Channels, Spring 2017

Page 42 Long • Promoting Public Interest “through the arts, students can learn how to discover not only the possibilities the world offers but also their own possibilities…[and both] expression and discovery are two major contributions the arts make to human development.” 21 When students discover where they fit in the big world around them, they seek to better that world. Eisner continues on to say that “the arts also make discovery possible…as students learn through adventures in the arts something of the possibilities of human experience.” 22 When children are surrounded by other students in a classroom, it is easy for them to feel as if they are simply another face in the crowd, and at times, it can be difficult for students to find their unique voice and skill that they can contribute to the world. However, Eisner asserts “the journeys they take through the patterned sound we call music…are means through which students can discover their potential to respond [or] in other words, the arts can help students find their individual capacity to feel and imagine.” 23 Students expand their social awareness as music helps them to grow through the exploration of the spacious world around them. Conclusion Folk music is far more than simply an easy way to fill the time in a general music classroom. It is a hidden treasure trove of wealth and riches waiting to be discovered by those who take the time to seek it out. It is true that traditional songs can be merely entertainment for the youngest members of society, and small students will be sent home from school singing catchy tunes that their parents will recognize during the car ride home. However, the value in folk songs is their rich heritage in the oral tradition of ages past that has for many centuries encouraged literacy in many different cultures around the world. Language learning, historical knowledge, and societal consciousness are at students’ fingertips, or perhaps more accurately, at the tips of their tongues. Traditional music has the power to continue to change the lives of students as the music educators of today ask them to join in the song with the voices of the generations before them, asking “Next time, won’t you sing with me?” 21 Elliot W. Eisner, "The Misunderstood Role of the Arts in Human Development," Education Digest 58, no. 3 (1992): 595. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid.