A few days ago, a friend said that he sent his child to learn the piano experience: "At the beginning, I just wanted to let her cultivate an interest, and there was no goal that had to be achieved, but I don't know when to start, it seems that 'examination level' has become the main purpose of learning the piano, the original intention gradually forgot, parents, children are trapped in the atmosphere of 'passing the level', which is actually quite damaging to the child's interest." ”
After listening to me for a long time, what is the problem in the middle? Quality education is a hot topic in China's education circle now, but I think if our mentality is not correct, it may just be an empty course with "quality", and there is no quality result. Of course, I can also understand the anxious mentality of parents to "grade" and "result", but I believe that in order to produce "good results", we must jump out of the overly utilitarian mentality and pay more attention to whether the learning process is happy, rather than staring at the examination level, and the cause and effect cannot be reversed.
My friend Gwen, who has been a cellist of the Malaysian National Symphony Orchestra for a long time, has traveled to 7 continents, and is currently in charge of the music part of the Creative Workshop in Beijing. Let's hear it together.
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Gwen, Chinese named Wang Guihua, a third-generation Malaysian Chinese, former cellist and art curator of the National Symphony Orchestra of Malaysia, came to China in 2015 and now lives in Beijing.
"Studying music is for interest, not for exams" After traveling to so many countries and regions, I found that each country's view of music is quite different. I have lived in Malaysia, the UK, and China for a relatively long time, and the children in these three countries have different ways and styles of learning music. Music education in China, especially higher education, is actually very advanced. Many universities have been sending exchange students with overseas since the ninth year, and there are many opportunities to learn about Western music and Southeast Asian ethnic music, and I originally went to Xi'an Conservatory of Music for further study because of the exchange program. But it is strange that, except for real music practitioners, ordinary people rarely have anything to do with music in their daily lives, and musical enlightenment is relatively expensive, and the older they get, the more they give up music.
Yes, now go to music tutoring school, you can see a lot of school-age children in the beginning, but if you pay attention, you will find that there are very few children in junior high school, and almost none in high school. Ordinary Chinese family music is like a catastrophe, and the exam is the sword of Damocles hanging in the air. Since learning the piano at the age of 3 or 4, many children have not had time to cultivate their love for music, and they have embarked on the road of examination early. I have seen a news before, saying that many piano schools also have "examination insurance", not only have the exclusive sparring of the examination, but also can refund the fee in seconds. Even if the test has been passed, the child has hated music, and the parents have "forgotten the piano", will no longer have requirements for music, and turn to grasp the test results.
(Attending the Cuban class with friends from Australia, the United States, Canada and South Africa, in Italy)
In Malaysia, take the piano as an example, the price of the introductory piano lesson is between RM50 and 300 (between 80-450 yuan) a lesson, the price of Kuala Lumpur, a big city and China's second-tier cities, the price is similar, a lesson of 30 minutes, the duration is still relatively short, children can sit still.
Not only outside the school, but also in the school there are orchestras and choirs, and interested students can participate. When I was in the Chinese Independent Middle School, I joined these two clubs. In addition to Western musical instruments, there are also folk orchestras in Hua Primary School and Independent Middle School, which are some chinese national instruments, and there are many people involved, which are very popular.
To be honest, when it comes to music education, I think Malaysia as a whole is heavily influenced by the UK. In the UK, there is a musical tradition at home, and community music education there is very popular. The community where I lived at the time had 4 amateur orchestras, and anyone could go and participate. I've also thought hard about why they care so much about music. When I think about it, I think it has something to do with the terrain and environment of the United Kingdom.
(Centuries-old church converted into a residential house, home in London)
The United Kingdom has a temperate oceanic climate, rainy, the weather is relatively wet and cold, people rarely do outdoors, and all entertainment activities can only be carried out indoors, such as reading, playing billiards and music. It even derives a unique space called the drawing room, which is not a living room, nor a dining room, but a place dedicated to relieving boredom at home, where the British people have fun after eating, playing the piano and chatting. So, if you can't play an instrument, how do you pass the time?
Moreover, they have a lot of music concerts there, such as the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC (currently in progress) and the amateur orchestras I just mentioned, and they also organize community concerts, and playing music is as natural as eating and drinking.
Therefore, their children rarely really go to the exam when they learn piano or learn musical instruments, nor do they say that they will become musicians after learning, but simply appreciate. The cost of input will not be very high, the price of learning an instrument is also very cheap (one-on-one piano lessons are about 20 pounds), the threshold is very low, this way, but it has promoted music to become the interest of many people in their leisure time.
