Why I Want to Be A Music Teacher

Friends and family have told me for years that I should be a music teacher, but I did

not fully realize it for myself until only about two years ago, at age 24. At the time I began

my undergraduate career, I entered without a declared major, eventually declaring Music

halfway through my second year. That university did not have a Music Education program,

so teaching was not something that I explored as an option during my undergraduate

degree. Throughout my undergraduate course work, I was lucky to take many classes in

Arts Administration, and had internship opportunities in that field.

After I graduated, I worked in the field of Arts Administration for three years, and

really enjoyed it for the most part. I have a great love and appreciation for nonprofit

organizations in communities that exist to enrich the lives of their members through the

arts. Although I enjoyed it, I sometimes felt very disconnected from the art itself, and it was

hard to feel like I was actually making a difference when bogged down with all the tasks I

had to do. This led me to search for an answer to the question: what can I do within my

chosen field of the arts and music that will actively make a difference in the lives of others

and fulfill me professionally? In considering a career that would allow me to make music

every day and fulfill me creatively, while still working with lots of different types of people

to make a positive impact through music, I came to the conclusion that Music Education

would be a fitting career path. In addition to obtaining Virginia teaching licensure, I was

attracted to the idea of a full-time Master’s program in Music Education that would provide

an immersive experience in this new field with coursework and opportunities that would

fulfill me as a college graduate with several years of professional experience.

 Through the entire process of applying to the Master’s program at JMU, I have had to

answer the question of why I'm pursuing this many times. There are countless anecdotes I

could provide about my past experiences ⎯ K-12 music, community music organizations,

undergraduate music, and the professional world ⎯ that could demonstrate examples of

impactful music learning I have personally experienced that have led me toward this career

path. In lieu of those anecdotes, I offer a simple answer to the question of why I want to be a

music teacher: I believe that nothing would give me more pleasure in my daily professional

life than to be directly involved in making music every single day, and sharing my passion

for music with others. While I enjoy performing music, I do not prefer the competitive

nature of the field of professional music performance, and rather enjoy making music in a

more informal way, and sharing my enthusiasm and knowledge with others. I am the kind

of person that believes all people are musicians,they just may not realize that they are. As a

music teacher, I would do my best to reach each and every student and help them realize

that music is a beneficial part of every person's life in some way, shape, or form, and would

help foster a relationship between that student and music that would hopefully last a

lifetime. While I know the world of teaching is challenging for so many reasons, I look

forward to the challenges and rewards that come with the profession.

What Students Should Have Learned About Music Because I Have Been Their Teacher

I hope that students will gain a well-rounded, comprehensive musical education

because I have been their teacher. I hope to expand students’ musical experiences beyond

music performance to encompass many different acts of musicking with music from a wide

variety of musical cultures. I would like students at whatever grade level(s) I end up
teaching to experience creating music, responding to music, and connecting with music in

addition to performing. It can sometimes be challenging to fit a wide range of musical

experiences into a music curriculum when there is limited class time and scheduled

performances built into the school calendar. Despite this challenge, I think prioritizing

exposure to new and interesting musical experiences and projects that are meaningful to

the students is more important than anything. Incorporating music technologies,

community outreach projects, composition, improvisation, and countless other forms of

interacting with music are worthwhile endeavors beyond traditional ensemble

performance.

I believe that music is a means of expression and a vehicle for connecting with

others on a level that is deeper than the average conversation or experience. I believe

teaching my students values like empathy, fairness, character, and responsibility through

music will help them to be more caring individuals in our world. I would value that type of

success just as much as I would value technical musical skill, if not more.

It is my goal as a future music teacher to empower my students to become lifelong

music learners. I don’t want musical engagement for my students to stop after elementary

general music education, middle school band, or a high school ensemble. Music is all

around us every single day, and I want to encourage lifelong engagement with it. Tailoring

my lesson planning and my teaching to reach students with all kinds of skill levels and

musical interests would create a more inclusive space and give all students the opportunity

to grow in their musical engagement. Whether they have musical interests as varied as

music history, theory, social justice, or simply engaging with current pop music in an

interesting way, they would have a place in my classroom. Creating a safe space as a teacher
for all of these potential students to grow as musicians will teach them that musicianship

comes in all shapes and sizes and all of them are valid and important. I would hope that this

kind of space and inclusive style of teaching encourages my students to connect with music

in the way that feels authentic to them and to keep music a part of their lives even after I’ve

been their teacher.

