Teaching Philosophy

My learning and compositional processes have both profoundly shaped my

teaching techniques. By sharing my own struggles on the subject matter, I hope my
honesty would disarm students apprehension, and my passion for learning would spark
their enthusiasm.

This approach gradually became an integral part of my class preparation during

my second year as a graduate assistant at University at Buffalo. The first course I taught
was World Music with a topic about Chinese and Japanese composers in the 20th century.
Since most students did not have any musical background, I realized the importance of
acting as a companion to walk through unfamiliar pieces and discover various
perspectives for diverse backgrounds.

Later, I carried this attitude to teach Music and Society, which examined the
expressive capabilities in Western classical music. In addition to facilitating discussion
and interaction, I attempted to make my teaching relevant to students disciplines or
experiences. I commented on their response papers to build connections between
concepts in class and their writings. Thus by creating a personal relationship with the
subject, I hope to foster independent learning.

Given its significance for long-term academic and artistic development, my

teaching primarily aims to encourage continual experimentation. As a composer, I have
been trying various techniques and aesthetics, and understand the necessity of remaining
curious and receptive to new ideas. Very often, the ideas that I had considered unviable
or hard to realize led to surprisingly great results. Therefore, it is my mission to cultivate
a habit of experimenting. For instance, in my composition seminar, individual lessons
usually began with analyzing students projects. Along the process, I acted as an educated
listener and worked alongside to look for alternative paths. Certainly, students were free
to decide whether they followed my suggestions. However, this strategy often succeeded
in placing new ideas on their radar.

Although I have a high expectation, extensive community teaching experience

makes me adaptive to a broad range of learning needs. Thus, I am more than happy to
create course materials and formulate strategies to cater all students needs. This not only
enhances teaching effectiveness but also provides me with plenty of learning
opportunities, which continuously foster my growth as an all-round musician.