My first example of how I would use this in my future practice is creating a positive, supportive classroom environment for singing. If I were to teach a band class, I want my students to be comfortable singing because it provides a good foundation for students’ aural skills. The students might be uncomfortable with it at first because they chose to take a band, not choir, class. I would start with using my speaking voice in different ways to greet them and having them echo. Eventually we would echo melodic phrases to the point where they would be comfortable singing their parts. Another example would be using similar steps as the recorder example when teaching ukulele. I would start with learning the strumming pattern of DDUUDU, but be able to wind back to just down strums for students who need it. When learning chords, I would start with the ones using only one finger pressed on a string and then increase to more fingers for that same winding forward and backward effect. My last example of how I would use this information in my future practice is if I have a newcomers class where students are beginning to learn English because of their move to the United States. I would teach them simple words like high and low and have them differentiate between whether we are singing higher or lower. Then I could go into singing short melodic patterns for them to echo. Eventually the hope would be to learn an entire song in English and they could add their own hand motions for certain words. This post contains a summary of the chapter “Sequential Instruction for Older Beginners in Vocal and General Music” found in Winding it Back (Hammel, et. al, 2016), as well as examples of how I envision using this information in my future practice. Anderson, J. (2016). Sequential instruction for older beginners in vocal and general music. In A. M. Hammel, R. Y. Hickox, & R. M. Hourigan (Eds.), Winding it back: Teaching to individual differences in music classroom and ensemble settings. New York: Oxford University Press. Summary This chapter delves into the realm of secondary general music and choral ensembles and provides a variety of explanations and experience examples on how to foster a positive, creative, and meaningful music making environment for all students in the classroom. When teaching all students, there will be some learners who are older beginners (musical skill levels similar to younger learners, but age and developmental level are at a higher level) and some learners who have had more musical experience and knowledge. A challenge with older beginners is finding a way to teach basic aural skills and musical literacy while satisfying their need for musical depth and engagement. Music educators must provide well sequenced lessons with differentiation and winding back/forward to help engage these learners. Well sequencing is helping students who are facing challenges in a way that does not hold back the more experienced. The goal of winding back and forward is to accommodate to individual learning needs in a way that creates conditions for simultaneous learning with different levels of students. One aspect of creating a positive environment where students can grow in their music making abilities is to create a positive classroom singing culture. Another aspect is using movement to reinforce musical ideas. The chapter than provides an example of good sequencing with winding back and forward in a lesson plan for learning how to play the recorder. When winding, it is important to ask two questions, “What can the student do?” and “What are the fundamental goals for my student?”. When the educator determines what the goals are, they can better plan their lessons and activities. Anderson gives another example of a sample lesson plan for teaching rhythms in compound meter. The lesson plan looks good at first glance, but needed to be tweaked so that the teacher could have activities where students were fully engaged and successful. In a choral ensemble class, the main goal is to prepare and execute a quality performance. The chapter lists some helpful tips on how to deal with logistical/practical issues (seating arrangement, number of students), music learning challenges, and performance issues. Some tips include not being afraid to break from traditional structures and routines, creating a buddy system of learning, and being flexible and creative to balance quality performance with personal musicianship. Adaptations and Uses My first example of how I would use this in my future practice is creating a positive, supportive classroom environment for singing. If I were to teach a band class, I want my students to be comfortable singing because it provides a good foundation for students’ aural skills. The students might be uncomfortable with it at first because they chose to take a band, not choir, class. I would start with using my speaking voice in different ways to greet them and having them echo. Eventually we would echo melodic phrases to the point where they would be comfortable singing their parts. Another example would be using similar steps as the recorder example when teaching ukulele. I would start with learning the strumming pattern of DDUUDU, but be able to wind back to just down strums for students who need it. When learning chords, I would start with the ones using only one finger pressed on a string and then increase to more fingers for that same winding forward and backward effect. My last example of how I would use this information in my future practice is if I have a newcomers class where students are beginning to learn English because of their move to the United States. I would teach them simple words like high and low and have them differentiate between whether we are singing higher or lower. Then I could go into singing short melodic patterns for them to echo. Eventually the hope would be to learn an entire song in English and they could add their own hand motions for certain words. This post explains through interactive media what secondary general music is, what is its purpose, examples of secondary general music courses, overarching connections, and questions based on research. This post contains my answers and reflections after reading an article by Tobias (2012) on hybridity presented in a hybrid manner. Some of the questions I address are:
Tobias, E. S. (2012). Hybrid spaces and hyphenated musicians: Secondary students' musical engagement in a songwriting and technology course. Music Education Research, 14(3), 329-346. Quotes from reading:
This post presents my findings in an artistic medium on participatory culture and musicking after reading articles by Jenkins et al. (2009) and Tobias (2013).