What do I need to do to learn/grow in order to be able to provide students with the type of
music education I want them to have?

In order for my future students to obtain a well-rounded, comprehensive musical

education, I need to be a well-rounded teacher. If I am committed to making my music

classroom a space where students can engage in all types of music-making, I need to be

sure that my knowledge and competence in leading experiences in performing, creating,

responding, and connecting is at a high level. I am completely comfortable performing

myself, but I have not had as much experience in my own music education engaging with

music in those other three ways, so I need to make a concerted effort to grow in those areas

so I can help my students to grow in them, as well. My time at JMU has afforded me some of

that growth, but I need to continue to seek out those experiences and challenging myself in

these areas so I am able to pass these skills on to my future students. Additionally, I need to

continue challenging myself to interact with new instruments, technologies, and push the

boundaries of my “comfort zone” in music making because that will make me a more well-

rounded teacher who isn’t afraid to take risks and can provide a more enriching experience

for my students.
 In order to teach my future students about the value of music as a means of

expression and a way of connecting with others, I need to continue engaging with music in

a meaningful way and seeking out opportunities where music is used as a vehicle to achieve

those things. Again, I have been lucky enough to have already had some of these

opportunities at JMU, but I believe getting involved in the community will also become

important as I continue growing as a music educator. JMU’s music department is one tiny

community in our world, mostly of very like-minded individuals, and getting out into the

community of my city, state, country, and world and experiencing music with different

kinds of people as much as I can will help me gain perspective and teach the importance of

the connective powers of music in a more authentic way to my students.

To accomplish my goal of creating a safe space in my future classroom for all kinds of

musicians, I need to continue educating myself about how I can create an inclusive space.

We speak about this often in classes at JMU and have great visiting scholars come to our

school to discuss inclusion and authenticity in the classroom. These experiences are always

really thought-provoking and remind me that there is so much to think about as a music

teacher beyond the notes on the page. I need to continue to engage in thinking at a higher

level about the environment I want to create in my classroom for all students. Getting out

into schools through practicum has been a great way for me to experience different

environments and make me a more well-rounded musician and teacher, which will in turn

help me to teach my future students to be thoughtful, open-minded, inclusive, curious,

creative musicians and humans in the world. I need to continue seeking out opportunities

to experience music making and learning in these different contexts in order to be the best

music teacher I can be.

Vision Statement

I think music provides a medium to foster communication and affect change that can

be powerful, and I believe it is our responsibility as music educators – now more than ever

– to facilitate those things through music. I see my role in music education as existing

beyond the four walls of a classroom and the structures that a teacher is bound by when

working in a school system, taking part in community music organizations that exist to

make a positive difference in that community and bring people together through music to

do good in the world. The relationship between teacher and learner would be largely

symbiotic. While I do have knowledge and skills to offer from my education and experience

thus far, I am still a learner of music just as much as my future students. While I’d like to

facilitate opportunities for others to learn, I know those students will have much to teach

me, as well. I’ve had a taste of working in a community context during my the first few years

of my career and I see myself continuing in that sector after my time at JMU.

Music students should find issues that are relevant to them, find music that is

relevant to them, and put the two together to go out into the world to do good. Each student

is an individual with distinct interests, talents, and personal goals, and I would love to

create a music education setting that will optimize opportunities for each individual to

explore these to the fullest extent. The role of the teacher, in this model of music education,

is to facilitate this growth by providing resources, connections, ideas, and support. As such,

my personal vision for music education involves more individualized opportunities for

learning,, an emphasis on culturally relevant pedagogy in a much more immediate and

urgent way, and end goals of not only musical growth, but music that sends students into
their communities and into the world with the power to communicate better and affect

change.