AmandaOsborn

PhilosophyPaper

Teachersaresomeofthemostimportantandinfluentialpeopleinachildslife.A
teachersmainjobistofosterthestudentslearning,encouragingthemtodotheirbest
andhelpingthemfeelwelcomedintheclassroom.BennettReimerstronglybelieved
thatanaestheticeducationisessentialtosuccessinthemusicclassroom.Heknew
thatemotionsplayabigroleintheunderstandingofmusicandadvocatedthe
importanceofmusic,notjustasasupplementalsubject,butasanyothergeneral
educationcourse.Amusiceducationshouldresultinanincreasedmusicliteracy,as
wellasaninterestandappreciationofallmusic.
Ialwaysknewiwantedtoteachmusic.Musicissuchacreativeandemotional
art.Itisunlikeanyothersubjectbecauseitisalwayschanging,ascomparedtoenglish,
mathandsciencewhichneverchange.Eachyearyoukeepgrowingasamusician
becausethereissomuchtobelearned.Idecidedtobecomeamusicteacherbecause
musicwasalwaysoneofmyfavoriteclasses.Inmyexperience,themusicteachers
werealwaysthemostpassionateabouttheirsubject.Youcouldtellthattheyreally
lovedtheirjob,unlikesomeoftheenglishandmathteacherswhowouldjustreadnotes
offofasmartboardandhandoutquizzes.Musicteachersalsogettoconnectwiththeir
studentsonadeeperemotionalandspirituallevelthanmostothersubjects.Whena
groupofpeoplecometogethertomakemusic,theyformaspecialbondthattheynever
forget.Also,musicisthebestsubjecttoteachbecauseitissodiverse.Youcouldteach
thesamesongeveryyearanditwillbeuniqueeachtimebecausethepeopleinthe

ensemblearedifferent.Ihopetobeaninspirationtomystudentslikemyteacherswere
tome
Musicappreciationisauniquelyhumantrait.Studiesconductedonnonhuman
primatesconcludethatthemonkeysprefersilenceoversoundwhereashumansalmost
alwayspreferredmusicoversilence.Biologically,thereisaneedformusicwithin
humans.Forus,musicisanexpressionoffeelingittouchesusonadeeperemotional
levelthananythingelse.Intheclassroom,itiseasytoforgetwhywelovemusic.We
spendsomuchtimefocusingonperfectionthatwefailtoreallycapturewhatmakes
musicsogreattousandpassthatontoourstudents.Totrulybecomealiterate
musician,youmustnotonlybecomeproficientinperformingandtheory,youmustalso
haveasincereloveandappreciationforallmusic.BennettReimersupportsthis,stating
thatwerepresentanartsopowerfulinhumanexperienceandrichinhumanmeaning
astobeatthecoreofthatwhichisgoodaboutlifeandthatwhichmustbeshared
througheducation.
Musiceducatorscanbetterunderstandthevalueoftheirsubjectiftheyseek
guidancefromaesthetics,thebranchofphilosophythatisespeciallydevotedto
studyingthevalueofthearts.Anaestheticeducationrequirestwobasicprinciples,the
firstbeingthataestheticeducatorsmustbeacquaintedwiththedeepestvaluesofmusic
astheyareunderstoodbyprofessionalscholars.Amusicteacherneedstohaveadeep
andcompleteunderstandingofmusicinordertobeagoodteacher.Secondly,weneed
todoallwecanasmusiceducatorstorepresenttheartofmusictochildrenas
authenticallyandascomprehensivelyasourunderstandingofmusicandourteaching

