequent school music activity but children also learn to read both Western staff notation and jianpu, a cipher notation.
-See “Breaking Point 4.5” -- Can you read or create a notation for a simple children's song. Try “Bingo,” “Hot Cross Buns,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or another simple song.
-Musically talented young people receive intensive training
70 Music is proclaimed as compulsory, but is less important than math, etc.
France: Music is an important means for teaching the French culture
-Required part of curriculum - amount varies at different age levels.
72 Hungary: Zoltán Kodály
-music education begins with the singing of Hungarian folk songs, leads through ear training, and culminates in a musical independence.
-one of the most musically educated populations in the world
74 Country's national standards for education include a list of basic musical instruments and equipment for all schools.
Japan: curriculum controlled by Ministry of Education
75 -Elementary - general music classroom including Western and Japanese music
-Secondary - mostly Western music
76 South Africa: resonant choral sound
77 -inclusion of movement and dance and improvisation atop rich textures
-music in first 10 years of schooling as way of transforming South African society according to its new constitution
79 United Kingdom: compulsory study- ages 5-14 - primarily instruction in performance and composition
-music in lower grades often taught by classroom teachers
-optional for ages 15-16 - ensembles most often after-school opportunities
81 United States and Canada: Lowell Mason in Boston, 1830's - rise of singing in public schools
82 -rise in instrumental programs, about a century later - bands returning from WWI, affordable instruments, instrumental companies sponsoring festivals and competitions
-linked to the federal, state and local tax base
83 -no nationally mandated curriculum in music
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Challenge: Sort these countries into three categories: Music is a. very important, b. important, c. not so important.