Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys have been singing it for ages: “add some music to your day”. Well,  a new comparative survey of nearly one thousand pupils across ten schools in Finland, Päivi-Sisko Eerola and Tuomas Eerola, doctoral students at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, measured and compared the quality of school life for students with and without extended music classes at Year 3 and Year 6 (ages 9 and 12 years old). And yes, adding music to a school day leads to a better quality of school life.

From the press release:

Their research uncovered significant differences between the two groups, with those who experienced longer music lessons rating the quality of school life higher in a majority of factors, particularly in areas related to general satisfaction about the school and a sense of achievement and opportunity for students.

Student satisfaction is not a trivial issue, Eerola warns, since it is linked with teachers’ work satisfaction and their number of absent days due to sickness (Ervasti et al. 2012): ‘If financial losses and absences of teachers can be reduced with more music at school we would certainly hear about it afterwards.’

I know, there are surely other means to augment the quality of school life, still I really like the outcomes of this research. Do note that the research although has some real benefits, also has some clear caveats:

“The design utilised in the present study (quasi-experimental) cannot establish a causal link between EM and QSL as group allocation is not random but instead may reflect family values, academic interests of parents or other possible factors contributing to differences (Schellenberg 2006b, 126). For instance, the EM may bring increased QSL to those who are interested in music but the design does not answer the question of what would happen if pupils not interested in music enrol in EM.”

In the meantime:

Abstract of the research:

The claim of whether music education can create social benefits in the school environment was tested in 10 Finnish schools with an extended music curricular class and control classes. The quality of school life (QSL) was assessed by a representative sample (N=735) of pupils at years 3 and 6 (9- and 12-years-olds). The results showed that extended music education enhances the QSL, particularly in areas related to general satisfaction about the school and a sense of achievement and opportunity for students. Differences related to the schools and gender did not account for the results. A follow-up study examined whether the increase in critical QSL variables was related to music. This analysis utilised data from other classes (N=98) with an extended curriculum (sports and visual arts). These classes did not confer similar benefits. Overall, the results imply that extended music education has a positive effect on the social aspects of schooling.