Stewart

Kelsey Stewart
MUSED 370
30 September 2014
Curricular Music Programs as a Platform for Benefitting Marginalized Students

El Sistema, a music program and social project started by Jose Anonio Abreu with

eleven children in an underground parking garage in 1975, has since grown to a powerful
movement that serves a quarter of a million students, providing them with a chance to
break the cycle of poverty in Venezuela. The hours of daily rehearsals, lessons, sectionals,
and classes act as a safe haven from students violent and impoverished contexts, helping
them to build positive relationships, learn from leadership opportunities, and eventually go
on to realize professional successes either within or outside of the system. Abreu
eloquently states the philosophy behind the program, saying:
The vicious circle of poverty can be broken when a child poor in material
possessions acquires spiritual wealth through music. Our ideal is of a country in
which art is within the reach of every citizen so that we can no longer talk about art
being the property of the elite, but the heritage of the people. (qtd. in Higgins)
Obviously, El Sistema is not a curricular school program, and the cultural and
economic contexts differ vastly between Venezuela and the US. Nevertheless, it shows us
the power of music education in providing students with better prospectsa way out of
poverty, an alternative to participating in gang violence and drug use, and ultimately, a
doorway to a better life. By making music curricular in public education, it becomes
available to all students, thus benefitting students of low socioeconomic status in addition
to those in the middle and upper classes. Like El Sistema, curricular music programs have

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the potential to empower those marginalized students to break out of the cycle of poverty
and achieve academically, excel socially, and eventually succeed professionally.
Because music exercises the right hemisphere of the brain and stretches the mind to
perform tasks more complex than storing and retrieving information, participation in
music (and the arts in general) is linked to improved academic, social, and emotional
behavior (Respress and Lufti, 26). These positive effects of music education are apparent in
context of the United States current assessment-based approach to education: a survey of
547 elementary schools in Virginia revealed that students who had music, art, and physical
education classes performed better on standardized tests than students without access to
those classes (Wilkins et al., 731). Furthermore, music is shown to reduce stress, improve
learning outcomes, enhance intrinsic motivation, regulate brain chemistry, augment body
memory, and literally rewire natural pathways (Respress and Lufti, 24), showing that the
benefits of music extend far beyond the academic sphere.
These results are irrefutably beneficial for the whole student, leading to an
enhanced quality of life both at and outside of school. Unfortunately, music programs are
not easily accessible to students who are labeled at-risk, usually due to behavioral
problems, family troubles, academic struggles, economic constraints, and other factors. For
example, many students who struggle academically are encouraged to spend more time in
remedial math and reading classes instead of in music programs. Lack of monetary
resources presents a huge barrier to participation in music programs, as the inability to pay
for program fees or trips to band festivals prevents some students from participating
(Hoffman, 65). This is a great paradox: some of the students that could benefit most from
curricular school music programs lack access to quality music programs and thus remain

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entrapped in the cycle of poverty and oppression. Students who might benefit most from
the academic and emotional growth that stems from music education are deprived of the
benefits.
In addition to the legacy of El Sistema in Venezuela, multiple studies show the
benefits of music education for marginalized populations of students. One study involving
at-risk middle school students in Florida investigated whether or not involvement in the
arts affected students academic success, commitment to school life, self-esteem, and
engagement in violent activities (Respress and Lufti, 25). According to this research,
participation in music classes not only benefits students academically, but it also helps to
raise self-confidence and diminish involvement in violent activities. Another study
involving several at-risk music students in the music classroom revealed that a students
self-perception of musical competence may be linked to their concept of self-worth,
indicating that music instruction and learning might lead to an increase in a students
feeling of self-worth, as well as improvement in behavior and attitude because of feelings of
success (Shields, 283). These findings expand upon the already established positive results
of music instruction, demonstrating the importance of making music education accessible
to at-risk and other students.
Music is an integral part of the public school curriculum because it makes arts
educationa platform for catalyzing academic achievement, strengthening concepts of
self-worth, and opening doors for future successesaccessible to impoverished, at-risk,
and generally marginalized students. The academic, social, and personal benefits of music
instructionspecifically for at-risk studentsconfirms the need for accessible and
equitable music education programs made available through the public school system.

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Reference List
Higgins, C. (2006, November 23). Land of hope and glory. The Guardian. Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/nov/24/classicalmusicandopera
Hoffman, A. (2013). Compelling questions about music, education, and socioeconomic
status. Music Educators Journal, 100, 63-68.
Lesniak, M. (2012). El Sistema and American music education. Music Educators Journal, 99,
63-67.
Respress, T., & Lufti, G. (2006). Whole brain learning: The fine arts with students at risk.
Reclaiming Children and Youth, 15(1), 24-31.
Shields, Christina (2001). Music education and mentoring as intervention for at-risk urban
adolescents: their self-perceptions, opinions, and attitudes. Journal of Research in
Music Education, 49(3), 273-286.
Wilkins, J.L.M., Graham, G., Parker, S., Westfall, S., Fraser, R.G., & Tembo, M. (2003). Time in
the arts and physical education and school achievement. Journal of Curriculum
Studies, 35(6), 721-734.