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Instructional Approaches:
The first and perhaps the most basic of the approaches is the behavioral
approach. For behavioral psychologists, learning means acquiring new behaviors,
and new behaviors are learned because of the role that external stimuli play. (2,
Psych Book, 448) A popular method based off of this approach, known as direct
instruction, focuses on the teaching of basic skills by an autonomous teacher. Rules
how to give group members cogent arguments and justifications for the
explanationsthey offer. (Psych Book, 474) This approach uses core material to
teach students additionally skills to be used both inside and outside the classroom
in regards to human-to-human interaction.
Jason Walsh, a senior at Berklee, refers to the institution as having the best
contemporary music curriculum in the world. The schools undergraduate
population reaches just about 4,000 students, and has an acceptance rate of
anywhere from 19-30% depending on the year. This low acceptance rate suggests
that Berklee students are highly qualified musicians. Agreeably, Walsh states,
There are so many musicians here that are better than you, no matter who you
are. Its funny because Berklee students always forget that the school contains the
top percent of musicians in the world, and we tend to get really down on feeling like
we cant improve. The truth is, many students here challenge the very nature of
how music is played and created. It really is humbling to be surrounded by so many
ridiculously talented musicianstruly an unreal experience.
At a school of this caliber, one might assume competition levels to be high.
As Walsh stated, Berklee is indeed ranked among the top music schools in the world
(link Jason sent me); almost 30% of its student body are international students.
(Berklee website) Currently, the Berklee webpage is highlighting one of its
international students, Wei Yang, a pianist and composer from Xiamen, China. He
comments on the idea of competition at Berklee comparatively to other
conservatories.
Asked about the most important lesson he learned at Berklee, Wei
(pronounced way)responds, Just one? He laughs and smiles, then says,
Berklee is very different from a conservatory or a classical school where
everyone is so competitive. You just focus on yourself and how to improve
yourself. At Berklee, its more like youre working with a lot of different
people, youre learning from them, and your mind starts opening and
becomes more accepting to different ways of doing things. In a conservatory,
youre taught, this is the right thing to do and this is wrong. (Berklee
website, Weis Way)
Wei touches on the instructional approaches at what he refers to as classical
schools, or classical conservatories. According to him, unlike classical schools,
Eastman values the progress of the student not only as a musician, but as a wellrounded individual. This humanistic approach to learning has the potential to affect
students in countless areas of their lives, for as they grow in new areas, they begin
to think about things in new ways, and ultimately process experiences and new
knowledge slightly differently than they might have before.
Heather Anderson, a junior cellist at Eastman, mentioned a special program
offered at Eastman to help its students learn to market themselves after their time
there. She states, The Arts Leadership Program offers courses and advising help to
teach students how to be innovative in the music business of the 21st century-unlike a lot of other music conservatories, I think, the focus is not only on winning
orchestra auditions (which are sadly starting to disappear), but how to market
yourself and create a unique career in the ever-changing field. (Heather Anderson,
junior) Despite Eastman being a classical institution, this sounds strangely similar
to Berklees new-age philosophy of changing with the times. This type of education
goes beyond that of direct instructionit not only gives students tools to be
successful in the future, but it forces them to analyze how to apply these tools to
the type of job-searching situation they are in. This is a great example of the
cognitive method of instruction, as it teaches students to understand and apply
acquired knowledge in various contexts, forcing them to access and utilize this
information in inventive, original ways.
Although Gustavus Adolphus College is not a music conservatory, Ruth Lin
(music theory/conducting professor and director of the Gustavus Symphony
Orchestra) provided me with information about her experiences as a graduate music
student at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. As Northwestern Universitys
music school is separate from the rest of the college, it functions like a
conservatory, thus I hoped Dr. Lins insight would be relevant and useful, especially
because she is now an educator herself.
In a lengthy interview, she articulated her thoughts on instruction, pulling
from her past experiences and also including the philosophy she has developed as a
teacher. After I provided her with an overview of each instructional method, she
stated, I dont think there is ever a time when there is just a single approachI
think it is always just a little bit of everything, especially in music. She continued
to address her own style, saying I think as a teacher, I am probably a little bit of
the cognitive and the humanistic approaches. (Ruth Lin) Music needs direct
instruction at the beginning, for although much of music is artistic interpretation
and expression, there are indeed right ways and wrong ways of doing things. It
cannot stop there though, for music cannot be created by simply playing the notes
on the pagemusic comes from a deeper place. Education should teach students
to find that, to feel that, and to crave that.
The culmination:
In the last five years as a musician and a student, I have learned that my
ideas about music and the education of it coincide harmoniously with the things I
value in regards to my life and my relationships. This study has allowed me to
internalize more than just what I might one day teach or how I might one day teach
itit has given me the opportunity to think about why I want to teach music.
I believe in music and the power it has to affect people. The education of
music must focus on the student first, as the student is the artist. This starts with
teaching students how to examine music. We have to teach them how to look for
what they like, and to think about why they like things (this is taking the cognitive
approach). The more they can begin to understand about the music they hear, the
farther they will be able to go when analyzing it and discovering more about it.
Music gets deeper the more you analyze it and understand it. Music demands direct
instruction at the beginning to give students proper tools to work with to eventually
create successfully as artiststhey need tools to help them create, and they need
tools to help them think.
Holistically, the cognitive approach to music instruction seems to be the most
prominent and perhaps the most useful, which makes sensemusic is an art form
that ultimately becomes subjective to the individual and his/her own skillset. Music
education is so much more than teaching students to play music, or to read music.
The education of music needs to consist of teaching students how to identify music
that is meaningful to them, and to give them the tools to identify and understand
why that is. If we want music to continue to grow as an art form, we cannot only
study and perform music of the pastschools like Berklee foster this. Musicians
need to know how to be innovative. They need to know how to create and master
music in a way that makes sense to them.
Finally, the humanistic approach is the key to any valuable educational
experience. Every individual wants to feel valued and appreciated for what he/she
offers, and until this is evident in the classroom, students will not reach their full
potential. Encouragement and support are crucial components of an atmosphere in
which students feel comfortable to express, experiment, and excel. In all three
schools in this study (Berklee, Eastman, and Gustavus), the three interviewees, as
well as Wei Yang, mentioned something about the supportive environment of these
schools. Berklee and Eastman are highly renowned music schoolsis there a
correlation between the supportive atmosphere and the success of the students at
these schools? I would venture to say yes.
The four of these approaches are, as Dr. Lin stated, all necessary in the
education of music. It is hard to pick one that is the most important, for they work
together to teach students basic skills and ideas, how to understand those ideas
and find meaning in them, how to search within oneself to find value, passion, and
drive, and finally to interact with, support, and learn from others. These four ideas
are critical to fostering a well-rounded education, especially in the field of music
things are constantly changing, almost everything is subjective, and there are
millions of creative people in this world who have the ability to influence the path
this art form takes. It is not enough to teach musicit is our job as educators to
awaken the minds of artists and allow them to flourish.