Emily Johnston

Choral Music 5-12

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(