The main questions I answered were:
Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R. Weighel, M., Clinton, K., & Robinson, A. J. (2009). Executive summary. In Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century (pp. 3-4). Boston: MIT Press. Tobias, E. S. (2013). Toward convergence: Adapting music education to contemporary society and participatory culture. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 29-36. This post is based on two readings by Kratus (2007) and Williams (2011) that explores why secondary general might be a thing and why it is needed. Below I explain my thoughts and answer the following questions:
Williams, D. A. (2011). The elephant in the room. Music Educators Journal, 98(1), 51-57. One key point of “Music Education at the Tipping Point” by Kratus (2007) is that music education has to remain relevant, as well as move forward, in order to stay alive. Another key point is that in order to keep music education pertinent, it has to have focused, passionate mavens whose ideas are tested and refined and a community around them who believe that change can occur. Based on this article, secondary general music is music education and curricula that is based on how people experience music in their lives today Some type of activities include creating original opera and students composing original music that they can send to professional composers for revisions. Classes could be popular music ensembles, ukulele groups, and a songwriting class. The need for secondary general music is to preserve musical traditions of the past, while embracing the musical culture of the present and future. It also must still be connecting people to music in fulfilling and educational ways, though this might mean utilizing different ways than the past. One question I had for Kratus is “What is an example of who the mavens, connectors, and salesmen would be for the world of music education?” With this question, I am trying to pinpoint how music educators fit in – are there circumstances where music educators are lacking and are not currently participating in creating new ideas, connecting them, or selling them to the world of music education? If so, how can music educators better be a part of this process?
The key point in Williams (2011) article, “The Elephant in the Room”, is that the music education profession is not making strides in the field because of the beliefs that secondary school music programs must have traditional ensembles and that any music class added that is not band or choir is not as important. Secondary general music to Williams is music experiences that are meaningful to students and help them develop lifelong musical skills. Activities this may involve are a guitar or an iPad class where students play music they compose or arrange themselves, a hip-hop or deejaying course, or a class where students investigate the popular music business while producing their own music. The rationale for secondary general music is to adapt the music culture so that more meaningful music experiences are available for present-day students. If I could ask Williams a question it would be “What do you think the future/standards of music classes will be?” and “What do you think the next elephant in the room for music education will be?”. Although, I hope that the latter question will not have to be answered because the field of music education will learn from their mistakes and continue to constantly be adapting to the culture around them. For my MUED 371 Scholarship Project, our assignment was to write a research paper on a topic that related to beginning instrumental music. Below is a walk-through of my project from the initial one paragraph proposal, reference list development, annotated bibliography/outline, paper, and the poster. For me, it was difficult writing this research paper; there was so much information that it was overwhelming to begin researching. The hardest part was narrowing down my topic enough so that I did not have information overload, but not narrowing it too much so that I did not have enough information to write a paper. It was easy to find one source and look at the reference list of that article, which then led me down a rabbit trail of multiple sources and a plethora of tabs on my laptop. Once I had all my articles, reading them, deciding if and how they related well to my thesis, and synthesizing them proved challenging and took a significant amount of time. What worked well for me was citing my sources in APA format simply because I have had a lot of practice doing it in the past year, that it’s semi fun and relaxing to do at this point. I got stuck initially writing my paper and deciding how to outline my paper so that all the sources were incorporated and supported my thesis well. The best thing for me to do at that point was get a giant table in Carrier Library, spread out all my books, and write on a whiteboard to see where my brain was thinking. I got most of my help from Dr. Stringham, who pushed me to critically think about the importance of my topic and why it needed to be argued for.
I love having the ability to present research both in a paper format and in a poster format. I think having both options allows students who think in different ways to sort through their ideas in various formats. It was easier for me to write the paper first and then draw from that to design my poster, but I recognize that for some of my other peers, the opposite worked better for them. I personally feel like standard research posters are too verbose and are not visually accommodating because they contain chunks of text on a single large page. I know that I do not enjoy reading that and I feel like a poster should visually display the important ideas in a captivating manner while the paper can have all the verbiage if someone wants to read it. That’s why I appreciated having the ability to cater to what I thought a poster should look like and what I think would be easiest for people to understand. I enjoyed doing this research and learning about a topic that I was interested in! I loved these last three chapters of Green’s book because it was easy to grasp and agree with the conclusions on group cooperation and student enjoyment she had formed based on her data collected. At first, I returned to my skeptical thinking about the effectiveness of informal learning and students being given absolute free reign of their music making experience. I could not conceive of how with all that freedom students could truly be productive all the time. However, Green addressed this with the teachers’ comments and her own conclusions that there was some “mucking” around, but in the end, students were able to take initiative and stay on task because they had circumstantial autonomy. The students might not have always sounded organized, but their playing and noodling around was a fundamental part of the learning experience that is sometimes forgotten about.
I was extremely interested in Chapter 7 of the book where informal learning was done with classical music. I shared similar expectations with the teachers and was also surprised when the students grew and enjoyed the project more than thought possible. It was interesting to see how my ideas need to be adjusted. For example, differentiation in the classroom may not mean creating different levels of difficulty for activities; instead, it could be differentiation by outcome like Green mentions. Also, students who may seem uninterested in the topic may actually be the ones who are most musically skilled, but they are just daunted by the task at first glance because the musical meanings are so far beyond their realm of interest. Green, L. (2008). Chapter 3: Making music and Chapter 4: Listening and appreciation. In “Music, informal learning, and the school: A new classroom pedagogy” (pp.40-91). New York: Routledge.
