StephanieGoering

PersonalPhilosophy

Educationisnotpreparationforlifeeducationislifeitself.Thisquotebythefatherof

theprogressiveeducationmovement,JohnDewey,isaverycommononethatmostteachers

haveprobablyheard.ThisquoterepresentswhatIthinkofwhenIthinkofmyteaching

philosophy.Thegoalofformaleducationisnottosimplysendourstudentsoutintotheworldto

developtheirskills,butteachersshouldbecultivatingandgivingstudentstheopportunityto

growknowledgeanduniqueskillswhiletheyarestillintheclassroom.Withoutthevaluable

skillsandknowledgeacquiredwithaqualityeducation,ournation,aswellasourworld,would

crumble.Formaleducationisshapingthefuturethroughthestudentsthatcyclethroughevery

schoolacrosstheworld.Thegoalofaqualityeducationistodeveloppeoplewhowillbenefit

societybyleadingmoral,cultural,productive,andcreativelives.Allofthesegoalscanbe

developedthroughanexceptionalmusicclassroom.

Musicisanoutletthatspansthrougheverysingleage.Notonlydoesitactivelyengage

bothpartsofthebrain,itfostersbothindependenceandsenseofcommunityamongstudents,

aswellasgivestudentstheopportunitytoexperienceculturaldiversity.MusicEducationisan

importantpartofcreatingwellroundedstudents,andwhilemusicaloneissuchanintegralpart

ofeverypersonslife,italsoencompasseseveryothersubject,andgivesstudentsareallife

applicationofthesetopics.Myphilosophyisthatwhilethestudentshavetoexhibitatruewillto

learn,itistheteachersmissiontocultivatethecreativityandpassionofmusicinthestudents.

Ateachershouldstriveforastudentcenteredclassroom,andtheirmaingoalshouldbe

togivetheirstudentsopportunitiestoexpressivethemselvesbothcreativelyandacademically.

Arelatableteacherisagoodteacher,andwehavetobuildarelationshipoftrustwithour
studentswhilestillmaintainingboundaries.Perhapsthemostimportantjobofateacheristo

establishaculturallyrelevantclassroomthatincorporateseachstudentsuniquebackgrounds

andethnicities.They[teacherswhopracticeculturallyrelevantmethods]believethatalloftheir

studentscansucceedratherthanthatfailureisinevitableforsome(T
heDreamkeepers,

LadsonBillings,Pg.25).Itisextremelypertinentthateachstudentfeelsasthoughtheyareable

tosucceedinanyaspectofmusic,andthebiggestwaytoensurethisisbyusingtheirfamiliar

culturesandintegratingthemintheirclassroom.Teachersshouldcreateasafeatmospherefor

students,andbecompletelyequitablewiththem.

Eachstudentshouldleaveaclassroomfeelingthattheyhavecompletedthecourseto

thebestoftheirability.Achievingsuccessinthemusicclassroomvariesforeachstudent.

However,eachstudentshouldbeabletocreate,improvise,andanalyzemusic,aswellasuse

musicalexpression,understandbasicandcomplexmusicalterms,andknowhowtoapplythem

intheirmusic.Theywillbuildoneachskilltheyinheritthroughthecourseoftheirmusical

career,andwilleachdeveloptheirownmusicalinterestsandopinions.Butmorethananything,

studentsshouldleavetheclassroomwiththeknowledgeandskillstobeatrulygoodperson.

Myjobasateacheristofacilitategrowthandcomprehensionofdifferentaspectsof

music.However,myjobasaneducatoristocultivateagenerationofstudentswhowillleavemy

classroomwithstrongmoralwillandsolidvirtues.Ifmystudentscanusemusicandthebenefits

itoffersthemtobecomewellroundedindividuals,thenmystudents,aswellasmyself,have

succeeded.Anoutstandingmusiceducatorwillbalancebothmusicalexcellenceandmoralskill

developmentintheirteaching,andprovidetheirstudentswiththeopportunitytoexpandtheir

creativityandevolveasindividualmusicians.