A report by Durham University has found that poor working memory could be a more significant factor than low intelligence when it comes to under-achieving children in schools.
This is interesting news for anyone who heard Howard Goodall's recent speech at the MusicLearningLive conference which touched on the relationship between music and memory.
Citing recent research in neuroscience, Howard concluded that the best way to improve children's memories is through singing. Explaining the concept of 'trace memory modelling' and the way that music can trigger memories and emotions, he said:
"Singing is the thing that makes human beings' memories work better when they are young. If I had no other thing to say to the ministers... instead of saying, 'You'll build up self-esteem, you'll cohere your communities, you'll get them to concentrate better,' I could also have just said this one thing. 'Their memories will work better.' ... This is one crucial thing we now know the brain needs and we can train the brain to do this through singing."
Read about the Durham University report
This News story was originally published by Music Manifesto, the campaign to improve music education 2004 – 2010.
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