Culturally Affirming Music Education

Assignment
Reflection of Part III of Other Peoples Children by Lisa Delpit

The class discussions about this book both reinforced my interest in celebrating

culture (Campbell), and opened my eyes to the importance of individual perspective

(Erasmus, Kant). Lave & Wenger stress the importance of making content relevant to

students so that it is meaningful to them. One way that I decided to get to know my

students on a more personal level this past year (2016-17) was through a song called O

Lovely Rose by Mark Patterson. This song is based on a poetic text that uses a rose as

a metaphor for inner beauty. After discussing the meaning and various examples of

inner beauty, I instructed my students to write a personal statement about someone in

their lives who has demonstrated inner beauty, and then encouraged them to dedicate

their performance of O Lovely Rose to that particular person. This assignment provided

my students with the opportunity to share a bit of their personal experiences, connect to

their lives outside of school, and helped me learn more about their individual

perspectives (Comenius).

Another way that I try to better understand my students individual perspectives is

by organic/informal conversations throughout the school year. I ask them questions

about their interests and hobbies outside of school. I ask them about their families. I

always try to make myself available if a student wants to talk to me, because I want

them to feel valued and important (humanism: Da Feltre, Pestalozzi, Rogers). This

has helped build trust and positive rapports with them so that they feel comfortable

sharing their personal perspectives and cultural traditions with me. The result of these

conversations is that I am able to get to know and better understand my students. An

example of this is when one of my students explained her plans and cultural traditions

involved in a quinceaera celebration. Before taking this class, I knew that every student

comes to school with different experiences and cultures, but our class discussions

helped me realize how these experiences can shape their individual perspectives (Kant).

This has helped me be more sensitive in the way that I phrase questions, and has

helped me learn a lot about my students. This ties into humanist teaching. I want to get

to know each of my students for who they are, value their cultures and life experiences,

and encourage them to share about their cultures.