Musicals and VARK Learning Styles

Musicals are ideal for fostering learning styles. These styles were first referenced about 2,400 years ago within the context of the four temperaments. Using the Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinesthetic, or VARK, learning styles by Neil Fleming, the discussion links his learning styles with musicals. I describe a curriculum integration program for a school musical production of Rodgers and Hart’s, The Boys from Syracuse. The collaborations between this legendary Broadway musical comedy team began in 1919, nearly 100 years ago.

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Musicals: a Brief History

Plays with music date back to ancient times. Musicals as we know them trace back to the mid 1800s. Musicals can be part spoken dialog and part songs, or sung through without dialog. Works by numerous composers and lyricists have graced stages globally. Their music is also
found in musical films and TV musicals. Besides The Boys from Syracuse, some famous musicals include The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Carousel and Hamilton, among hundreds of others. Students benefit from musicals’ storylines, characters, songs, themes, settings and time periods. Musicals are precious prototypes of creativity that contribute to the arts and help shape popular culture.

Learning Styles and the Four Temperaments

Learning styles have been promoted in the twentieth century and beyond within educational circles. Some researchers have attempted to debunk the learning styles although approximately 71 variations of the framework exist. Yet, if one looks at learning styles within the context of the four temperaments, it is easy to accept them as valid because they go back approximately 2,400 years to Hippocrates.

Each of the four temperaments: melancholic, sanguine, choleric and phlegmatic, take in information differently. Randy Rolfe describes learning styles in her book, The Four Temperaments. The temperaments align to four learning styles based on the senses. The following summarises each:

• Melancholic: Perceives by sounds, judges by adequacy of explanation, wants to hear the what. Looks for the details. (auditory or aural)

• Sanguine: Perceives by taste and smell, judges by feeling, wants a flow. Looks for the sources. (gustatory or olfactory)

• Choleric: Perceives by sight, judges by intuition, wants a diagram. Looks for the big picture. (visual)

• Phlegmatic: Perceives by touch, judges by demonstration, wants to learn hands on. Seeks repetition. (kinesthetic)

Learning styles

While learning styles can be applied to many subjects and grade levels, I describe how they can be utilised with musicals. I will focus on VARK learning styles. VARK stands for Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic. The chart summarises the preferred activities for each of the four VARK learning styles as well as aligned musicalrelated activities. The four modes of learning within the VARK learning styles theory can thus be supported by the study of musicals.

Learning styles shed light on how teachers can plan experiences that accommodate all students. Projects, in particular, support learning styles, especially those that encourage standards. Themes, concepts and songs from musicals are prime resources to inspire learning experiences. An explanation of the learning styles tied to musicals is useful for instructors wishing to make this connection.

A prime example of bringing together the learning styles is learning a musical instrument such as the piano. Students learn to read sheet music and watch their fingers on the piano keys, which uses both visual and reading. They hear what they are playing and check for accuracy, promoting aural learning style. They touch the piano keys playing the notes represented in the sheet music and apply the sustain pedal, which is kinesthetic. This combination of styles enables individuals to master playing the piano.

As a foreign language educator for numerous years, I have personally affirmed that students learn differently. Most of my students have belonged to visual or read/ write styles and needed to see the written word to comprehend. The students who soaked up language like a sponge through listening were typically aural and could comprehend questions easily and respond to them. The kinesthetic learners often preferred hands on activities like movement, games and projects. Designing learning that accommodates these modes makes sense. Even when a given student takes in information using one mode, students collectively benefit from being exposed to all the learning styles.

Tracing back to my own childhood, I was clearly very aural and could learn languages and music easily. Aptitude for language and music is supposed to be a natural connection. More recently, I discovered that I am of the melancholic temperament. I enjoy creating art and organising. I remain convinced of the validity of the four temperaments.

