MUE 6080 Module 8: Course Application to Teaching

There are several ways in which my learnings from this course about philosophy and aesthetics will influence my teaching in the future. Early in the course, when we had a class discussion concerning philosophical positions in the classroom, I had truly believed that I not only knew my philosophy but was also adhering to it quite well. As the course developed I realized this was not the case and my pragmatic approach is not always pragmatic. My goal has consistently been for students to develop the skills to be lifelong learners, so that they could learn without the assistance of an instructor along every step of the way. However, I have realized that I do not use enough methods of inquiry and my methods are inconsistent. While I feel that some of the inconsistently could be blamed on the constant change the program has been going through the last 2 ½ years with the addition of jazz band and marching band, it is mostly my fault. Having consistency in all facets of a band program is very important to growth and success and this coursework makes it clear that I need to fully commit to a pragmatic approach. Concerning the aesthetic foundation of music education, I will take from this course the importance of reaching the students that might not be able to get the feeling of “living” in any other area of their lives. We know that conditions beyond the school may not provide for a “living” situation but rather an “existing” situation for some students and music education needs to be available for those students.

Of the information covered concerning sociology, social psychology, and psychology, the area that will affect my future teaching the most is the concept of self-image, motivational factors, and the tendencies that align with socioeconomic statuses (SES).  I found the SES information in chapter five to be especially thought provoking. I grew up in a home that had work boots and I was a first generation college attendee, but I still found art music as enjoyable. I suppose that could be credited to the efforts of my music education teachers. Even currently I attend several concerts a year and the spread looks a little something like this: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, touring artists at our local Jazz venue Jazz at the Bistro, REO Speedwagon, Zac Brown Band, and Pentatonix. Prior to chapter five I assumed that something like musical tastes had no boundaries, and maybe it doesn’t, but it is good for my future teaching to understand that SES has a lot of influence on musical preference.

Because of where I am currently in my teaching position, and the efforts I am exerting to influence decision makers that music education is important, I will take the information from unit one and apply it rather quickly. About this time ever year for the last three years I have researched and complied data on other area middle schools and their course offerings compared to their test scores. My goal is to encourage my district to offer more elective choices for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders as we currently offer only one section in their schedule for an elective. In addition to math, English-language arts, social studies, science, physical education, and the one elective, all students are required to take an additional reading class. I hope that expanding my presentation this year to include information about the importance of music education on character in Greek and Roman philosophy and later in the Boston school music standards of 1837 (standard number 2) that I can prove music educations importance to not only a well-rounded child, and possible higher test scores, but also to the character of students. After all, my middle school is considered a “National School of Character.” While this is not something that I will do in my classroom with students present, recruiting and advocating is (unfortunately) a large part of the job. I feel confident that the information from the beginning of this course will help contribute to a solid agreement this time around.