Updated Spring 2014 My philosophy of music education is centered on the eliefs that! all music should add "alue to students# li"es$ music should e an in%ard and an out%ard &ourney$ and music should help students to get to 'no% themsel"es( ) also elie"e that music ma'ing and learning should e focused more on process than product( *his means for me that it is e+tremely important that the ul' of the repertoire selected is not superficial$ ut instead can pro"ide opportunities for in-depth musical and emotional learning( ,epertoire should not e selected solely as %hat pieces the teacher %ants the choir to learn( )t is o'ay to choose some pieces ased on musical concepts the students should accomplish$ and some to lighten the mood$ and maye some ased on a certain theme( -ut the most important thing is to ma'e sure that the ma&ority of the repertoire is rele"ant to students# musical li"es outside of school$ and also rele"ant to the things they are e+periencing emotionally( *herefore$ it is e+tremely important for a teacher to 'no% her students and their needs( Maye for the first year or so of teaching$ it#s o'ay to ha"e repertoire already pic'ed out( -ut after that year$ ) thin' teachers should ha"e gotten to 'no% their students# interests and personalities %ell enough to ma'e future decisions ased on those things rather than on the teachers# o%n personal preferences( )n my classroom$ ) plan on ha"ing students do some research and ring maye 2 or . pieces each that they %ant to do$ and the class can discuss them and ma'e decisions together aout %hat they %ant to do( )f it#s a class decision$ ) elie"e the students %ill connect more to the music and ta'e o%nership of it( *herefore$ the "alue added to their li"es is much greater than if it %as something ) %ere to force upon them( )n a rehearsal setting$ my philosophy %ould translate into some classroom guidelines /no negati"ity aout other classmates0 as %ell as ma'ing sure that students are included in the rehearsal process( )n order for them to actually get something out of the music$ they need to arri"e at conclusions on their o%n1regarding phrasing decisions$ prolem sol"ing$ the meaning ehind the te+t$ and many other 2uestions that come up( ) refuse to e a teacher %ho ma'es all the decisions( My students %ill e independent music ma'ers and prolem sol"ers( )n addition$ and perhaps most importantly$ ) elie"e that fostering a sense of community$ especially in a choral setting$ is essential to ha"ing a meaningful musical e+perience and creating lifelong musicians( 3 choir should e li'e a second home to students( )t should e a place free of &udgement or ill-%ill$ and that feeling of elonging to and eing part of something larger than one person creates not only good musicians$ ut good people that %ill go on to e "aluale citi4ens of %hate"er organi4ations they choose to e a part of(