Continued Reflections on Myself as a Teacher and what I want to Teach

        

          Some of My Personal Influences

          I believe that a good music education as well as a good comprehensive general education should be a birthright to all people. I think that when we as teachers prejudge students based on ability/disability, ability to speak English, family income, social status, race and students’ religious beliefs we do them and ourselves a great disservice.

          My grandmother was deaf and yet she won a piano playing contest. I have taken violin lessons from a woman who is deaf and has to read lips sometimes in order to communicate. She was even trained in the Suzuki method and has excellent sight singing and ear training skills. Her playing is absolutely beautiful but many people have overlooked her talents as a soloist because of her deafness. I had a friend in college whose motorized wheelchair was incorporated into his costumes. He was a knight on a horse and in another show he was a wizard on a cloud. Audience members marveled at how we could afford an expensive motorized prop in our shows.

         I am also a big believer in music therapy. I’ve read some of Nordoff and Robbins books as well as others. I would like to incorporate its practices as needed into my classroom. I have researched autism and read texts by Uta Frith, Oliver Sacks, Jasmine Lee O’Neill, Temple Grandin and others. I have had some opportunities to observe autistic individuals in educational settings.

          My experiences living abroad has also given me insight into what it is like to live in another culture and how difficult it can be to learn to think and speak in another language. I have used this experience to encourage ESL students to feel more confident in their own intelligence. If I had trouble learning French and assimilating with my own intellectual gifts then why would I think any less of a student in my charge who is having the same issues in learning English and living in America.

         I recently volunteered to tutor music students at Holyoke High School and volunteered at my church with youth groups and these positive experiences have helped solidify my decision to work with middle school and high school students. I have come to realize how much my opinions are valued by young students. I know how important it is to marry technical critiques with genuine praise and affection.

         I have been told by some well-meaning people that with my background I could easily teach in areas like Westport and while there is nothing wrong with teaching there I don’t think that I would be especially useful. Wealthy school systems can always get music teachers with skills like mine. Even if the school didn’t want me these students could pay for private lessons from someone like me because their parents can pay for it. I want to feel useful. I want a purpose driven life. When I volunteered in Holyoke I saw a first-rate program in a poor, racially diverse community where few people go to college. The music teacher there, Mr. Todd told me stories of homeless children who wanted to look like everyone else in the choir so he would let them borrow black magic markers so they could color in their sneakers to look like black shoes. These kids didn’t do it because he made them do it, they did it because belonging to the school choir was the only family they had and a sense of belonging meant that much to them. Mr. Todd created that environment. I want to help students. Most of them will not become the next Renee Fleming but that really isn’t important to me. I want to change lives. I want to build self-esteem through a challenging music program. I want to get kids to apply to college because I was one of the teachers that really cared about them. I remember my music teacher in high school Mrs. Tamagini who taught kids who had troubled home lives and gave them the love that they needed and was always willing to listen to them. I remember seeing a student who was tone deaf sing a brief solo in public with the loving encouragement of this woman. The tone-deaf student was unlikely to ever become a singer and might not ever learn to play any instrument later in life but she had the bravery to try something new and not be afraid to fail. Even if she became an accountant, I believe that she is probably a more well-adjusted accountant because of that experience with public performance.

          I want to become a music teacher in the schools because I want to change lives. I want to be the teacher that troubled students stay in school for. I want to be the teacher that vulnerable students confide in. I believe the best music programs marry a good solid music program of learning with positive social interactions and teamwork.