Canada can’t afford to see music fade in schools, says a report released Thursday (Aug. 22) in Kitchener. It’s too useful to the country’s technology economy.
“Managers may not look for a music background when hiring, but interviews demonstrated that they do appreciate how music experience and training can contribute to a technology professional’s success, says Music: A Catalyst for Technology Hubs and Innovative Talent.
“Our findings should put to rest any misperception that music studies are frivolous or a luxury in a digital economy.”
Sponsored by Music Canada, the report was prepared by the Information and Communications Technologies Council, a not-for-profit agency based in Ottawa. It was released at the Tannery Event Centre next to the Communitech Hub to emphasize the importance of music to Waterloo Region’s tech community.
The report praised Kitchener and Austin, Texas as two municipalities that have added support for a vibrant music scene as a component of their economic-development plans.
It says:
* Provincial governments should properly fund music in schools and ensure that it is taught by qualified music teachers;
* Music in schools should demonstrate the connection between music and careers in the technology economy;
* Parents need more information on importance of music instruction;
* Government support for the arts benefits the technology community by keeping workers entertained and willing to stay.
* Canada needs a national organization to keep track of the progress of music education, and how it leads to career development in the tech community.
Students who get high-quality grounding in music tend to be smarter in other subjects, the report says. They have good memories, good computational skills, higher IQs and -- of particular interest in the entrepreneurial tech community -- an appetite for risk.
The ability to organize bands, or perform in them, also builds useful leadership and collaborative skills, the report says.
Even listening to music helps: The report refers to a University of Windsor study that found that software designers who worked with background music tended to produce better work, faster.
The report raises concerns about leaving music instruction in schools to generalist teachers.
“When music is taught by people who are not qualified to teach music, it becomes music appreciation,’’ Jeff Leiper, ICTC’s vice-president of strategic communications, policy and research, said Thursday. “Music appreciation is not a great musical education. I think we can do better.”
The report struck a chord with Ian Graham, a musician and Mac computer specialist in Kitchener.
“When you’re teaching somebody music, you start them off slow with different things,’’ Graham said. “But those same skills that you use to learn all the different notes are all the same skills you use to learn the basics of a computer: Why you move your mouse, why you click on it once, why you click on it twice. . . They are very much the same building blocks.”
