The Campbell chapter 1 reading began with a montage of a few conversations surrounding the perception and identity of musicians as teachers, from multiple perspectives. The introduction of the chapter discusses this same identity, and introduces theidea of "musicians who can, teach." Later on, it discusses the identities of individuals who are entering music as a profession, and discusses identities and tenets of music educators, as well as an overview of the chapter. All of the attitudes and concepts surrounding teaching music that are discussed in the chapter are ones that I have encountered, including the conversation between the two music teachers, and all of the caricatures of young music educators. I feel that I have small elements of a few of these, but none of them sounds like me. However, I think some of these undesirable traits would be ideas to keep in mind as I progress into the field. I would ask the author if the "successful music teacher checklist" is what she considers to be the required skills, or a survey-type exersize to assess what young music teachers value. I would also ask if the caricatures of young music educators come from specific experiences she has had.
The Thompson reading from the 2007 Music Educator's journal focuses more specifically on the beliefs and preconceptions that young music educators bring to University with them. It begins by discussing the idea that in many ways, beliefs are indistinguishable from knowledge - different beliefs can become mutually dependent or filtered by others (Ms. Thompson describes them as "nested" or "clustered" beliefs) just as some facts are dependent and filtered by others. Thus, when all of our beliefs, specifically surrounding music education as we enter college-level teaching programs, protect and depend on each other so much, we are resistant to change. The beliefs we carry come from our own experiences with music education, as well as our preconcieved notions about what the experience of teaching will be from our point of view. The rest of the article focuses on how all of our beliefs must then be challenged if any of them are to change or be adapted - and whether or not it is ethical to try to change others' beliefs. My reaction is that it is entirely ethical to provide students with situations and environments that challenge their beliefs, but not to actively try to change them. Only by allowing the student educator to experience challenges to their beliefs on their own terms can they effectively develop more complex and critical teaching understandings. I'm excited to experience some of these situations myself - not for the thrill of being wrong, but for the forward progress in developing my skills further. I would ask Ms. Thompson what exactly her definition is of "asking others to change [their beliefs]" and providing "opportunities to examine beliefs" is, as she seems to use them interchangeably. More clarity on this point would be appreciated.