Lessons Blog
This page is made up of reflections from workshops and presentations I attended while in school. The content from each speaker was drastically different from the others and came from many different learning and working backgrounds.
Dr Ruth Wright Lesson
Dr. Ruth Wright visited our Music Teaching and Learning class on Wednesday January 29th to givea presentation about the importance of informal music learning. Dr. Wright works with an organization called Musical Futures, and introduced it to Canada. This Organization promotes the use of informal learning as teaching in high school and elementary music programs. After she told us more about Musical Futures and its benefits, the class tried this way of learning ourselves. We needed to learn a song with a group of people on instruments that we don’t usually play in order to get a sense of what the program can do and how teaching occurs within it.
Before we “tried out” Musical Futures, however, Dr. Wright explain the what Musical Futures stands for. It tries to present music curriculua with a new way approach toward teaching music by using informal practices in a formal setting. In this background, Dr. Wright explained the data that was collected from kids before and after taking part in a Musical Futures pilot when it was first introduced to Canada. It showed that there was an increase in student engagement when learning, greater enthusiasm toward music class, lower number of absences, and increases in self-confidence among students. However, the program wasn’t just satisfying for the students, it was satisfying for the teachers as well. The old traditional musical curriculua that were mostly based on learning theory and techniques without touching instruments or listening to music. These came off as stale for the students and teachers alike, but with the implementation of the Musical Futures, the curriculum became more customizable and provided the students and teachers with more options. This change renewed a lot of the joy of music and built on why people want to learn or teach it in the first place.
After this presentation, we all split into groups to try out this way of learning ourselves. This interactive experiment showed us the program in action and how people would go about teaching or learning in this course. We had to split into groups and try to learn how to play a song as a band on instruments that we don’t normally play. It wasn’t a super easy task to perform, but once people settled into what they wanted to with the task, it was a fun way of learning a skill that we didn’t have prior to the project. It also puts the students in a situation in which they need to figure out how to work as a team by their own means by experiencing it rather than learning it the way someone else learned it. Though we didn’t get to pick the song, like they would in the actual course, we got to use our own creativity to find a way to learn. This process also requires the support and trust of your group members, which also acts as good motivation to put in the work.
In conclusion, Dr. Wrights presentation opened our minds about the effects of informal teaching in schools. It is a valuable way of teaching that brings a lot of joy and comradery into the process of learning music to make it fun.
Eric Mandawe Lesson
The guest speaker, Eric Mandawe, came in on February 26 to talk about land-based learning. It was a valuable presentation that taught us about how you learn from the things around you rather than just what is in the class room. One thing that he brought up was “Don’t let school get in the way of your education”. This resonates with me because people always say that you go to school to get an education, but this statement contradicts the common saying. It’s interesting because both of these statements are correct in different ways but when people think about their education, they think about what school accomplishments they have and not really the things they know or learn outside of the classroom. This lesson teaches that we should not get so wrapped up in school that it stops us from learning things else-where, because we, as humans, unintentionally seem to learn more away from school then in it.
Another subject that was talked about was learning lessons from those with more experience who came before us. The way we learn from the people that we already know is different from your typical teacher. Naturally, we tend to care more about the material being taught which keeps us more engaged in the subject. In this type of land-based learning, it keeps our students connected in more open topics that specifically match the interest of the learner. When students realize how free they are to share thoughts and opinions with no wrong answers it prompts them to more actively participate and emotionally engage themselves to what is being taught.
Land based learning relies on our relationships and a non-written system of trust that individuals have for one another. The both feel the responsibility to give back what is given to them in this environment and both to drive the conversation and learning process. The connections make us more comfortable to share not what we see or hear, but what we individually feel. This acknowledgement of each other inspires students and teachers to learn at a higher and faster rate from each other. much more than in a typical school setting.
In conclusion, we should value and utilize the strategy of land-based learning to educate ourselves and others, instead of neglecting it to focus on the formal means of learning.
Another subject that was talked about was learning lessons from those with more experience who came before us. The way we learn from the people that we already know is different from your typical teacher. Naturally, we tend to care more about the material being taught which keeps us more engaged in the subject. In this type of land-based learning, it keeps our students connected in more open topics that specifically match the interest of the learner. When students realize how free they are to share thoughts and opinions with no wrong answers it prompts them to more actively participate and emotionally engage themselves to what is being taught.
Land based learning relies on our relationships and a non-written system of trust that individuals have for one another. The both feel the responsibility to give back what is given to them in this environment and both to drive the conversation and learning process. The connections make us more comfortable to share not what we see or hear, but what we individually feel. This acknowledgement of each other inspires students and teachers to learn at a higher and faster rate from each other. much more than in a typical school setting.
In conclusion, we should value and utilize the strategy of land-based learning to educate ourselves and others, instead of neglecting it to focus on the formal means of learning.
Bridget Sweet Lesson
During this valuable guest speaker session with Bridget Sweet we learned about adolescent voice change and it’s’ effect on music education. We especially talked about what is being done wrong in the high school music education setting specifically in choir. Bridget talked about the flaws of how voices are sorted into sections that they may not particularly belong in or how teachers my indirectly discourage their students to not develop their voice they way that they should. But we didn’t just discuss voice development but also the development of the adolescent body and mind, and how adults view adolescents compared to how they should view adolescents. As well as the individuality of how each person goes through their adolescent years differently and experience things differently from each other. It is important be aware and acknowledge these factors when teaching to this age group.
The voice change of a person at an adolescent age is simplistically explained as a growth spurt of the larynx and everybody grows at a different pace at different times. In this change vocal folds extend and effect our voices by giving us a different vocal range to learn to sing in. The problem when going into high school choir programs is that students are sorted into voice sections while they are still changing their voice range and often times change completely through high school. An example brought up in the discussion was a soprano vocalist being placed into the alto section early in high school but her voice had developed into a soprano voice type, but she didn’t change sections but tried to force their voice down losing what could have been plenty of healthy, natural voice development. At this age these kids may not know what is going on with their voices and don’t know how to react when their range changes. This is why an educator needs to teach these students what will happen and what they should do to continue healthy vocal development.
Lastly, musical educators in the high school system should start teaching the students how to react to how they are changing. They should also always keep in mind that these developments are occurring all the way way through their high school lives. Teachers must pay attention to the individuality of each of their students to try to maximize the effects of their teaching for their benefit and development. During our adolescent years there are so many new things happening to us all at once and we don’t always know how to react to these changes, this is what we as educators need to understand when trying to connect with these people and effectively teach them in a healthy manner.
The voice change of a person at an adolescent age is simplistically explained as a growth spurt of the larynx and everybody grows at a different pace at different times. In this change vocal folds extend and effect our voices by giving us a different vocal range to learn to sing in. The problem when going into high school choir programs is that students are sorted into voice sections while they are still changing their voice range and often times change completely through high school. An example brought up in the discussion was a soprano vocalist being placed into the alto section early in high school but her voice had developed into a soprano voice type, but she didn’t change sections but tried to force their voice down losing what could have been plenty of healthy, natural voice development. At this age these kids may not know what is going on with their voices and don’t know how to react when their range changes. This is why an educator needs to teach these students what will happen and what they should do to continue healthy vocal development.
Lastly, musical educators in the high school system should start teaching the students how to react to how they are changing. They should also always keep in mind that these developments are occurring all the way way through their high school lives. Teachers must pay attention to the individuality of each of their students to try to maximize the effects of their teaching for their benefit and development. During our adolescent years there are so many new things happening to us all at once and we don’t always know how to react to these changes, this is what we as educators need to understand when trying to connect with these people and effectively teach them in a healthy manner.