Music is the universal language. It fills us with emotion and fosters imagination.
What is the place of music in education, especially at a time when the arts are being severely cut from many curriculums? Is it possible to incorporate music as a learning tool for disciplines such as English, social studies, math, science, even psychology? Answering this question with a “yes” is TeachRock, the brainchild of Stevie Van Zandt, guitarist and member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The Founders Board members consist of Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen.
“The arts are our common ground worldwide,” says Van Zandt. “It’s what brings us together. If we can integrate the arts into every aspect of every curriculum of every school, our depressed society has a chance of returning to the optimism of the ’60s.”
TeachRock is an educational tool built on infusing music in all the disciplines, thus creating learning not through lecture but through songs that relate to the lesson at hand, with teachers acting as facilitators. Its mission is to support high levels of student engagement in the classroom, empower teachers to utilize arts integration and especially music in their classrooms, and inspire teachers to infuse visual and performing arts in lessons. The arts-based assessment encourages students to show what they learn in the lesson through a creative activity such as a writing response, illustrating song lyrics, or by creating a cartoon storyboard.
At a Jan. 11 workshop held at The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) in Stony Brook Village, facilitator Stephanie Arnell illustrated how TeachRock works and emphasized that there is a wealth of lessons on the website for teachers to explore and implement in their classrooms. Teachers may also refer students to the Distance Learning Pack (DLP), student-based lessons that serve as a zoom assignment or in the classroom, with students working in teams on these lessons and the teacher acting as facilitator.
Each lesson starts with an essential question. The sample question introduced by Arnell at the workshop was: How did Martin Luther King’s Birthday become a national holiday? Arnell explained how this question may easily translate to a Social Studies lesson on how a bill becomes a law. The musical component addressing this question was Stevie Wonder’s song “Happy Birthday.” Arnell points out that this song was not written as a mere birthday song, but as a strong message to lawmakers whose responsibility it was to decide on legislation that would establish a holiday in recognition of Martin Luther King. “Happy Birthday” was written to help pass this legislation. Thus, this song becomes the centerpiece of a social studies lesson about the Constitution, the articles of the Constitution and how a bill becomes a law.
Arnell, a 22-year seasoned music teacher in the Freeport Union Free School District, shared how in 2016 she discovered TeachRock and immediately saw the value of incorporating music into the disciplines, making learning fun. She appreciates how artists can use their voice to make change, which was so apparent in her example of Wonder’s song.
Arnell’s teaching style is exuberant and her enthusiasm for TeachRock is infectious.
“TeachRock transformed me as an educator and made me more knowledgeable,” she shared, then added, “Kids love learning through music.”
“It’s great to watch a master teacher like Stephanie Arnell bring TeachRock curricular and the spirit of LIMEHOF to life in a way that teachers can take back to their classrooms and put into action tomorrow,” Bill Carbone, executive director of TeachRock, said after the workshop,
TeachRock has become the official educational partner for LIMEHOF.
“The intention is to educate the public about Long Island’s rich musical history and our partnership with Stevie Van Zandt’s TeachRock allows us the opportunity to bring music history into schools in a meaningful way,” said Tom Needham, chair of the Education Committee at LIMEHOF. “We want to establish an ongoing relationship with teachers who attend the workshops encouraging them to return for further sessions and to bring their students to the museum for field trips to see memorabilia from artists highlighted in their lessons.”
This TeachRock workshop was sponsored by Warren Rosen’s Harmony Insurance Brokerage. A subsequent workshop will be presented at LIMEHOF in March with a date to be determined.
