Ayers, W. (2010). “The Challenge of Teaching,” Chapter 1. In To teach: The journey of a teacher. Teachers College Press.
This chapter discusses the importance of debunking the several myths of teaching and emphasizes the importance of being a flexible and adaptive teacher. There is not one single way to teach, and these limiting beliefs can hold us back.
Ayers, W. (2010). “Liberating the Curriculum,” Chapter 5." To teach: The journey of a teacher. New York: Teachers College Press.
This chapter discusses the importance of thinking creatively when teaching a subject. It addresses the imposition of the schools standards and state requirements and provides an antidote for following these mandatory guidelines with creativity and inspiration.
Campbell, M. R., Barrett, J. R., & Thompson, L. K. (2021). “Starting the Journey: Developing a Personal View of Teaching and Learning,” Chapter 1. Constructing a personal orientation to music teaching. Routledge. pp. 126-132
This reading discusses the grammars of schooling that are embedded in our classrooms and brings awareness the several things in a classroom that may impact the teaching and learning experience.
Campbell, M. R., Barrett, J. R., & Thompson, L. K. (2021). “Cultivating a Personal Orientation toward Change,” Chapter 5. Constructing a personal orientation to music teaching. Routledge. pp. 176-179.
In this chapter we learned about the grammars of schooling which are deeply embedded notions that affect teaching, learning, and school organization. These grammars of schooling play a big role in education and students learning experience and can act as barriers to some students.
Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond discipline: From compliance to community. Introduction and Chapter 6.
This reading discusses the ineffectiveness of discipline and "classroom management." The author discusses how the best classrooms do not need to be "managed" because of the teachers approach. By treating the students with respect and moving past the archaic autocratic idea of disciplining our students, we can create a classroom environment that promotes exploration, creativity, and mutual respect.
Humberstone, J. (2017). A Pluralistic Approach to Music Education, in The Oxford Handbook of
Technology and Music Education. 421-431.
This reading talks about how technology provides an opportunity for informal learning, and how most students love to listen to music but lose interest when it comes to learning music. Furthermore, this reading talks about how we as educators should utilize technology when it comes to teaching out students.
Kozleski, E. B. (2010). Culturally Responsive Teaching Matters!.
Online Submission www.equityallianceatasu.org.
This reading gives us a good overview on what is culturally responsive teaching, and how it can create a big impact on our students. This reading discusses the importance of responding to the culture of your students and designing the curriculum that is meaningful to them, instead of teaching the tradition Eurocentric method of teaching music.
Lewis, J. (2019). Equity in music education: The music we speak: Language and power in the urban music classroom.Music Educators Journal, 105 (3), 66-68.
This reading builds off of cultural responsive teaching and discusses the importance of diversifying language in the classroom and how the lexicon we inherit can play a role in how we teach and perceive music. Dr. Lewis discusses the importance of diversifying our musical lexicon so that we may encourage musical and cultural diversity in the classroom.
Abril, C. R. (2006). Music that represents culture: Selecting music with integrity. Music educators journal, 93(1), 38-45.
The paper discussed the importance of incorporating music from other cultures into your music program and gave ideas of how to incorporate such music. The paper further discussed the changing of cultural norms and the importance of avoiding music selections that perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Gramm, W. (2023). Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone: Facilitation in modern band. Visions of Research in Music Education, 44(1), 23-41.
In the Gramm reading, the author talks about Dr. Andersons unconventional approach when teaching modern band class. Although it is unconventional in the traditional music class sense, it is quite natural when playing in a modern band. The importance of experiential learning is my main takeaway from this reading. It reminds me of my days as a band leader. It was important to instruct my bandmates in a way that didn’t come off as authoritarian. By making suggestions and demonstrating different parts, I was able to shape the sound and help my band achieve a solid chemistry and cohesion. I learn best on the job, which is why I value this method of teaching.
Harwood, E., & Marsh, K. (2012). Children's Ways of Learning Inside and Outside of the Classroom. In The Oxford Handbook of Music Education (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 322–340). Oxford University Press.
This reading talks about how children learn music outside of the classroom. Some major characteristics of children’s informal music-making are playground songs that no one knows the origin of. I remember singing songs that were very silly and hearing them from friends. There was always someone who claimed to know the writer of these songs. The songs we would learn and create our own versions. This was my first experience of improvisation and musical play.
Tobias, E. S. (2013). Toward convergence: Adapting music education to contemporary society and participatory culture. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 29-36.
My takeaway from this reading is this: music educators should strive, or at least be open to, making music class a participatory learning experience. This inclusion of participatory education will work alongside our traditional methods of education, rather than replace it. It is important to include the repertoire that our students like when teaching music, and by using popular, non traditional music in our classroom, we can open a door of creative expression, such as covering, remixing, arranging and writing parody songs. What a great way to teach the joy of music!
Barrett, J. R., McCoy, C. W., & Veblen, K. K. (1997). Sound ways of knowing: Music in the interdisciplinary curriculum. [chapter 8] Schirmer Books.
In “Music in Context”, the authors talk about how understanding the context of a particular piece of music is important in truly understanding the music that was written and the time and place of which it was written in. They talk about the personal context of how a song takes us back to a time in our lives, and the connection music has between people and cultures.
Wiggins, J. (2001). Teaching for Musical Understanding. [chapter 3 – Doorway In] The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The author talks about the different dimensions of music. This chapter talks about how we as teachers can make music more accessible. These different dimensions of music do not function independently, rather they are interrelated. These different dimensions of music can act as doorways into the experience of music. It is this doorway that allows students to explore music from the inside and explore other dimensions of music.
Robinson, N., Bell, C., and Pogonowski, L. (2011). The Creative Music Strategy: A Seven-Step Instructional Model. Music Educators Journal, 97(3), 50-55.
the author discusses the importance of encouraging creative thinking, improvisation, and the importance of choice. Rather than structuring a class around direct instruction where the teacher expresses their ideas on music and aesthetics, the author provides four prerequisites and a seven step plan on developing the creative music strategy.
Wiggins, J. (1999). Teacher control and creativity: Carefully designed compositional experiences can foster students' creative processes and augment teachers' assessment efforts. Music Educators Journal, 85(5), 30-44.
My takeaway from this reading is that many teachers think students have nothing to contribute and it is up to the teacher to control the classroom. The author discusses this mentality of many teachers, and presents a case for the value of student input and contribution. It is important to enable students to be creative and be careful with designing a curriculum or an assignment that hampers students creativity.