As I continue to read through Green’s book, I am becoming less skeptical of the idea of informal learning within a formal music education setting. Through her transcriptions and conclusions drawn from data, I am beginning to see how students are improving their aural skills and group ensemble skills even though they may have had worse results for a time. I enjoyed reading about how the students are certain that the way they listen to music at home is full of more awareness as they progress through the different stages. Although the students may not be able to articulate this clearly with musical terminology, they are understanding that change is occurring and as a result they are enjoying music class more and feeling in charge of their learning. In Chapter 4, Green mentions that while celebration might be a good aim for music educators, a better goal would be critical musicality. I agree with her in that celebration is a good, but vague goal for students. Her definition of critical musicality is clearly explained and gets to the core of music education---to help students come to a place of learning where they can explore and listen well to the basics of music, as well as underlying meanings, regardless of the style of music they listen to. It is good for teachers to want their students to appreciate all kinds of music, but we must have the skill to define how to do so in a way where students are the initiators. Green, Lucy. (2008). Chapter 1: Introduction and Chapter 2: The project’s pedagogy and curriculum content. In “Music, Informal Learning, and the School: A New Classroom Pedagogy” (pp.1-40). New York: Routledge.
After reading Chapters 1 and 2 of Green’s book, I’m amazed and excited to hear about meticulous research done that demonstrates the effectiveness of informal learning practices in formal music settings. I loved reading the transcriptions of the students because they were raw and realistic, and demonstrated how students can still grow with enough time, even though it may not be in the organized or timely manner that teachers desire. However, I am skeptical that informal learning works simply because I have never seen positive results in person; it appears counter-intuitive and different than the way in which I learned music. As I was reading, I mused upon the question “What is the point of a teacher then?” because they are facilitating in such a minute way. I feel the same way one of the teachers described in that they felt like they were not putting enough effort into their job by allowing the students to just work on their own. Maybe my concept of teaching is wrong or needs to be refined so that a teachers’ worth is not judged by how much work they put into the lesson plan, but by how much space they allow the student to grow in---or maybe it is something different than that. I also questioned whether the students’ motivation was purely intrinsic or if there was a final grade that pushed the students to create a finished product. In the transcription in Chapter 2, the students’ planning was disorganized, but they also seemed driven to produce a final product to fulfill the teachers’ expectations. They ended up producing a performance that the teacher was pleased with, but were they doing it for their own sake or for the teacher’s sake?
In this portfolio project, I did a book study on Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit with four other Music Education students. We read the book, discussed its content, and thought of questions and ways to apply these ideas into practice. Our final product was a collaborative book study document containing a book review, chapter summaries, key points, and discussion questions.
Reflection
My favorite quote from this book was “I pray for all of us the strength to teach our children what they must learn, and the humility and wisdom to learn from them so that we might better teach” (Delpit, 2006, pg. 183). I believe that this quote encapsulates my main takeaway from this book: in order to teach others who are different than myself, I must listen and ask questions. Only then can I begin to understand the culture of those around me and seek to teach them in a way that is beneficial and empowering. I am not the expert because I am the teacher, rather learning is a two-way process between the teacher and the student as they exchange information on what is best to equip the student for skills to further themselves in the dominant culture. Finding identity is not losing yourself to the dominant culture, but it is understanding the codes of the main way and then transform it to fit your own needs and cultural styles.
As a current teacher, I need to be aware of the different backgrounds and experiences that my students and peers have. I need to look beyond what this society’s social norms are and ask question to students and parents about why things are occurring the way they are. Instead of getting mad, I can listen and learn about other cultures and support my students rather than only thinking my method is the best method. In the future, I hope to teach students from a variety of backgrounds. This book has taught me that it is okay to not know everything, which is a reassuring and humbling fact. However, I cannot stay in ignorance; now that I recognize these issues of inequality, I have to research and put all my energy into better understanding the backgrounds my students are coming from so that I can help them succeed. I loved having a long, spread out amount of time to study and discuss a single book. It was encouraging to meet with other Music Education Majors and talk about relevant issues in the world of education. It was enlightening to hear about their perceptions of multicultural music education and see them begin to understand the importance of diversity in classrooms. We are so privileged, and I think it is so easy to immerse ourselves in the issues of our daily lives when there is a world around us crying out for help. I think that the book study process is only as enriching as the amount of effort everyone is willing to put into it. If one person reads the required chapters, but the others do not, there is no way to discuss what the key points are and what is confusing. I enjoyed writing summaries and key points so that I could conceptualize and then articulate the information I had learned better, but it was difficult because I had never done something as thorough as this. Overall, I had a good book study process experience, but I think there was so much more room for enriching discussion if all members had put in the same effort. |
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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