Music Education Philosophy

Music education is the ability to form new habits and new patterns with others and with
the help of others. One of my professors (Dr. Oppenheim) always says “Show up, Pay attention,
and don’t be tied to an outcome”, this is the basis of my music classroom and instruction. Music
in the classroom is a collective of people or sounds coming together to create art, this can mean
multiple people playing a piece together or it can be a soloist performing a work by a composer
or something completely outside of the normal expectations of music. All of these things require
multiple people or the involvement of people outside ourselves. Music education is the
instruction and guidance of students on their journey through the music-making process and
experiencing music.

Music should be prioritized in schools because it not only expands students' learning
capability but also expands their perspectives on new cultures and people. This includes the
people in their own building or grade level. Music unites people and pulls them from every
corner of the world. Student involvement is the most important part of education, getting
students to buy into what you are trying to teach them and keeping them engaged in the content
is very important. As much as we are qualified to teach music, we should also allow our students
to teach not only each other but us through engagement and participation. Through this, we can
learn to better understand our students and provide opportunities related to what they are
interested in. The best teachers of music, come prepared but also are flexible. They are involved
and engaged with the student's interests and reasons for being in music or sometimes just in the
room.

Music has long-term effects on people and society, but people have long-term effects on
music as well. Communities and organizations depend on music makers of every variety. Music
is for everyone who wants it and for everyone who doesn’t know that they need it. Thus, music
should be accessible to all students regardless of income or identity( race, sexuality, gender, ect.).
Music is not meant to be learned or performed by a specific group of people, for a specific group
of people. All reasons for music are valid and welcome in music classrooms, whether a student
wants to learn guitar classically or to play pop tunes. As an educator, I can point students to
resources to help them explore those concepts more and find ways to incorporate them into my
classroom.