Schoolhouse Rock and Musical Intelligence

I do not intend to turn this blog into a running obituary, but I believe it is important to mention that Bob Dorough passed away on April 24th, 2018. He was 94 years old. He was one of the creators of the Schoolhouse Rock animated musical series that ran during the period from 1973-1985. They were created to help children learn and remember content they needed in their school classes. I can still sing many of these tunes I heard on TV when I was a child.

There are many studies surrounding the Multiple Intelligences Theory of Howard Gardner (Brualdi, 1998). Gardner examines seven intelligences which he defines as "the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings" (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). One of the seven is musical intelligence. People may possess and use forms of these intelligences in various mixtures with individuals having greater abilities in some areas than others. Whether or not you except this theory, there is no doubt that many students learn better when music and movement is part of the learning equation (Foley, 2006). In fact I experienced this myself in college when I needed to learn lists of facts or specialized vocabulary for certain classes. It helped me remember content when the classmates in my study group and I put the lists to music. We also tried to put them into some kind of rhyming, logical or story order if possible. In some cases we added special motions, such as finger movements. One of our group was deaf in both ears, but he was able to learn this way by tapping out the rhythms of the songs we created. For me it worked, and I got an A in my first semester World History class.

-Dan

References

Brualdi, A. (1998). Gardner's theory. Teacher Librarian, 26(2), 26-28. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ace.edu?url=/docview/224887873?accountid=31683

Foley, M. B. (2006). "The music, movement, and learning connection": A review.Childhood Education, 82(3), 175-176. Retrieved from https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ace.edu?url=/docview/210406405?accountid=31683

Gardner, H., & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school: educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences. Educational Researcher, 184-10. doi:10.2307/1176460

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