We are all human. When we are educated in the current education system we are taught the essentials of how to live in our society. There are a certain amount of skills required in order to be successful; and sometimes school corporations believe this is enough. Administrators fall into this trap very easily when they are looking for ways to cut budgets down; we’re not producing programmed machines from our schools, we are producing humans. Culture and the arts are amongst the items that make us human. If you look at every culture from all over the world, from ancient times until now, music is a large part of them all. It almost makes sense to have to teach this in our schools for two reasons: 1) in order to provide the opportunity for the next generation of great musicians to continue the tradition and bring it to new places and 2) to have this education in music continue so that something so great is not lost in history.
Being music is such a large part of our culture I believe everyone should study it to a certain level. Knowledge goes a long way, but so does appreciation. If we can have more people being brought up in a society that appreciates music, our culture as a whole will cement in its identity. This also allows for those who never would have thought they could connect with anything before to be exposed to it and perhaps be completely swept away in it, like it did with me. All it took for me was a little knowledge to show me the power music can have. It ever since was the best decision of my life, because it gave me more than just expression. It gave me a community of people to spend time and produce music with; it gave me items to do after school when the last period of the day ended. Some of my best memories consist having a great time with my friends at rehearsals. It kept me focused on my work and I believe it has helped me be so successful in the subjects outside of music. Surely this will not be the case for everyone, but to deny this opportunity would be unfair to those undiscovered musicians.
When applying for college this was how I thought, and these were the reasons why I wanted to become a music teacher. It is what I kept telling myself when I had term papers due all on the same day, or when I was struggling in the practice room. The truth is, it was not until I finally began teaching that I found the real reason why I want to do this for the rest of my life. The unexplainable feeling I receive when students of mine succeeds, in any way, for success is measured in different ways, is what makes me say to myself at the end of the day: “I absolutely love what I do.” Regardless of their skill level, if they have a musical moment, then there is noting more that I would want.
Concerning the study of music, I believe that from the moment you gain the teaching rites of a student until you graduate them they should have experienced music from its beginnings to its present. I feel in when choosing repertoire the musical integrity is not considered as much as other factors. I am interested in producing well-rounded musicians. When I graduated high school I did not know who Percy Grainger, Handel, Monteverdi, Brahms, or even Wagner were; the only composers I knew were Beethoven, Mozart, and John Williams. That is unacceptable. Traveling to New Zealand and teaching here for three months has shown me it is very possible to teach them a broad range of music theory and history as well as producing great performing groups.
We are human. Culture consumes us and has a long fascinating history that we would be foolish not to include in our curriculum. Inside this portfolio you will find evidence of my support of how I believe music should be taught including essays, lesson plans, and videos of lessons I have taught. Music is a part of every culture, there is no escaping it.