Teaching : Knowledge Of Subject Area ( S ) Essay

I now realise that the Arts, including music, creates opportunities to engage, inspire and enrich our lives. Music making and responding can challenge, provoke responses and enrich our knowledge and understanding of ourselves, our communities and the world.

Another popular philosophy of music education discussed in this weeks reading, is that of Bennett Reimer, the teacher of David Elliott, known as the Aesthetic philosophy. This philosophy is “an experience-based philosophy of music education is one that focuses on and cherishes all the many ways music can be experienced and all the many music’s offering the special experience music provides.” (Reimer, 2005, p. 69)

These parents regard playing a musical instrument as a highly difficult and demanding task. This implies that those students who aim to get good grades with music are likely to receive very poor grades in other conventional subjects. therefore, should not have compulsory status in public schools which are funded by taxpayers’ resources. Further, it is argued that the standard curriculum teaches abstract reasoning, mathematics, sciences and medicine which has great value, even if the skills acquired are not, thereafter, directly usable in everyday life. The study of arts and music gives no practical application. The objective of public education funds must be of helping students to develop valuable skills for their practical lives. It is believed that the study of mathematics, language, science, etc. provides both useable knowledge and abstract skills.

In third grade, I was introduced to a youth African percussion ensemble. This was my first foray into music performance, and it changed me for a variety of reasons. It made me more disciplined, and introduced me to other cultures; it opened my

Students will gain an understanding of how composers write music. Students will work their way through the composition process including lyric writing, improvisation and melodic composition. Through this process students will gain a deeper understanding of the text they are drawing from. Students will use expressive elements to effectively tell their stories by using music.

Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines, varied context, and daily life.

San Pasqual Union School is located in the San Pasqual Valley region southeast of Escondido, California. This small school is a one-school school district with approximately 550 students, grades pre-school to eighth grade. Students that attend San Pasqual Union are identified within three distinct groups. The majority of students are primarily Caucasian and live in a newer development, across from the school, with families who are from a mid to high socioeconomic status. Another group is Hispanic students who live in a more rural part of the valley. Lastly, within the school boundaries, is a residential high school campus for foster teens. The foster youth who are not in high school attend San Pasqual Union for eighth grade. Both the Hispanic students from the rural valley and the foster youth ride the school bus to and from school.

During the 1900’s, corporal punishment was well known and often used to punish and teach children effectively. Philosophers like John Locke express insightful views about forcing a child to learn, rather than allowing the child to freely do so at his or her own pace. Imagine two children learning the same topic of mathematics. One child is introduced to mathematics through counting apples and pears and is allowed to eat the fruits afterwards, whereas the other child is forced to learn mathematics through textbooks with minimum visualization and finds no fun in doing so. The child who is counting through fruits is getting positive feedback because of his ability to quickly catch on and the child who is learning through a textbook is gaining negative feedback because of the complicated material that does not allow for him to grasp the concept or freely make mistakes. Forcing children to learn what they need to in order to keep up a standard level of education for each age group (like the textbook example) can negatively affect the child, their wellbeing, and their self-esteem. When a child is forced to learn unwillingly, he may grow resentful towards members of authority and fear failure, hindering his social skills. A balance between leading the child through encouragement towards the right direction and allowing him to explore his options will help the child to grow up happy and to create a positive impact on the current society.

For this Assignment, I will be analyzing an exam from my MUS351: Elementary Methods Course. This exam constituted as the midterm covering an array of topics pertaining to the foundation of teaching music to students in primary grades. I did rather well on this exam, missing only two questions. In this analysis, I will discuss how I prepared for the exam, where the question came from, the type and topic of the questions I missed. Analyzing these things will allow for me to develop a better study plan to benefit my performance on future exams.

Author Courtney Crappell writes the article, “Making Music Lessons Attractive Again”. She begins by asking her readers if they are interested in discovering ways to make music a better-known aspect of people’s everyday lives. She then moves on to explain what it is music teachers do. Music teachers are people who give individuals who seek musical knowledge, the tools to experience the world of music. At some point in his or her lives, Crappell states every person desires to learn how to play an instrument.

A Mathematician’ Lament by Paul Lockhart, demonstrates a musician has woken up from a nightmare and his dream was about how the community is being forced to have music education. It brings many theories and analysis in the “language of music”, which makes the educators to be more curios to listen or play music. This leads to more advance topics to train students in the primary and secondary school, as it creates more opportunities to improve in school. As Lockhart, said “Most of them couldn’t care less about how important music is in today’s world; I guess there are just music people and non-music people”; as the musician realizes that the society will never remove a beautiful art form, just like mathematics. But, today in our culture, doesn’t let the students to have a curiosity

The article “The effects of music on achievement, attitude and retention in primary school English lessons” by Koksal, Yagisan, and Cekic show the impact music has in the classroom. The Article claims “best learning environment is one that includes music” (Köksal, et al. 1897). Meaning music activates different parts of the brain that coincide with memory. Through an experimental study mentioned in the article shows music has a “increased achievement in English vocabulary learning” (Köksal, et al. 1899). Memory channels are activated and students are able to retain what is being taught through the use of music. Therefore the article suggests music is a method that can be used in primary schools to exercise the mind helping students hold onto what they learn for longer periods of time. The authors argue music brings out a different level of intelligence in the classroom. However the article fails to briefly describe traditional methods, other possible methods, and possible defaults of a music learning environment jeopardizing a overall well conducted study of music used as a source of education.

In every industry experts are needed to teach others certain skills, give advice, and use strategies to solve problems. Individuals can attain expertise by focusing on a particular skill to improve. It is said that “experts are made and not born,” so expertise is not attained in one day, but takes practice and time and individuals also attain expertise at different rates performance levels. Experts develop cognitive processes that result in their high levels of performance, “Extensive practice can develop expertise in high level skill (Anderson, 2010). Acquired knowledge and skills are needed to attain expertise. This material will discuss

Education has long been the center of reform with new ideas about learning and teaching. Educators are regularly introduced to new teaching strategies, curricula and rigorous standards in an effort to provide effective instruction to students. However, the pursuit of proficiency in mathematics and reading through the use of research-based methods requires an understanding of the learning models and theories that both drive instruction and learning in the classroom. In this paper I will address the evolution of ideas about learning and teaching in education as well as address the shifts in learning in the 21st century.

“Education- should enhance understanding of the world, of oneself, and of one’s own experience” (Kelly 2009). What is important about music education? There are many important aspects in music education like pedagogy and performance. For me, music education is about letting the students express themselves. Having the ability to give an idea or to vent is a vital tool in today’s society. This concept influences music because expression is not only in how to connect a phrase, but also how to tell a story. With my time in college, Dr. Joseph Frye will always tell me to tell a story with music. He will also ask me what I want to feel after playing a piece. This is what I believe is important in music education.