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MUSIC EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY

Samuel Messenger

Westminster Choir College of Rider University

ME-161-01: Art of Teaching Music 1

Dr. Sarah Perry

May 4, 2023
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MUSIC EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY

A transformative music teacher is someone who constantly strives to achieve these four

goals for their students: first and most important — to cause musical growth in society by

fostering a love for music in all of my students; second, to develop students’ creative potential by

helping them learn more (both performance and understanding); third, to maximize opportunities

for students desiring to expand their music knowledge and ability, especially into the

professional world; and last, to provide a safe space where independence and societal awareness

can be learned.

Music is a very human thing. While certain animals can perceive and entrain rhythms,

some can pick out the beat in a song, and some can replicate a tune, humans alone are able to

incorporate several of these auditory concepts together to express themselves in complex,

emotional ways. Every known human culture has had some form of music, and music goes

incredibly far back in our history. In fact, one of the oldest human artifacts found is a bone flute.

Perhaps because it is so prevalent in humans, making music can have huge benefits for

any individual’s social skills. In fact, this was what Kodaly believed — that music ought to be a

social and cultural experience. Students can practice teamwork, peer instruction, active listening,

problem-solving, and recognizing non-verbal cues such as eye contact, breath awareness, and

conducting — all of this while making music. Interestingly, “the development of autistic children

in the areas of language, social and emotional, cognitive skills, and sensorimotor skills is

improved through musical activities” (Xia and Li, 2022, p. 2). So for both mentally disabled and

non-disabled students, music is an important conduit for all kinds of growth.

Furthermore, music opens up connections to different communities through musical

heritage or shared interests such as genre(s), musician(s), theme(s), or instrument(s). In this way,
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music encourages an awareness of other people’s perspectives. Because of the direct correlation

between practice time and musical improvement, learning an instrument is a great way to

develop a healthy work ethic. And because of the bodily connection to the instrument, which can

involve physical touch and breath, learning music can increase self-awareness and self-control.

Acknowledging how important music is and how inherent it is to our humanity, it’s

upsetting to see how underfunded, underrepresented, and inconsistent music education is in the

United States. This means each music teacher must be held accountable for maintaining their

own standards in their classroom, and it places a ton of importance on the teacher being

organized, responsive to students’ backgrounds, learning styles, and interests, and focused on

student growth rather than performance.

The second overarching goal of a transformative teacher is someone who develops

students’ creative potential by helping them learn more knowledge and skills. In a fashion

similar to Oorf, Gordon, and others, teachers should first connect students to music physically.

Embodying the music is key. The next step is a conceptual understanding of the music — in

other words, somewhat theoretical or more complex in some way but not notated. The final step

in understanding a music concept is notation. Just like with language, “speaking” is first,

understanding is second, and writing/reading is third.

Another thing which teachers can do to create learning opportunities for their students is

incorporating world and popular music into their teaching. Western music has so fully dominated

our education systems for so long and other cultures and genres of music can be extremely

fascinating. So I fully support this, especially if it aligns with the students’ interests. Kratus had

some great things to say about incorporating pop and world music into teaching, as a part of a

movement he called “music amateurism”: “The education of amateur musicians would ideally
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foster students’ personal and diverse goals in music listening, performing, or creating (or some

combination of these) rather than promote a uniform set of semi-professional standards of

musicianship. In short, students could pursue the kind of music they like in ways they enjoy” (Kratus,

2019, p. 34).

Essentially, if it’s what the students want, go for it. Student interest should heavily

influence course content/repertoire. Xia and Li stated, “(1) commitment to community (2)

commitment to the practical concerns of professional musicians (3) commitment to global

awareness (4) commitment to social justice (5) commitment to creative, student-driven projects

and practices. Central to all of these commitments is inclusion, not only of differing vantage

points, subject positions, intellectual traditions, and genres, but also motivations, including

amateur performance and nonmajor instruction” (2022, p. 558). The idea of music amateurism

being just as important as music professionalism is clever.

In order to fulfill the next step and maximize professional opportunities for students

desiring to expand their music knowledge and ability, teachers should do a lot of the same things.

Playing, thinking, and then notating in that order, and incorporating elements of the students’

background (Culturally Relevant Pedagogy) and interests (Culturally Relevant Pedagogy),

including world and pop music, will create ample and varied opportunities for the students who

wish to push themselves hard in one direction or another. This kind of student isn’t better than

the kind that will only ever do music for enjoyment. They’re just different. But again, even if

their end goals are different, teaching both kinds of students requires similar things of the

teacher: mainly an accommodation for the students’ interest, at least here and there.

The last goal of a transformative music teacher is to provide a safe space in which to

teach independence and societal awareness. Societal awareness has already been discussed a bit
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above, but picking repertoire for practicing and performing can be a large part of that. There are

several things that must be considered. Obviously, the music must be of appropriate skill level,

with a manageable balance of known and unknown. Acquiring music with appropriate

instrumentation/voice parts for your students is essential. Aside from the constraints, how do you

decide what music to do? Incorporating culturally relevant pedagogy, you might let the students

choose something they are interested in. This might allow you to diversify for the sake of

expanding musical and cultural knowledge and recognizing students' backgrounds, rather than

for the appearance of inclusiveness. One final thing to say about repertoire: no matter what you

pick, always introduce repertoire with context. It makes it easier to perform and it can start

conversations about social justice in the classroom which are very important to have. As stated

before, music connects people.

In order to create a supportive environment, teachers should form relationships with the

students. They are in an ideal position to do so, and it benefits both the student and the teacher.

Also, “Research has suggested that early adolescent boys and girls (ages 10-14) both benefit

from high-quality teacher-student relationships, characterized by high levels of closeness and

low levels of conflict” (Goldie, 2021, p. 139). The article explains that boys tend to have worse

relationships with their teachers than girls, which correlates with significant differences in

academic achievement, especially for black and African American boys of color. So forming a

good relationship with the students increases their academic performance as well as provides a

safe space.

In order to teach independence, a teacher must build trust with the students, and also give

the students tools to use when they are alone. Tools for focus, self-affirmation, and health, such

as self-care. According to Kuebel, “Self-care is deliberate action taken to care for one’s mental,
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emotional, and/or physical health. It is intended to provide an individual with the tools needed to

recharge and reset so he or she may fulfill goals and responsibilities and maintain healthy

relationships” (Kuebel, 2019, para. 12). Self-care could include mindfulness, healthy habits,

positive internal dialogue, or a better sleep schedule. Ultimately, the goal is to help students feel

more comfortable and confident in themselves and what they know and love, so they feel

motivated enough to teach themselves things too.

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References

Goldie, P. D., & O’Connor, E. E. (2021). The Gender Achievement Gap: Do Teacher-Student

Relationships Matter? Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 26(2), 139–149.

https://doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN26.2.139

Hesselink, N. (2021). Western Popular Music, Ethnomusicology, and Curricular Reform: A

History and a Critique. Popular Music & Society, 44(5), 558–578.

https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2021.2000280

Kratus, J. (2019). A Return to Amateurism in Music Education. Music Educators Journal,

106(1), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432119856870

Kuebel, C. (2019). Health and Wellness for In-Service and Future Music Teachers: Developing a

Self-Care Plan. Music Educators Journal, 105(4), 52–58.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432119846950

Xia, T., & Li, Z. (2022). Behavioral Training of High-Functioning Autistic Children by Music

Education of Occupational Therapy. Occupational Therapy International, 1–10.

https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/6040457