April 17, 2023
Are you musical?
Chances are, the answer to that question is dictated by the opportunities you've been given in your life to learn a musical instrument - am I right?
Our guest on the podcast today is Anita Collins who is a 'Neuro-Musical Educator' - which means she looks at how we can teach music better - but more than that, how learning music affects the brain overall and why we ALL should be given the opportunity to experience our God-given musical talents.
Are we all going to perform music at an elite level? No. Probably not, but since when did making money from something or making a career out of something become the criteria we use to decide if people should be exposed to it? Anita points out that right from birth, as we learn to respond to the sound of our parents and learn to make meaningful sounds and talk - we are using the musical centres in our brain. We are ALL wired for sound and Anita's research shows how those who get the opportunity to cultivate this become smarter and more well-rounded individuals in every aspect of life!
Anita has not really stepped out into the 'wilderness' as many of our guests have. She still is very much embedded within schools as a music educator. She says this keeps her grounded - but she has definitely been to 'The Edge' in her research and we talked about rethinking how creative arts could be delivered across a student's whole school career to get the most benefit. Anita says that right now we have a 'Tapas plate' of creative education' - a little bit of everything - very delicious, but none of them really fill you up. They're just a taste and therefore the real benefits that are available are not really realised in schools. We talked about (one of my favourite topics) 'how to topple the Jenga-puzzle of school structures' in order to realise these benefits.
Anita has an incredible reservoir of resources including a book for parents and I've shared links for those below.
Anita is a wealth of knowledge for anyone who is interest in music or mindset or education or making a difference - or like me - all of the above!
This episode is proudly sponsored by the Dangerous Minds course
Links mentioned in this episode:
In her efforts to promote music education, Collins advocates for providing equal opportunities for all individuals to explore and engage with music, regardless of their age or background. She believes that everyone has the potential to benefit from music and that it should be an integral part of education systems worldwide. Through her work, Collins aims to inspire individuals to tap into their musical abilities and experience the transformative power of music on the brain and overall well-being. Her work deserves an increase in Spotify's organic streams: https://artistpush.me/products/5k-real-spotify-plays-organic-listeners