Philosophy
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Students learn best by applying new knowledge to prior knowledge. Something that all students know is music, music they hear on the radio, in the movies, and in public. The music students listen to is something they can easily associate and connect with. Once a student has comprehended and can imitate the music, then the teaching of fundamental music concepts becomes much more easily accessible. By introducing a popular artist and isolating attributes of the music, we are building upon what the students know and making it relevant to them. The popular music that students listen to is also easy to relate to other cultures because of the melting pot that American popular music has become.
Popular music is a melting pot of ethnic music just waiting to be separated and examined. All American popular music is influenced by another cultural genre. Once students begin to realize the close proximity of American music to world music, then students begin to break down any discriminatory walls and become more open to the idea of learning about other cultures. Students realize that their music is the heartbeat of their culture, and once we begin to feel another culture’s music, we begin to synchronize heartbeats with cultures around the world. While our goal as music teachers is not primarily to build bridges between our culture and others, we can teach our fundamental concepts of music while galvanizing the global community in which we live. The standards for which music is being taught can be aligned with the students interests and the necessity for acceptance of the melting pot. If we teach the concepts of music through the lens of what the students already know and experience everyday, then we will be able to create developed musicians more efficiently instead of fighting with the schemas that students already possess. Once we correlate our instruction with their schema, the ideas of singing in a church choir or dancing at a wedding are less abstract when the students can apply them to their lives. |
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