I am more influenced by the idea of British music education, music is a kind of enjoyment rather than a tool, learning music should be happy, so in Beijing, I also joined a few friends to do workshops, specializing in arts and culture, I am responsible for the music part, so that 2-8 years old children can enjoy music in a more relaxed atmosphere, interest.
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I have been a professional cellist for a long time, and my daily life is a cycle between practicing and performing, 24 hours a day, playing the piano for 8 hours, and other things do not need to worry. But God sometimes jokes, and I accidentally injured my left arm.
The most important thing to do music is the hand, my arm can not recover the original degree, now sitting for a long time will still hurt, naturally can not play the piano anymore. In this case, I almost had no choice but to go behind the scenes, specializing in planning and preparing performances and art exhibitions. But I'm just a cellist myself, and my knowledge is all about music and performances. What do I have to prepare for a show? I know all this very well, and there is so much to learn. So I thought about it, applied to a school in the UK, and decided to go back to school.
(Work photo, with colleagues)
It was my first trip to a European country, and before that, I had only been an exchange student in Xi'an for 2 years, and I hadn't left home for a long time, but it was amazing that I wasn't worried or afraid at all. To exaggerate, the environment in which I grew up was complex enough.
Malaysia is a country that actually houses three completely different cultures – the malay culture, the Chinese culture and the Indian culture, which also represent three ethnic groups, all of which insist on their own traditions. For example, in terms of education, there are actually two systems, one is the state system, the other is the private system, and the ethnic schools of Chinese and Indians belong to the latter.
We call it a government school, we don't need to pay tuition fees, all Malay teaching, also learn English, but Chinese become electives. Most Chinese Malaysians attach great importance to Chinese education, and often do not choose government primary schools that weaken Chinese education, and go to independent secondary schools when they go to Primary School and Junior High School (60 in the country).
However, after all, the independent middle school is a private school, and the government will only allocate a small amount of money, most of which is donated by overseas Chinese, so the tuition fee is still relatively expensive, and the teachers will be better than the government school. For Chinese children in Malaysia, Chinese, English and Malay are compulsory courses from an early age, we have basically no language barriers, plus I speak Cantonese at home and with my parents, holding 3 languages + 1 dialect, walking in most parts of the world is completely worthwhile.
I remember once having a very interesting situation: when I went out to eat, I saw a table of people sitting at the table next to me, who looked like they were of Indian descent, but with one mouth, they spoke Cantonese very well, mandarin very well, and they were fluent in English, which was almost unimaginable in other countries.
(Mother-in-law, husband, me, in Florida, USA)
Because of the diverse language environment, when I lived in the UK and China, I never felt any language barrier. Later, when I was studying, I met my husband, we moved to the United States together, and we were never unaccustomed, I even combined the special foods of all the places where I lived, sorted out my own recipes, and I could eat dishes that suited my tastes everywhere I went.
Perhaps this is the commonality of Malaysian children, fighting is adaptability, never knowing "afraid".
Children who grew up in Malaysia, if nothing else, must be fully enthusiastic. The climate is hot, there is a lot of culture, and everyone is brightly dressed. At the opening ceremony of the recent Tokyo Olympics, Malaysian athletes were also discussed on Weibo for a long time because of their colorful clothes.
Unrestrained and spontaneous, they don't like any "fixed system". Many Chinese in Malaysia, if the family conditions are good, will send their children to study abroad. Because when the universities on this side admit students, they will leave 30% of the quota for local Malay children, leaving only 70% of the remaining 70% of the quota for Chinese and Indians, and there are not many top universities in Malaysia, leaving only private universities, and there are not too many options.
A lot of people are looking for other ways. A long time ago I had contact with a friend, his children do not go to private schools, do not go to national schools, just at home in the United States home school, as long as the family has a network, in the whole world can go to, from a young age chose a different path from other people, do not learn Malaysian, can also directly study abroad.
I heard that in recent years, there has also been a kind of "double school", and some countries overseas jointly run schools (the United States, Britain, Australia and other famous schools), the curriculum can be transferred, the fee is about 20,000-40,000 yuan (RMB) a year, children with good family conditions will also choose such a place, the probability of being admitted to Harvard, Oxford and other famous schools has become greater.
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After talking to Gwen, I seem to be less at a loss about the beginning of music. Examination is not the ultimate goal of learning music, and having an environment for easy to appreciate music can make the "enlightenment" possible later.
As they parted ways, Gwen told me with a smile that their workshop would soon be held again, bringing families of different nationalities to learn about art. "I'm not old yet, and I have my own pursuits," she said and did.