Allsup, R. (2016). Remixing the Classroom: Toward an Open Philosophy of Music Education. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
1. I have seen efficiency prioritized in Wind Symphony at JMU this past semester. Dr. Bolstad makes sure that we get the music a couple of days before we sightread so that we can have an effective rehearsal because we have already seen the parts and have listened to the piece beforehand. Also, while he is working individually with a section, he constantly reminds the other sections to finger and look through their parts or to be listening and critiquing the group he is working with because that section will probably appear in our own part later on. In my high school band, I saw efficiency not prioritized; the teacher would spend a lot of time talking about logistics of the day or spend too much time giving and explaining instructions. A lot of the time my band teacher would become too absorbed with correcting one section that he forgot about the other sections and forgot to tell us how we could be effectively using our time. Instead, our minds would wander off or we would go to the restroom while he worked with one section. Some affordances of prioritizing efficiency in music instruction are more academic engaged time where students are utilizing their brains and that more activities and material can be covered in a shorter amount of time. A constraint is that there is less time to build deep, meaningful relationships if all the music instruction time is constantly on the go. It also does not allow for “wait time” for students to reflect and process what they are learning and sometimes more efficiency can mean that there is less time to go in-depth with material. 2. In my personal vision statement, I emphasize that I want to facilitate my students’ learning, but I also want to be someone they can look up to and talk to about personal issues. I also want to help teach them about ethics and how to be responsible citizens in their communities. I think that Allsup’s conception of music teacher very much aligns with my professional vision because I want to fill a variety of roles for my students. I resonate with Allsup’s thinking that as a music teacher I should have multiple traditions to use, rather than being a Master-performer so that I can help better my students in the long run. However, there is dissonance between my thinking and Allsup’s thinking in that I do believe that the music teacher as Master-performer is also a very important aspect. I do not believe that being a Jack-or-Jill of many trades should replace the Master-performer role because I have experienced the benefit of receiving help from the Master-performer. I think that a melding of both is best as a music teacher because then there can be an excellence in performing and an excellence as a facilitator and role model for my students. 3. I love the way that John Dewey’s ideal school is a “circuit of life and learning” (2016, p.70) and is a mix of a museum and a laboratory where “the art work might be considered to be that of the shops, [and] passed through the alembic of library and museum into action again” (p.70). I do appreciate that Allsup does mention that museums and laboratories can both be closed and open forms, although we do see each one fitting better into one form or the other initially (ex. Easy to think of museum as a closed form). I believe that it is great and refreshing to hear these new ideas; I think it is so easy for me as a person receiving a university music education to be fully immersed in the idea of Master-performer and Master-apprentice relationships that I forget about the necessity of experimentation and circulation of ideas. It is important for students to understand the traditions and reasons behind what they are learning, but it is even more essential for them to come up with their own ideas and continue editing them through a process of experimentation and reflection. From Dewey’s sketch of an ideal school, we see that there is an appreciation for history, but a hope for future creativity, which I think is amazing and monumental. 4. On page 80, Allsup contrasts the duties of conservatories of music with the duties of the public school. He emphasizes the fact that the public school must remain an open form and accept the tensions and questions that occur from changing demographic needs (2016, p.80). Before reading this excerpt, I was a little bitter and angry towards Allsup’s ideas of the Master-performer. I have been the apprentice for the past nine years of my flute playing career and I really enjoy the technicality and precision of the Master-performer style of teaching. I enjoy the knowledge that is passed down to me on previous styles of flute playing. However, I appreciate that Allsup does not attack the Master-performer, but merely suggests that there are deficiencies in it and that another method needs to be employed. He sets apart independent institutions, like conservatories, who have the freedom to have the Master-performer method from public schools where the duty is to educate students about music in ways that are applicable to them. I appreciated that he made this distinction so that I am not so angry towards his views. I do agree that the public school needs to continue changing according to the demographic needs and that the teachers should be developing their own skills to help their students, rather than questioning what the students are doing wrong. It makes me excited to teach in the future because I can teach different, developing ideas and continue learning about new ideas myself. Comments are closed.
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Davina MiawOn this page, I will present examples of my scholarship in the form of reflective essays and philosophical assignments. Archives
November 2019
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