Why Bringing Music into the Classroom is a Good Idea and Why ABC Alone

True or false: learning is fun. I admit there were plenty of days in school when I thought false despite all the cheesy posters with rainbows and smiley faces in my school hallways promoting the 'learning is fun' slogan. Yeah yeah, I wasn't convinced. Sometimes the subject did not interest me or the teacher would drone on in a monotone voice giving some dry lecture. I was bored and was not enjoying learning. I did not want to be there.

But the truth is that learning is fun, especially when both students and teachers put effort and creativity into learning. Students need to realize what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to learn while teachers need to find a way to connect and engage the students. A few weeks ago I went to be the teacher at a seminar, but I ended up doing a lot of learning myself. I learned how powerful it is to combine the passions of music and learning. I was invited by my friend Katie, an English teacher trainer to her school for a project kick-off. Katie is partnering with Lima, an English teacher, who started a children's music school a few years back. Lima has been using his musical gifts to create songs and lyrics that teach children to important values such as being hard-working, promoting peace and unity, and having pride in heritage. Recently Katie and Lima have decided to expand their project vision, by training more teachers to use music in the classroom, and by incorporating health messages in their music. That's where I came in.

A few Saturdays back I was invited to be a guest lecturer at their project seminar to share health knowledge on HIV and AIDS, malaria, and cholera. The seminar was for students in their 20's and 30's who will be English teachers next year. They go to a boarding school and learn English from sunup to sundown, and when I say sunup, I really mean it. Bells awaken these students at 4:30 am to start morning drills; they have to walk in a courtyard before English classes start everyday! Intense, huh? At any rate, I was nervous about giving my one-hour talk in English because I worried the students would either be bored or not understand the content. However, my fears proved unfounded. They blew me away with their understanding of the English language and with their sheer hunger for learning!

What was supposed to be a one-hour lecture turned into a 3-hour-question–and-answer session about HIV. I presented a great deal of biological information about the disease that they were hearing for the first time, which sparked the questions. I was so encouraged by this because Mozambicans hear about HIV so much they stop paying attention because it's often the same old thing, "Practice abstinence, be faithful, always use a condom." I am not discounting the importance of these messages, but I think they should be accompanied with a more in-depth explanation of what HIV is. After almost 8 months in country, I can tell you that just spouting out the ABC message against HIV is not effective. Not a lot of people are abstaining, being faithful, or using condoms – but maybe they would be more inclined to if someone actually explained to them what happens inside the body when a person is HIV positive or if they had a clearer understanding of how HIV is actually transmitted. I took advantage of the opportunity to offer a biological explanation on HIV, working to draw out charts and graphs in terms they could understand (I, myself am no biology expert after all). The graphs and charts successfully peaked their interest and the questions started flying. On and on I plowed. Question after question they asked.

My original worry that I would not explain the information well or that it would stump them was thrown back in my face when their brilliant questions eventually stumped me! The students started asking questions outside of my area of knowledge; I later had to send them additional documents to fully answer their questions. It was so refreshing and rare to teach a group of students so eager to push the envelope and learn. But what was even cooler is that they are taking this enthusiasm for learning, and will share it with their students next year! This will be made even more powerful through the use of music in the classroom…

After my health lecture, Lima and some of the other students gave music performances. They strummed the guitar and sang, animated and talented. I left that day on Cloud Nine, glad I was able to be part of the project take-off and looking forward to seeing where it goes.