In Tuesday’s (7/17) San Francisco Classical Voice, Edward Ortiz writes, “A recent study at the University of Cambridge found that children that partake in music activity in a group setting are more prone to developing one of humankind’s noblest traits: empathy. The research, though preliminary, may have an impact on how school systems, policymakers, and music educators view music as being integral to the development of children. The year-long study, conducted in the U.K. by Tal-Chen Rabinowitch and Ian Cross, who are both on the music faculty at Cambridge, found that children between 8 and 11 years old involved in different types of group musical activities were more likely to develop empathy than those in control groups where music was not included. The study defined empathy as a child’s having an understanding of the emotional state of another. … The children involved in musical group interactions scored higher on an empathy test given to all the children both before and after the activities. … Some involved with arts education find the study intriguing for how it points to the deeper effect that involvement in the arts has on young students. ‘In the intense focus on academic performance and test scores, we can lose sight of the social and emotional dimensions of learning and child development,’ said Joe Landon, executive director of the California Alliance for Arts Education.”
Posted July 19, 2012
