My Personal Philosophy of Music Education

Music is important to teach in schools. Music is an integral part of all cultures, worldwide, and that certainly includes our present American society. We all grew up singing songs as kids, whether at home or at school or in church. Television and movies all have music in them. Life is rhythmic. From birth, our hearts have rhythm. It is inescapable.

Therefore, all people need to have at least a basic understanding of music; understanding music requires at least some experience performing music. Music has a very important place in elementary schools. One of the main objectives of elementary school is to develop students’ intelligence, listening, and critical thinking skills – music is a powerful way to help accomplish these and many other important goals. Also, elementary school is designed to expose kids to many different things, so that they can find their talents interests; thus, music has to be incorporated. In middle and especially high school, however, music takes on a bit of a different role. Though most states require a Fine Arts class or some equivalent for graduation, music classes exist almost entirely as electives. However, they must be included as curricular courses. Individual music classes need to have their own curricula; these curricula should be right in line with the school’s educational goals, mission statement, and calendar.

My goals as a music educator are to be the most effective teacher possible. To that end, I will run effective rehearsals and produce quality performances. To run an effective rehearsal and perform well, teaching is required – the students must learn about the pieces they are playing, the historical context surrounding those pieces, the composers' backgrounds, the musical concepts contained within the pieces, and the best methods to perform the pieces effectively. Lastly, I will endow my students with as much useful information on music and life in general as possible.

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