Lucy Ferruzza

Prof. Rodriguez

Student Teaching Seminar

11 December 2019

My Educational Philosophy

I find that when I look back on my favorite music teachers of the past, they had

similar attributes. They shared a passion for not only the progress of their musical

ensemble, but also the growth of the individual musicians. Each of them is distinctive in

my mind because I had a personal connection with all of them. Every rehearsal had a

purpose, and we worked towards musical goals that we could understand. I find that

the good ones always made the performance aspect to be an exciting end goal, be it

competing against other districts or putting on a concert for our friends and family. In

my own teaching, I have found myself implementing their strategies. I have brought the

ideas of overarching goals, personal connections, and passionate instruction into my

own teaching.

I believe that rehearsals and general music classes should allow a student to

attain a level of understanding of the complicated matter of music. The students should

be multifaceted and cover many different concepts to best prepare them for that

particular phase of learning. General music classes at an early age should give students

general knowledge of music and prepare them to participate in a musical ensemble if

they so choose. Ensembles should have the focus of preparing students to be life-long

musicians if they wish. Even if alumni do not end up playing music, they should be

instilled with a great respect for it. This can be attained by encouraging and expecting
outside practice and volunteerism (Reichl 2019). In my experience, the best ensembles

had students who were willing to work for a director with motivation and goals in mind.

I remember the teachers most who built a personal relationship with me and

ensured that there were strong bonds among students (Holdhusen 2019). The

ensemble directors made sure to emphasize that these activities could not happen

without multiple students in the room. One of my favorite band expressions is that if

they didn’t think the second and third parts of a section were important, then they

wouldn’t have written it down. This can be applied to choir, as a large unified ensemble

can produce a powerful, emotional response. In general music, many activities can be

collaborative. Unlike other subjects where individual assessment is the cornerstone,

music can have a basis in group learning and helping each other up. There are many

creative ways to use personal and social strategies to create a powerful impact with

music.

I worked with the high school band at Line Mountain school district and the high

school choir in Selinsgrove as I was student teaching. In both of these, I tried to

cultivate strong relationships between myself and the students and among the students

themselves. In my teaching, I have used the stronger musicians as mentors for the

ones who need more help, but also challenged the mentors to improve their own

musicianship. In band pullout lessons, I would often place my first chair players with a

second or a third to back them up with their notes. Not only did this give the lower

chairs more confidence in their own playing, but it gave the first chairs a chance to

improve their sight-reading. In my choir placement, I would make sure to ask my

students how their day was if it was appropriate. There were a lot of students in a big
cluster and I often did not get to see them in smaller groups or individually. Using this

method, I tried to foster an appropriate relationship with them so they would be more

responsive to me.

Music is an important subject in it’s own right. Giving it the respect it deserves in

the lesson plans I write is my goal. In my plans, I have focused implementing musical

concepts and simplifying them when need be. Music teaches discipline, tenacity, and

focus, which can help students succeed in other areas when taught properly (Madden

2017). In my choral placement, the non auditioned ensemble often needs extra

assistance with learning notes and rhythms. By implementing solfege and rhythm

exercises into the period, my cooperating teacher, Rachel Ulsh, has created an amount

of understanding of music for those students. I practiced doing the same in my teaching

there, and I found I could name concepts that we did before while doing repertoire. In

my experience as an educator and a learner, the teachers who put extra effort into their

planning and really want the students to succeed are usually the most well respected

and have better programs to support their methods.

In conclusion, music education was important to my development as a person. I

majored in music education so I could guarantee that experience could happen for

others. I hope that in my teaching, I incorporate these concepts to do so.

 Works Cited

Holdhusen, David. “Building Community in the Choral Ensemble.” NAfME, NAfME. 7

Aug. 2019. https://nafme.org/building-community-choral-ensemble/.

Madden, Blake. “Why Music Education Actually Matters.” NAfME, NAfME. 18 Oct. 2017.
https://nafme.org/why-music-education-actually-matters/.

Reichl, Lori Schwartz. “Envisioning and Articulating Your Program's Future.” NAfME,
NAfME. 10 Sept. 2019. https://nafme.org/envisioning-articulating-your-programs-future/.