Sometimes I feel that at Westminster Choir College, we are trapped in a plastic bubble. Stuck in our everyday routines, with our own opinions. We all have been taught Critical Pedagogy throughout our college career, with little or no practical application. Personally, I feel that I am naive when it comes to teaching in a classroom. As great as our music education program is, being sheltered in our own small environment, almost does more harm then good. We are molded into teachers who fit well in the "John Witherspoon Middle Schools" of America. Rarely, are we challenged to deal with issues that make us uncomfortable or question our ways of teaching.
In my evaluation, I mentioned that before I am placed in teaching position, I want to travel and experience how music and education are dealt with all around the world. I want to witness how different individuals in communities, that I may not have experienced myself, intertwine and work together to better education. I believe that in order to do MY best in teaching, I need to see the world we live in and observe how others live, and then combine what I have learned from my own schooling and these experiences into my own classroom.
With this, I hope to be able to connect better with all of my students and find different ways to relate their lives with my own, especially in our journey together in music. I feel that too often enough, teachers right out of college, get placed in a school and stay there for the rest of their career. While this may be the perfect plan for them, I still feel that I need to discover who I am as a person and a musician by getting completely out of my own comfort zone and the "bubble" we have been in throughout college.
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Although Westminster Choir College can certainly be an isolating environment, I feel that it does prepare us for the "real world". The music education department especially gives us opportunities that we would never have at other colleges. We actually discuss issues like urban education, diverse learning styles, and classroom management. Most undergraduate education students get thrown into their student teaching semester with little experience in the classroom. Although we don't live in New York City or Philadelphia, I feel that we are experiencing the American classroom in a way that we would never be able to otherwise.
Marge, I think you have some really valid points here. Westminster has its flaws, but also has given you the tools to go out and make the most of what you've got to bring to students in this country or abroad. Teaching "Critical Pedagogy" is hard, almost to the point of impossible, try as you might to make it work. I definitely felt this kind of isolation and fear when doing my student teaching- I felt as if I had unlearned all that made me "me" as a teacher. It's hard when we come from a school that's focused on philosophizing and thinking, and to be honest, demonstrates very little "doing." Just go with what you know. Keep anopen mind and an open heart, and just remember that each day is going to bring a new challenge, but when you get through it, you'll be so much stronger as a teacher and a person.
Marge, I think its great that you want to travel and experience music in other cultures. Most of us are popped right into our little slots called jobs right after college, and while most people expand and make their "slots" their own, I respect you for making a decision to explore further what music has in store for the world. Dr. Bradley was a guest speaker in Praxis two weeks ago, and she brought the musical experiences she had in Ghana to us. I would still be a well rounded student if she hadn't come, but now I'm equipped with information and knowledge about how music is experienced in Ghana. This is a resource I can use in my teaching later, all thanks to someone coming to us from outside the classroom world.
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