Philosophically Speaking
My colleague Elaine tells of the teacher who was asked about her teaching philosophy during a certification exam and answered, “Oh, I teach the Alfred method.” Methodology and philosophy are routinely muddled together–even in scholarly materials. The word philosophy is often used to refer to a regime or system from a specific teacher or ‘school’. But, there is another aspect of philosophy–one where personal beliefs and values about music and education come into play. So. what is a teaching philosophy and how do I recognize one in the wild?
Elaine and I constructed this Powerpoint presentation as a part of a conference session on developing a teaching philosophy. We provided an overview of philosophical areas including how we view the roles music plays in our lives, the meaning of music, and our roles as music teachers and related these to teacher portraits. We both wanted to emphasize the concept that, as teachers, our beliefs should drive our choices of curriculum and methodology. Curriculum and methodology are not the actual beliefs which make up a philosophy.
I hope our presentation will give you all some food for thought. Explore, ponder, and enjoy!
Click here to view the presentation in Powerpoint Philosophy
Click here to view as pdf Philosophy
…and I just checked out the PDF version. Worked for me! 🙂
Gretchen
OK everybody, I have posted a version of the presentation in PDF format. If you find blank pages or missing graphics, this should solve the problem.
Hi Gail,
The presentation looked fine when I viewed it, except that the pics of the different types of teachers didn’t load.
Gretchen
I am not getting any missing slides when I view the presentation from the website. I am running the latest version of powerpoint to view but, the slides were created in an older version. Any other troubles out there?
Hi,
The PP presentation is nice, but what about the missing slides in it?
Is is supposed to be like that?
I have a class like that at EAC. It meets once a week for 2 hours and there are 10 students in the class who range from little or no experience to a few years. I start each class with an improvisation and make sure that the parts can be notated off staff so even those with no experience can play and succeed. After we improvise I tell them to write down what we did in the way that makes most sense to them. Then, I go around for individual or small group help and we end with another group activity–rhythm clapping or scales/chords. It is really a challenge to teach to the individual in a class situation like this. I try to present activities and concepts from many perspectives but time is the real enemy for me.
Hi Gail,
Your post and Power Point presentation are so well thought-out and presented!
I have been thinking about how to approach 5 new piano students at Hampshire College. It’s a school that emphasizes independence, and each person has a unique thought process. Each background vis-a-vis music is different. One student plays by ear, doesn’t read. Another is interested in adding harmony to songs she sings. Yet another has no scores with her at school, she “just remembers it.”
Of course each person is unique ~ this seems to be an especially eclectic mix.
Gretchen