(BEFORE) Statement of Teaching Philosophy
I believe that learning is a lifelong pursuit. Rather than learning a finite body of knowledge, I believe that individuals constantly build on their previous knowledge, developing richer understandings and habits of thinking throughout their lives. This is particularly true of teachers, who are called upon to educate and inspire the next generation of learners in a constantly changing educational climate. This means that I must both embody the lifelong pursuit of knowledge to serve as a positive role model, and that I must cultivate a true love of learning in my students. I know that when my students enter the field as educators, they must continue to grow their teaching practice beyond the walls of my classroom, and, thus, it is my job to empower them with the habits of thinking and independent learning skills to continue to develop their craft well beyond their formal education.
I believe that I can always improve, enrich, and expand my teaching practice to provide better experiences for my students. To this end, I am heavily invested in the scholarship of teaching and learning. I have conducted several research projects in my own classroom, aimed at examining teaching practices that might improve the learning of my students. I believe that the very best educators are constantly experimenting with their teaching, and thus openly modeling this value in my classroom helps to cultivate a curiosity about teaching practices in my students. I also believe that my students directly benefit from being involved in research studies (both as participants and as coauthors), as the process of making goals explicit and asking directed questions encourages them to think deeply about the topic at hand. For example, I am currently undertaking a research project that explores how to best develop the skill of self-regulated learning in music practice. Through the curriculum I have devised for the graduate seminar I just finished teaching, my students learned to be more effective in their practicing, but through participating in the study, they have the opportunity to critically reflect on their growth and new understandings as musicians. I am also a Higher Education Fellow for Little Kids Rock, which is a national music education organization that provides training and resources for facilitating popular music education in schools across the United States. I pursued this training because while I have a background as a performing popular musician, my own education did not include popular music pedagogy, and thus I wanted to work with a nationally recognized organization to learn the most up-to-date pedagogies.
In preparing students for careers in music, I employ a number of authentic context learning activities in my classroom, particularly rooted in Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL uses realistic, ill-structured problems as the center of the learning process in a form of experience-based education. The goals of PBL include developing flexible knowledge, effective problem-solving skills, student-directed learning skills, collaboration skills, and intrinsic motivation for learning. For example, I often use performance videos as cases for my music education students to work through, which involves identifying problems in the performance, proposing viable solutions or exercises for remediating those problems, and identifying gaps in their own knowledge that need to be resolved so that they can better serve their students’ needs. By engaging in learning activities that realistically mirror the professional activities of musicians and educators, I hope to prepare them to confidently enter their careers with a flexible, adaptive knowledge base. I believe that the combination of practical field experience, exposure to a variety of methods and philosophies of teaching, and carefully designed, classroom experience prepares preservice educators to be thoughtful, skillful, compassionate, and artful leaders in the field.
I believe that effective teaching requires caring, supportive learning environments. Students learn best when they feel seen, heard, and that their views are valued. To this end, I strive to get to know all of students, what they hope to accomplish with their education, and how I can help them achieve those goals. This requires a classroom environment focused on community, where students feel welcomed to share their views freely. I believe that by providing a space where all students can share their perspectives, I help to foster these dispositional qualities in my students, so that they can go into the field as compassionate, caring, and equity-focused educators.
(AFTER) Statement of Teaching Philosophy
I believe that learning is a lifelong pursuit. Rather than learning a finite body of knowledge, I believe that individuals constantly build on their previous knowledge, developing richer understandings and habits of thinking throughout their lives. This is particularly true of teachers, who are called upon to educate and inspire the next generation of learners in a constantly changing educational climate. This means that I must both embody the lifelong pursuit of knowledge to serve as a positive role model, and that I must cultivate a true love of learning in my students. I know that when my students enter the field as educators, they must continue to grow their teaching practice beyond the walls of my classroom, and, thus, it is my job to empower them with the habits of thinking and independent learning skills to continue to develop their craft well beyond their formal education. I must also model this lifelong pursuit to my students, so that they can see that I am learning alongside them.
I believe that I can always improve, enrich, and expand my teaching practice to provide better experiences for my students. To this end, I am heavily invested in the scholarship of teaching and learning. I have conducted several research projects in my own classroom, aimed at examining teaching practices that might improve the learning of my students. I believe that the very best educators are constantly experimenting with their teaching, and thus openly modeling this value in my classroom helps to cultivate a curiosity about teaching practices in my students.
In preparing students for careers in music, I employ a number of authentic context learning activities in my classroom, particularly rooted in Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL uses realistic, ill-structured problems as the center of the learning process in a form of experience-based education. The goals of PBL include developing flexible knowledge, effective problem-solving skills, student-directed learning skills, collaboration skills, and intrinsic motivation for learning. For example, I often use performance videos as cases for my music education students to work through, which involves identifying problems in the performance, proposing viable solutions or exercises for remediating those problems, and identifying gaps in their own knowledge that need to be resolved so that they can better serve their students’ needs. By engaging in learning activities that realistically mirror the professional activities of musicians and educators, I hope to prepare them to confidently enter their careers with a flexible, adaptive knowledge base. I also model my own thinking processes as I solve similar problems, so that my students have a model for thinking like an educator. I believe that the combination of practical field experience, exposure to a variety of methods and philosophies of teaching, and carefully designed, classroom experience prepares preservice educators to be thoughtful, skillful, compassionate, and artful leaders in the field.
I believe that effective teaching requires caring, supportive learning environments. Students learn best when they feel seen, heard, and that their views are valued. To this end, I strive to get to know all of students, what they hope to accomplish with their education, and how I can help them achieve those goals. This requires a classroom environment focused on community, where students feel welcomed to share their views freely. I believe that by providing a space where all students can share their perspectives, I help to foster these dispositional qualities in my students, so that they can go into the field as compassionate, caring, and equity-focused educators.