What's new in pedagogy research?

Does the study of music really make people smarter? Are they better in math? Are they stronger in languages? This has been a hot topic in research and general conversation for the past decade, with various studies suggesting contradictory answers. A new study by Eugenia Costa-Giomi, titled "Effects of Three Years of Piano Instruction on Children's Academic Achievement, School Performance and Self-Esteem," (1) investigates these questions.

This experiment involved 117 fourth-grade children enrolled in a school district in Montreal, Canada. These students had never participated in formal music instruction, did not have a piano and came from homes with a low family income and a high incidence of unemployment and single parents. Half the students were in a control group and did not receive piano lessons, but were tested at the end of each of the three years of the study. The other half received free piano lessons, and a free acoustic piano was placed in each of their homes. During the study a third group developed, consisting of those who were given lessons but dropped out of the program. All the children were given a battery of tests before the program began. These included standardized tests for language, mathematics, self-esteem, musical aptitude, fine motor skills and developing cognitive abilities. The results of these tests showed the two groups were equal in all areas. The children were retested with appropriate levels of tests at the end of the first, second and third years of the study. The researcher also had access to the students' report cards from the year prior to the study (third grade) to the end of the study (sixth grade) to evaluate overall school performance.

The results of the testing indicated the piano lessons had a significant benefit for self-esteem and school grades for music courses, but did not affect their test results or school grades for math or language. Costa-Giomi speculates that the positive benefit for self-esteem might have been the result of the individual attention from the experienced piano teacher, possibly some attention to practice in the home, the opportunities to perform in recitals in front of their peers and relatives and the experience of developing their musical interests and abilities. The positive effect of the piano instruction was not influenced by the child's sex, parental employment or family income and structure. Costa-Giomi writes:

   The results of the study question
   the existence of a causal relationship
   between formal music instruction and
   academic achievement as instruction
   did not affect children's academic
   achievement in language and math as
   measured by standardized tests. No
   differences were found between the
   test scores of children taking the piano
   lessons and those who never participated
   in formal music instruction. (2)

Reflections

And so, a few more coals are added in the fire of dais controversy. The ongoing debate boils down to a question of correlation versus causality. Does music make children smarter, or do smart kids like to play music? In my years as an independent and university music teacher, I would have to say the students who stuck with it and played well also did well in their academic endeavors. Was that because studying music was making them smarter, or was it because they were smart to begin with, were self-motivated and had parents at home encouraging them to excel in all areas of their lives? This question can be seen as a rather esoteric morsel to nibble on at our leisure, unless we are using the possibly false claim that music makes kids smarter to advocate public funding for music in the schools and to encourage parents to enroll their children in private lessons. Then this question becomes relevant and urgent, because it argues for the inclusion of music in the life of a child for a nonmusical and possibly false reason. Perhaps a wiser course, in the long run, would be to argue that the arts contribute to the joy and emotional health of all human beings.

NOTES

(1.) Costa-Giomi, Eugenia. "Effects of Three Years of Piano Instruction on Children's Academic Achievement, School Performance and Self-Esteem." Psychology of Music, 32 (2), (2004): 139-152.

(2.) Ibid., 149.

Rebecca Grooms Johnson is the director of keyboard pedagogy at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. She is an experienced independent piano teacher and a past president of the Ohio MTA. Johnson holds a Ph.D. degree in piano pedagogy.