Philosophy

Check out the bottom of the page for videos that have inspired the GMS Music Program philosophy!

Mrs. Gorman's Philosophy

Music education is an incredible gift.

I believe that music education should be accessible, inclusive, creative, and essential to all students' education. It provides learners with opportunities to connect with others in a meaningful way, is vital to developing a well rounded social-emotional student, can play a pivotal role in teaching learners how to be contributing community members, and teaches people to express themselves in ways not easily quantified.

Accessible - Music classes should be offered and scheduled in a way to make music learning accessible and appealing for all students, regardless of parent background, parent support, financial status, or cultural background. It should be an educational priority to remove all barriers that prevent students from studying music.

Inclusive - Music programming must be sensitive to the varied backgrounds and interests of students in the school.

Creative - Music is a language and an art. Music education should never be separated from innovation and creativity. Students need to learn to think about music, to think in music, and also to think up music. This means that a complete musical education is not only about learning to perform music created by others. It is also about creating music and responding to music with music. (See the classical improvisation video below)

Essential - Music offerings should have the same value as other Core academic programs. Music is more than leisure, hobby, or prep time for other academic teachers. It should be recognized and valued for its ability to prepare learners for an unknown and innovative future, and for the vast list of cognitive, emotional, and social benefits it offers to students.

Glenrosa Middle School Philosophy

At GMS we believe in:

creating a school culture that is safe and inclusive
meeting the unique needs of middle school learners to cultivate a desire for life-long learning
promoting kindness and respect
building flexible and student-centered programs that create positive leaders and contributing global citizens
finding a balance between what students need to learn and what they want to learn.

SD#23 Philosophy

Vision
Together We Learn

Purpose

To educate students in a safe, inclusive, equitable, and inspirational learning environment where each learner develops the attributes and competencies to flourish in a global community.

Overarching Goal
Our learners will develop foundational skills and core curricular competencies so that they can be empowered to follow their passions and strengths and thrive holistically as resilient and engaged global citizens.

Cultural Values

Honesty is the building block for relationships and the basis for trust. It is the absence of falsehood and the action of full disclosure. It is the ultimate test of moral strength. When honesty is present, integrity will also be apparent.
Responsibility is being accountable for our actions and their consequences. When we demonstrate responsibility, we are doing our best to meet the expectations of ourselves and others.
Respect is "to consider worthy of high regard". Being respectful is an attitude of honouring people and caring about their rights.
Empathy is a feeling of concern, compassion and understanding of another's situation or feelings.
While recognizing individual situations and differences, Fairness is ensuring impartiality where everyone plays by the same rules.

Grounding Models of Curriculum Design

John Dewey

Students will employ technique and concepts necessary for the repertoire. They will learn by doing. They will practice these skills/concepts through activities/lessons and also apply them into a final product (performance).

Malcolm Skilbeck

The situational analysis of your class can help you to choose repertoire that is appropriate to instrumentation and knowledge base. It can draw on their strengths and help to address their areas of weakness. The feedback and assessment stage can allow students to analyze their performance. Teachers can assess the process and result and make adjustments where appropriate.

Elliot Eisner

The arts teach students valuable lessons about making judgments, solving problems, and expressing things that cannot be said with words. Through this exploratory music course, students will celebrate different perspectives and use music to interpret the world in new ways. Students will learn to articulate and communicate to others what they hear and feel in music. This will lead to a better understanding of each other and the world around them. When students become connoisseurs and critics of music, they develop a heightened understanding and appreciation for music as a means to communicate what words cannot, and through this process, develop an improved sense of self and a stronger musical self-identity.

Backwards Design

Learning will be scaffolded in such a way as to build the necessary skills and concepts for students to achieve mastery and be successful with the final performance assessment. We will begin by identifying the desired end results and then determine the evidence that will be gathered in order to ensure the end goals were met. A series of lessons and learning activities will be planned to guide learners towards the final performance assessments.

Philosophical Approaches to the Curriculum

Spiral Curriculum (Bruner)

Students learn best and retain information through constant repetition of concepts and skills. As skills are practiced and concepts are revisited, students will be expected to approach tasks and performances with increased independence and at gradually increasing levels of difficulty and complexity. Throughout this process, students will be expected to reach mastery at all stages and eventually become more and more independent and intrinsically motivated. The skills/concepts addressed in the course will be revisited routinely throughout the learning process to solidify understanding and build confidence.

Higher Order Thinking (Bloom)

Activities/learning experiences will be designed around the achievement goal (building a positive musical self-identity and helping students believe they are musical and capable of learning music). Lessons will allow for 1. The understanding of skills/concepts and how to achieve them 2. The application of the skills/concepts to either rhythmic, singing, or instrumental in-class performances.

Value and Transfer
(Lonis and Haley)

Learners will be guided through the music exploration process with a clear understanding of musical goals and aim to lead to learners valuing the experience for themselves. This course will inspire students to take on more responsibility in the process and automatize musical and non-musical skills so they can be transferred to other life experiences and future musical learning.

Habits/Metacognition

Students will also receive instruction to develop good habits for music learning. This will include use of metacognitive reflections on activities and class participation, development of goals, and instruction on growth-mindset philosophies. The ‘Due but not Done’ (Lonis and Haley) approach, which encourages students to celebrate accomplishments and identify and work to improve areas of weakness after feedback, will be the guiding philosophy on assessment.

Performance

Since music is a performance art, students will be expected to demonstrate learning in various performance settings, whether this be through in-class performances, for the school, or at community concerts with parents in attendance. Performance is a skill that is best learned through practice, and learners will be given opportunities to gradually scaffold their performance opportunities outside of their usual comfort zones. Additionally, students will be guided through the performance preparation process with clear and co-constructed goals.

Meaning in Music

Students will be given opportunities to experience music through listening examples, instrument exploration, improvisation, and/or performance of simple melodies/chords. Through this varied process, students will be able to experience the different roles of music in their own lives and the lives of others. This includes understanding different cultural expressions of music.

Philosophical Inspiration

Benjamin Zander: Work (How to Give an A)

There are no mistakes on the band stand

Classical Improvisation: Jeffrey Agrell - two french horns

Victor Wooten: Music As a Language

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