expertiseallow.Wemustconstantlyengageinselfcorrection,changingandimproving
whatwedoasaestheticscholarshipchangesandimprovesandasourcomprehension
ofitimprovs.Asmusiceducators,ourfieldisalwaysgrowingandchangingas
technologyadvancesandastheyoungergenerationsbegintoappreciatedifferent
typesofmusicthantheoldergenerations.Inordertobeasuccessfuleducator,we
mustalsobegrowingandchangingsowecanbetterserveourstudents.
Often,musiceducationisperceivedasafieldlackinginfundamentalvalue.
Musiceducatorstrysohardtoadvocatetheimportanceoftheirsubjectbyconnectingit
tootherclassesandbyshowinghowmuchmusicprogramsgivebacktothe
communitythroughperformance.However,indoingthiseducatorsareunderminingthe
validityofmusiceducationasanimportantsubject.Itisseenassomethingthatis
supplemental,notessential.Toovercomethis,wemusttreatthegeneralmusic
classroomasthoughitwereanyothergeneraleducationcourse,strivingtodevelop
literate,educated,sophisticatedpeoplewhoareabletounderstandandenjoyallthat
theircultureoffersthem.
Oneproblemwithmostmusicclassesthataretaughttodayisthatnotenough
emphasisisputonmusicliteracy.Inthemusicclassroom,teachersaresofocusedon
theperformanceaspectofmusic,drillingnotesandrhythms,andrehearsingspecific
songsthatstudentsaremissingoutonthefundamentalsofmusic.Accordingto
BennettReimer,whenperformancesodominatesthegeneraleducationofour
studentsthattheirclassroommusicalexperiencesarelimitedtomusictheyperform
themselves,arelargelydevotedtolearningthetechnicalinformationandperformance

skillsrelatedtothatmusic,andareencounteredthroughastepbystepmethodologyfor
thetrainingofthoseskills,thengeneraleducationhasbeensubvertedinthecauseof
justoneofitscomponents.Inotherwords,performingisjustoneaspectofmusic.
Thereissomuchmoretomusicthatisoverlookedintheaveragemusicclassroom.As
Reimeroncestated,aneffectivegeneralmusicprogrammustincludesignificant
involvementwithnotationasonemeansofenhancingmusicalunderstanding,exactly
asitmustincludesignificantperformanceinvolvementsasanothermeans.Bothmust
beunderstoodandtaughtasimportantbutancillarywaystoaccomplishwhatthe
phonographhaspermitted.
Musicisconstantlychanging.Tobeaneffectivemusiceducator,wemust
understandthesechangesthatareoccurringandhowmusiccanbeexperiencedinnew
ways.Withthehelpoftechnology,itisbecomingeasierforpeoplewhoarentmusically
trainedtonotonlyappreciatemusicbutalsotocomposetheirownmusic.Bennett
Reimerdiscussesthefutureofmusiceducationinhisarticle.Hestatesthatinthe
future,themusiceducationsystemwillconsistofthreeparts,whicharethegeneral
education(orasReimerlikestocallit,comprehensivemusic)program,devotedto
developingthebroadestpossiblemusicliteracyforallstudents,theelective
performanceprogram,andtheelectivecompositionprogram.Inthismodelofmusic
education,thegeneralmusicclassisthebasisandtheperformanceandcomposition
classesareenrichments.Thismodelallowsstudentstoeitherperformorcomposeif
theydesirewhilealsoreceivingasolidgeneralmusiceducation.Thiswillresultinan
increasedlevelofmusicianshipinschoolsandastrongeremphasisonmusicasits

own,validsubjectratherthanasupplementalextracurricularactivity.
Musicissuchanimportantpartoflife,notjustformusicians,butforallpeople.
Whetherwerealizeitornot,musichassuchagreatimpactonourlives,everysingle
day.MygoalasamusicteacheristogivemystudentsthebesteducationIcan,in
ordertohelpthembecomemusicallyliterate.Ialsohopetoencouragestudentstohave
agreaterloveforallmusicevenlongaftertheyleavemyclassroom.

WorksCited


MusicandAestheticEducation:ACollegialRelationship
RichardColwell
JournalofAestheticEducation,Vol.20,No.4,20thAnniversaryIssue(Winter,1986),
pp.3138
Publishedby:
UniversityofIllinoisPress
ArticleDOI:10.2307/3332594
ArticleStableURL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/3332594

OntheNatureofMusicalExperiencebyBennettReimerJeffreyWright
Reviewby:J.DavidBoyle
JournalofAestheticEducation,Vol.28,No.1(Spring,1994),pp.108110
Publishedby:
UniversityofIllinoisPress
ArticleDOI:10.2307/3333166
ArticleStableURL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/3333166

MusicEducationasAestheticEducation:TowardtheFuture
Author(s):BennettReimer
Source:MusicEducatorsJournal,Vol.75,No.7(Mar.,1989),pp.2632
Publishedby:SagePublications,Inc.onbehalfofMENC:TheNationalAssociationfor
MusicEducation
StableURL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3400308
.

MusicEducationasAestheticEducation:Pastandpresent
Author:BennettReimer