Danielle Di Pietrantonio

Dr. Cathy Benedict

1800A
December 5, 2016
My Teaching Philosophy: What Ive Learned

I enrolled in this Intro to Music Education class because I know I want to major
in music education. One day I would like to become a music teacher, preferably in a
high school. I have known this about myself for a while now, but it wasnt until this
course that I ever began to think deeply and meaningfully about what kind of
teacher I will be and how I will create a positive and beneficial learning environment
for my students.
In this class weve talked about some things that I have always been
conscious of, such as the importance of inclusivity. Talk about multiculturalism,
disability politics, feminism, and racism were all very familiar to me (because Im
interested in those topics) and very refreshing (because we never talked about
those things at my high school). My favourite teachers were always the ones who
created a welcoming classroom environment and this is definitely something I will
always prioritize when I become a teacher myself. In my grade 12 year of high
school I had the opportunity to take a coop with an itinerant arts teacher at an
elementary school, and one day he mentioned that teaching children is often more
about emotional management than it is about school subjects, because you cant
teach anything to a kid who is depressed, overtired, hungry or otherwise distracted
from what youre trying to teach. So you have to be aware of that and try to
manage those factors as much as you can, as a teacher.
Other things Cathy tried to exemplify for us this semester were more difficult
for me to wrap my head around. One of those things was my realization that I really
havent been valuing creativity as much as I thought I was. On the first day of class
we were asked about the purpose of music education, and someone mentioned
creativity. Immediately Cathy challenged us to think about what we mean when we
say creativity. It was the first of many times that we were challenged in this class
to think about what we meant by a seemingly simple word.
What Ive come to realise about myself through this class is that I havent
valued creativity very much as a music student, and I likely would have gone on to
teach without ever questioning my mindset were it not for this course. Even now,
Im clearly much more comfortable typing up an essay on my thoughts than I am
making a video with the same content in a more creative format! Like many of the
music students at Western, I was classically trained. I am comfortable with notes on

a page, I enjoy the most boring aspects of theory, and I genuinely enjoy listening to
art music in my free time. Heres the catch: I am horribly uncomfortable in most
situations where I am asked to improvise! I have been for as long as I can
remember. Theoretically I understand that a song probably goes I-IV-V-I, but I
absolutely freeze up if Im asked to apply that knowledge and somehow accompany
on the spot. This is something that Ive been insecure about for years, but I had
never considered that it might be the result of the way I was taught about music.
Cathys question, Works at what? For whom? is one thats resonated with
me ever since I had this aha moment a few weeks ago in class. The truth is that my
music teachers have all taught for students like me, who already have a passion for
learning about notation, theory, music history, what have you. In my high school
music class, some of my favourite days were the ones where we didnt play as
much but instead talked about history, listened to pieces of music for some other
purpose, or worked on theory and dictation. These are my favourite things! And that
set me somewhat apart from the rest of the class. On the flip side, the two units
that always stressed me out the most were composition and the improvisation that
came with jazz. When I was in grade nine our music teacher assigned us a project
where the only rules were to compose a song using the program Finale. This caused
me so much stress! I remember anxiously saying, But Mr. Carney, you havent
taught us anything about what chords to use, so how will I know if Im using the
right ones? And what about everyone else? I look back on this now and find it
hilarious, but it definitely reveals a lot about how I think about music and what it
means to be a good music student.
For this reason, the more holistic and progressive approach to music
education as it was outlined in this class has challenged me deeply to think about
why I am here and what I am trying to accomplish. As a music student, there is a
part of me that I think is naturally somewhat elitist. I am proud of all the effort and
years of practice Ive put into music, into learning my scales and my list A, B, C, and
D pieces for RCM examinations. But as a future educator, I know I will always want
to create a classroom that serves to benefit all students. I now see that this must
include the ones who dont have any prior formal music training. My goal as of now,
I think, will be to work within the curriculum to teach music with more of a focus on
creating, improvisation and composition from students in a way that is organic and
collaborative. Im still figuring out how Ill make that happen, but Im very excited
now for the process.