Philosophy of Music Education
Univeristy
of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Revised
April 11, 2003
The definition of
philosophy has many meanings 1) a school of thought, a belief or system of
beliefs accepted as authoritative by some group or school; another meaning
applies personally 2) any personal belief about how to live or how to deal with
a situation, both of these definitions are a crucial part in describing what my
philosophy of Music Education entails. My philosophy is one that has come about
from the different values that I hold and the experiences I have been through.
As an individual
who is passionate about music, my goal is to give each child the opportunity to
appreciate music and have that same drive that I have found. The specific
reason that I want to become a teacher are the foundations of my philosophy of
Music Education. Both real and good reasons are the foundation for why a person
chooses to teach music. To be honest some real reasons that I want to teach is
to be able to have holidays, as well as summers available to raise my family. A
good reason that I want to teach is to make a difference in a child's life, to
give them the opportunity to play and experience self-expression through music.
An aspect that
gives every child the ability to experience music is inclusion, or mainstreaming.
Music is a subject that almost always involves mainstreaming of students with
disabilities. This is not only beneficial to the students with special needs,
but also to the teacher and fellow classmates. The other students may learn
empathy and compassion for others that are different from them and the teacher
may have to be creative in how their teaching methods, which improves their
knowledge of pedagogy.
Music is important
in many aspects of life. It is an aspect of history that is found in almost every
culture. Each culture may be distinguished by the music they are accustomed to.
As a result, a music educator needs to incorporate world music into their
curriculum. When doing this, a teacher needs to use two methods of
incorporating multiculturalism into the classroom. 1) By using music of many
cultures to teach specific musical concepts; and 2) Using music to teach about
a different culture.
As a teacher with
now culturally diverse classrooms we may be able to incorporate our students'
cultures into the classroom through music. In America we are know as the
melting pot of cultures. As educators we should recognize this and celebrate
our students' individuality and relate to children how American culture came to
be. I have a strong Lutheran faith and the music we sang in church will always
be a part of the values that I hold. Honesty, integrity, respect, loyalty and
compassion are values that are important to me as both a person and educator.
All of these I learned in some aspect through my experiences at church. These
values are only some that I will utilize towards my students, colleagues, and
myself as a Music educator.
Music should be
taught in schools for several reasons. One reason is that it is a chance for
children to express themselves when they might not have the verbal
communication to do so. Another reason is that the process of making music
involves cooperation, patience, concentration as well as multi-tasking. These
are some of the most significant skills to becoming a successful adult, which
in reality is the end goal. Cooperation and patience applies to all of the
areas that a child encounters, this may be in class, on the playground, at home
or on the bus. Concentration is necessary for a child to accomplish tasks,
follow through with ideas, and also be creative. Lastly, music making is a
great example of multi-tasking. Not only does the child breathe, press certain
fingering, read music, watch the conductor, but also listen to neighboring
players that may be playing similar or completely different parts. All of these
qualities may be considered extra musical benefits, but some obvious music benefits
why I think music should be taught in schools are the outward expression of
feelings, being passionate about music, communication, and creativity (taught
at first). All of these benefits, extramusical or musical, enable a child to
succeed and to grow in life through many different ways. Giving children the
tools to do this is one of the best reasons why music should be taught.
When deciding
curriculum the school should develop goals with the music teacher. Curriculum
may be partly determined by what values an individual has. I try to be open to
new kinds of music from Beethoven to Phillip Glass to African drumming to Old
McDonald, the repertoire that will be used to educate children needs to be
appropriate for them and address the particular lesson of that unit. I feel
that I should have a choice in what music I will teach, partly because I cannot
teach something unless it is mine. Meaning, I cannot teach something to someone
else until I have internalized it and made it relevant to my teaching style.
As a caring
individual I would not want to teach something that I am neither familiar with
nor accustomed to. That is not to say that I would not try to learn the music.
Part of being an educator is the drive to keep educating yourself, by learning
new subject material I could apply it to other areas that I already am familiar
with. For example, I can apply what I know about hand drumming to African
drumming. This could not only help me become a better teacher for the
percussion students, but also teach my students about African music. Teaching
different drumming styles, not like Western percussion may appeal to other
students and therefore promote individual interest in music.
Every child should
have the opportunity to learn about music, especially in the elementary
schools. This is because I feel younger students are more open minded and will
participate more freely than older student. Also, as students grow older,
generally a smaller section of students join band, choir, or orchestra. I think
this is because at a Junior high or Middle school level students have more
opportunity to participate in other things, which results in music falling by
the wayside.
Although, I think
that if any student wants to participate in music they should have the
opportunity. I also believe that as a teacher you can route students into
choosing a variety of instruments, such as having some of the flutes try a
double reed instrument after a year or two. Another option is to not ignore the
section in the back of the band room, but have the percussionist work on scales
and technique similar to the wind and brass players.
As the ages and
abilities of the students' progress I think that there should be standards set
for High school and the ensembles that consist of these student musicians,
including rotating parts within a section. I think this will keep the students
improving in their playing and general musicianship. I also believe that
schools should offer classes for students not currently enrolled in primary
ensembles. This would give opportunity for students who play either play
electric guitar, or bass, or other students who may have no musical background
the opportunity to learn about music. They could learn about music, but
necessarily have to be in band, choir or orchestra. Because I realize not
everyone plays a concert instrument, the chance for students to learn about
music outside of large ensembles may give them a better appreciation of music
in general. As an Arts advocate, we need to ensure that this opportunity to experience
music is available in a variety of ways. I believe that this should be a
requirement in the middle and high school levels. Music gives students the
ability to express themselves in a different way, which is critical in our
society.
The final question
that is to be addressed through my philosophy is who should teach music in
schools? Obviously, I feel that music should be taught by Music Educators,
preferably people who have attended college and have had formal training in the
area of music. The teaching music at any level needs to be done by a trained
professional. A parent would not stand for their child to be taught math by a
person who did not receive training in math, nor should anyone allow their
child to be taught music by someone who does not have a proper background in
music. I feel that music is such an internalized matter that you cannot even
start to teach it if you have never studied music yourself.
On the other side,
just because someone studied music does not mean that they will be appropriate
to teach in schools. In many cases, as a musician progresses in the level of
ability they forget how hard it was in the beginning stages, resulting in the
inability to properly teach that level of students. There are so many ways to
teach material to students, one needs to be exposed to several method of
teaching and then choose one to make their own style. After internalizing a
style of teaching and learning different ways of teaching material, a person
should be able to educate students. One of my goals when educating students is
to hopefully pass on my passion of music to them.
My philosophy of
Music Education has stated that I feel music is crucial to students' education
for reasons mentioned, also music should be taught in schools by trained
professionals to every child utilizing a variety of music to teach about
musical concepts and different cultures. I feel that teaching music in schools
give students the skills that will be needed to be successful adults and to be
creative thinkers in our society. The extra-musical as well as musical benefits
prove to be advantageous in many areas of our students' lives. Giving children
the opportunity to feel and express music is something to which I cannot fully
explain. Hopefully the skills and experience that children learn while
participating in music will stay with them as they find their place in the
world.
References
Labuta, J. Smith,
D. (1997). Music Educator: Historical Contexts and Perspectives. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
Marching to the
Same Drummer. (Nov. 1998). Music for every Child ir the Inclusive Classroom.
[Handout]. Jackson, TN: Jane W. Cassidy.
A Checklist for
Evaluating Multiculturalism Materials. [Handout]. World Music Press: Judith
Cook Tucker.
Go to http://kidshealth.or~'kid/leelin~friend/special needs.html for a description of a special needs and mainstreaming.