Rachel Begleiter

4/30/2014
Professor McBride
Philosophy to Music Education

One of the major benefits of being a music educator is the inspiring, rejuvenating, joyful
nature of music itself, (Reimer). A music teacher is blessed with opportunity to share the beauty
of music each day. A philosophy in music education aids the teacher in a mission of selfdiscovery as to why we teach music. It takes knowledge, patience, and wisdom to teach students
to develop their skills. A music education philosophy acts as the conscience, as Reimer would
say, for the teacher to refer back to when they face any challenge that comes with the profession.
As I begin this journey into my philosophy, I must gain an understanding about the value of the
profession. A philosophy is necessary for overall effectiveness and serves as sort of collective
conscience for music education as a whole. But the strength of the field ultimately depends on
the convictions of its members, (Reimer). I firmly agree with Reimer that although a philosophy
is necessary, it is up for the teacher to put the advice to good use. The true question of any music
educator must ask is, How on earth can I contribute and expand a students life through music?
From dozens of ideas and philosophies, there is not one right way of thinking about this question.
For my status as a future music educator, I must think about making every musical experience in
the classroom mean something special for each individual student.
Reimers concept of receiving an 'experience of' feeling rather than 'information about'
feeling," ties to a non-passive, collaborative approach to music learning. Musical experience
includes aspects of form, practice, and social agency, is bounded in a particular way, and

inevitably serves some functional purpose, (Reimer). Students lined in desks, listening to the
teacher talk on and on about a topic will bore them out of their minds. I firmly consider students
who are actively participating in the creative process of music making gain more than what a
lecture based class could teach them. By letting go and creating a conversation of music, the
teacher is creating an atmosphere which everyone is a collaborator to music making. It is a
difficult approach because it begs the question of how much control the students are given in the
class discussions. From my stand point, the teacher should be the mediator of what is and is not
appropriate for students to control. For instance, if one class included isolated group discussions
for rhythmic compositions, the students have the freedom to add their ideas to the group, but the
teacher must monitor for students who take the opportunity to misbehave.
In addition, I believe a music classroom should be inviting, creative, and intriguing to
pull students into attention. From my past experiences, I enjoyed when teachers asked students
to contribute to decorations in the classroom. One year, in my high school choir room, my
teacher request for students to write positive affirmations on poster paper to stick to the wall.
Not only was this idea creative, but its ingenious purpose was to encourage each student to do
their best. Furthermore, it is that kind of collaborative effort in a music group such as a choir that
makes learning music so special.
A main concept of Paulo Freire is to enter into dialogue presupposes equality amongst
participants. Each must trust the others; there must be mutual respect and love (care and
commitment). Each one must question what he or she knows and realizes that through dialogue
existing thoughts will change and new knowledge will be created. Freires idea about trust in a
classroom is very important to my ideals as a future music educator. Without that trust, the
students will lose interest in the subject and not take the class seriously. A genuine teacher

creates an honest and open environment for student to be confident enough to participate in
conversation. If a teacher decided to give a false pretense, the students would see right through
and would not care about anything this said teacher had to say. Learning is a process and
breaking students out of their shell into unfamiliar situation is a part of that process. Being aware
of what influences students lives can be put into context in the class for easy an easier transition
from outside world to the classroom.
An education isnt how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you
know. Its being able to differentiate between what you know and what you dont,- Anatole
France. Education is an organic process that should never be forced. The banking method of
teaching usually result in the students trying to memorize information and not retaining the
subject matter for a longer term of time. As discussed several times in Critical Pedagogy I,
performance is never the end result of music education, and it should be the continuation of the
effort of learning music. I believe Frances point was that an education correlates to teachers as
well. Teachers are still learning just like their students are. If a music teacher chose to never
change their process, then they are doing a disservice to not only the student but to themselves as
well. Stagnant teacher stunts the growth of their students, and blindsides the teacher from
improving their program. The beauty of music education is that there is always room for more
progress; for students to become better musicians.
As a future music teacher, I believe thinking out of the box and be creative will entice
students to learn more and gain more from the class than others would. Thinking out of the box
describes non-traditional methods of teaching music. Student should be actively gaining
knowledge through social experiences. Making the music making process a social experience
allows the creativity to shine in each student. With each student contributing their opinions and

ideas to the assigned music, they will feel a sense of understanding and ownership of the music.
This idea follows the aesthetic education Reimer discusses. Aesthetic education embraces all
the ways people think about and know about music, (Reimer). I also believe that aesthetic
education allows the students to engage in an open-minded discussion. Some may disagree and
say that music has a linear focus. However, it is overlooked that each student has their own
interpretation of music, and teacher should not prevent their voices from being heard.
Furthermore, this personal self-discovery of how music is connected to their lives will enrich the
performance each student gives.
One of the most challenging obstacles a music educator must face is to prove the
importance of their subject in the schools curriculum. Within the history of music education,
schools have lowered its budget or even cut the program entirely because they did not deem it a
worthy subject. When, in fact, music is a useful, challenging skill that enforces positive traits to
students. In a sense music offers ethical and life-enhancing values just as numberless other
endeavors do, but in the distinctive way characteristic of music. Nothing else is quite like it,
(Reimer). Choral music involves communication, as does band and other music ensembles. Just
like in sports, each member is a teammate that must build trust in one another to produce an
outstanding final product. Trust and harmony within the classroom is biggest factor that will rule
out the mediocre music classes from the truly great ones. Without it, the teacher and the students
fall short.
The things I learned from my experience in music in school are discipline, perseverance,
dependability, composure, courage and pride in results. . . Not a bad preparation for the
workforce!- Gregory Anrig President, Educational Testing Service. Anrigs statement clearly
demonstrates that we dont know what the future holds for our students but it is our duty as

teachers to guide them down the path toward a successful and happy life. With discipline,
students are given a creative outlet that encourages staying in school and off the streets. Music
students persevere to be better musicians who can only be credible if the students had a terrific
role model to motivate them. Music is intimately related to worlds outside the arts, the worlds
of politics, religion, commerce, nationhood, psychology, history, sociology, science, philosophy,
and so forth,(Reimer). Music educators give the gift of music to students, and we would be
doing a disservice to our students if the curriculum did not equip them with skill sets for their
futures. In addition, education should give students the necessary tools for what the future may
hold for them.
In retrospect, the fundamentals of being a music educator come from making musical
experiences and knowing their students. All music philosophers give great insight into areas of
the field that one would not be aware of. Reimers focus on the enjoyment of the musical
experience and aesthetic education is just as vital as the theoretical and technical aspects of this
subject. I would consider myself a bad musician and a bad music educator if my knowledge and
philosophy never expands or grows as the years pass. Like the times that have come and gone,
my ideas and knowledge of music is forever in a state of constant change. It makes each new
discovery more interesting to include. If I had no more thoughts to contribute the field, I have
not only failed myself, but the future of this profession. A music educator connects with students
through music, and to experience music is to experience how we as individuals are connected to
all other humans in our communities and all other communities in the world and in history.
Music is all-encompassing, (Reimer).
.
Work Cited

"Concepts Used by Paulo Freire." Freire Institute -. Freire Institute, 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
http://www.freire.org/component/easytagcloud/%20dialogue
"Music Advocacys Top Ten Quotes." Music Advocacys Top Ten Quotes. Children's Music
Workshop, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. http://www.americanforkband.com/top-tenquotes.html
Reimer, Bennett. Advancing the Vision. A Philosophy in Music Education: Third Edition.
Pearson Education, Inc. 2003.
"Anatole France Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/anatole_france.html