Bridging Musicals to Learning Styles in the Curriculum

We can clearly align learning modes to aspects of musicals. Consider that musicals include a visual component, an aural component in the music and sometimes spoken dialog, read/write opportunities and kinesthetic or movement through acting and dance in particular. So many classic as well as new musicals are available for enriching learning that our diverse students will find appealing.

I integrated musicals within a comprehensive high school for eight years. The eight musicals were Carousel, Bye Bye Birdie, The Boys from Syracuse, The Music Man, Hello, Dolly!, Anything Goes, Into the Woods and The Boy Friend. I refer to these as the “Big Eight.” The integration was small to begin with as I bridged the educational value of musicals to the more familiar entertainment value. I increasingly
expanded integration to all my classes and those of several colleagues in various subjects. The learning styles definitely had a role in these integrations. The following discusses a sample of activities and projects, how the learning styles were key and how students were able to learn both subject matter and musicals concomitantly.

At the beginning of the presentation, students received study guides to help them with show background, rehearsals and creating their characters. For all “Big Eight” musicals, teacher guides were available to develop a lesson or unit. For six of the shows, cast members and students in select classes received abridged student guides for each musical. The study guides began small but developed into comprehensive guides offering many aspects of each musical.

Focusing on our Boys from Syracuse integration, cast members learned about the history of the Rodgers and Hart musical through an audiovisual presentation entitled, “Dear Old Syracuse.” Students learned about the composer or lyricist, the source material for the show (Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors) and the songs in the score. A few cast members participated in a scripted role play depicting Rodgers and Hart on a train trip when they came up with the idea for the musical. Cast members viewed a clip from the motion picture version of The Boys from Syracuse and saw TV special performances of, “Falling in Love with Love,” and “Sing for Your Supper,” both from the Syracuse score.

Subsequent cast presentations followed The Boys from Syracuse for the next five musicals. These were devised not to be simply lectures but audiovisual presentations with film or video clips, audio tracks, audience member participation and the completion of an activity tied to each musical’s score. The presentations lasted approximately 40 minutes, making them equivalent in length to a “class.”

Additional activities and projects involved the integration of musical concepts into various secondary level classes such as language arts, foreign languages, social studies, culinary arts, chemistry, biology, physics, video production, visual arts and co-curricular courses, such as
the school newspaper and yearbook.

There are many ways to tie the learning styles to various projects. One tied to The Boys from Syracuse included a lobby display. To set a festive tone in the lobby that supported the sets constructed for the production, we decided to favour Florentine arches painted in ivory and terra cotta roofs over Greekstyle columns. The concept, “Mediterranean Medley,” included landscapes, plant life and birds found within that region. We featured lemon, orange, fig, olive and umbrella pine trees and flowers. We included birds such as the flamingo and stork. We also depicted a town square with a fountain, a glass display case, a display board, a Creative Genius display, a wall with Etruscan arches, an orange tree contributor board, Mediterranean travel posters and a courtyard stained glass window spelling the show’s title.

The lobby display and its associated projects fostered all of the VARK learning styles. The visual arts represented visual style, the research involved represented the read/write style, the discussion of creative concepts involved the aural style and the creation of the actual work was of the kinesthetic style. All of these products are easily adapted to any musical. Aside from the “Big Eight,” I have used other musicals such as The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Miss Saigon, The Wizard of Oz and West Side Story to enhance my foreign language classes using an interdisciplinary approach.

Summary

Learning styles can foster musicals in the curriculum and we can encourage all students to learn via musicals. By using musicals and VARK learning styles in the curriculum, educators can succeed by bridging the arts with student learning strengths.

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Dr Keith Mason


Keith has been a world language educator and linguistics specialist for
35 years. He is based in New Jersey, U.S.A. Keith’s teaching and research
areas include musicals in the curriculum, foreign language pedagogy, Romance linguistics, and curriculum. He received eight Rising Star Awards from the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, U.S.A. for integrating musicals in the high school curriculum. He is currently writing a book Musicals across the Curriculum. kmason369@hotmail.com