"Music Education at the Tipping Point” Sept. 21, 2015
- John Kratus
Music has always been an essential part of life to many of us, in which we all take for granted. The journal Music Education at the Tipping Point argues that numerous schools have a declining rate of music programs due the belief that the arts in education is supposed as less valuable than others. This leads to the reduction of music teachers and the inability to pass on the knowledge to future generations, which results to the decrease of funding for music education programs. What really frustrated me was the fact that “the focus on reading and mathematics of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) resulted in a shift of funding away from subjects such as music…” The idea of how people perceive the art of music as unimportant compared to other programs can irritate one’s mind. I believe that everything in life is significant, especially when it comes down to school subjects. Each program has their own importance and one doesn’t just simply overstep another. The author, John Kratus, also mentions the effect of technology, which has significantly impact the way we perceive music in the 21st century as opposed to generations back. Like Kratus said, it is a bridge that connects worlds together, where we are able to share the music we listen & make to people across our planet. In other word, it acts like a universal language. I strongly agree to his statement simply because we are able to break through language barriers and communicate with each other through the route of music. It touches the human heart, mind, body and soul. We can all go to another country and not understand a word of their language, but the moment music starts to ring out from that country, instantaneously your mind picks it up and your body reacts to it as if you were communicating with someone there. It can be understood and interpreted by individual as it can express and communicate emotions between many different cultures.
Overall, music is an essential and crucial part of every human being. Just think about a world without music! Wouldn’t it be boring? And to continue with music we must teach and/or inspire the generations ahead. So all together, music plays a very important role within all of us and we shouldn’t take advantage of this wonderful gift that this world and people have given us.
Bibliography:
Kratus, J. (2007). Music education at the tipping point. Music Educators Journal, 94(2), 42-48. doi.10.1177/002743210709400209
- John Kratus
Music has always been an essential part of life to many of us, in which we all take for granted. The journal Music Education at the Tipping Point argues that numerous schools have a declining rate of music programs due the belief that the arts in education is supposed as less valuable than others. This leads to the reduction of music teachers and the inability to pass on the knowledge to future generations, which results to the decrease of funding for music education programs. What really frustrated me was the fact that “the focus on reading and mathematics of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) resulted in a shift of funding away from subjects such as music…” The idea of how people perceive the art of music as unimportant compared to other programs can irritate one’s mind. I believe that everything in life is significant, especially when it comes down to school subjects. Each program has their own importance and one doesn’t just simply overstep another. The author, John Kratus, also mentions the effect of technology, which has significantly impact the way we perceive music in the 21st century as opposed to generations back. Like Kratus said, it is a bridge that connects worlds together, where we are able to share the music we listen & make to people across our planet. In other word, it acts like a universal language. I strongly agree to his statement simply because we are able to break through language barriers and communicate with each other through the route of music. It touches the human heart, mind, body and soul. We can all go to another country and not understand a word of their language, but the moment music starts to ring out from that country, instantaneously your mind picks it up and your body reacts to it as if you were communicating with someone there. It can be understood and interpreted by individual as it can express and communicate emotions between many different cultures.
Overall, music is an essential and crucial part of every human being. Just think about a world without music! Wouldn’t it be boring? And to continue with music we must teach and/or inspire the generations ahead. So all together, music plays a very important role within all of us and we shouldn’t take advantage of this wonderful gift that this world and people have given us.
Bibliography:
Kratus, J. (2007). Music education at the tipping point. Music Educators Journal, 94(2), 42-48. doi.10.1177/002743210709400209
"Pop" Goes...? Taking Popular Music Seriously Oct. 5th, 2015
- Wayne D. Bowman
People in today's society believe that music, as a whole, is in a sense a pointless subject to be talking about, none the less to be taken in school. He explained in the article that popular music cannot improve the curriculum without thoroughly improving the way it is perceived, meaning that if we don't take the initiative to change the negative assumptions of the vast majority, then nothing will reform and get better. As the article proceeds further into the argument, it is thus true that it is hard to improve such a subject, especially when how people conceive popular music to be. Relating to my previous response, its quite frustrating to think how shallow some people think, assuming music to be nothing more than everyone's entertainment. Other than that, what I found surprising and interesting were how much influence popular music has on people, that is.... if everyone actually took it seriously. I know for a fact that I never really understood the meaning behind, Popular Music, but after reading Bowman's article it really opened my eyes to a whole different world. He described that it was made for passive consumption, and caters more emotion than acknowledgement. This indeed can assist people in many ways, such as: creating critical awareness and "designed to pander to the lowest common denominator of human taste." It is an assorted range with musical practices and divergent desire that aids the mind and body together. I would like to say that the author of this article, Wayne D. Bowman really emphasized on the fact that as time goes on the focus on music is less appreciated and looked down upon, though he acknowledges the importance of music and argues against that point. He really wants to get the readers attention to open their eyes to the things that are going on in the music world and from what I have been reading, it gives me the impression that he wants everyone to really think about Popular Music and actually how important it is. Furthermore, it is important to realize how crucial Popular Music is towards the world, education and to ourselves... our body... our mind... and our soul.
Bibliography :
Wayne D. Bowman, Wayne D. (2004). "Pop" goes...? Taking popular music seriously "In Rodrigues, C. (Ed.). Bridging the gap: Popular music and music education. US: MENC.
- Wayne D. Bowman
People in today's society believe that music, as a whole, is in a sense a pointless subject to be talking about, none the less to be taken in school. He explained in the article that popular music cannot improve the curriculum without thoroughly improving the way it is perceived, meaning that if we don't take the initiative to change the negative assumptions of the vast majority, then nothing will reform and get better. As the article proceeds further into the argument, it is thus true that it is hard to improve such a subject, especially when how people conceive popular music to be. Relating to my previous response, its quite frustrating to think how shallow some people think, assuming music to be nothing more than everyone's entertainment. Other than that, what I found surprising and interesting were how much influence popular music has on people, that is.... if everyone actually took it seriously. I know for a fact that I never really understood the meaning behind, Popular Music, but after reading Bowman's article it really opened my eyes to a whole different world. He described that it was made for passive consumption, and caters more emotion than acknowledgement. This indeed can assist people in many ways, such as: creating critical awareness and "designed to pander to the lowest common denominator of human taste." It is an assorted range with musical practices and divergent desire that aids the mind and body together. I would like to say that the author of this article, Wayne D. Bowman really emphasized on the fact that as time goes on the focus on music is less appreciated and looked down upon, though he acknowledges the importance of music and argues against that point. He really wants to get the readers attention to open their eyes to the things that are going on in the music world and from what I have been reading, it gives me the impression that he wants everyone to really think about Popular Music and actually how important it is. Furthermore, it is important to realize how crucial Popular Music is towards the world, education and to ourselves... our body... our mind... and our soul.
Bibliography :
Wayne D. Bowman, Wayne D. (2004). "Pop" goes...? Taking popular music seriously "In Rodrigues, C. (Ed.). Bridging the gap: Popular music and music education. US: MENC.
Community Music Making: Challenging the Stereotypes of Conventional Music Education Oct 13th, 2015 - Kari Veblen
The community music of Canada aids different age groups with the help of music education by accommodating numerous networks, organizations and individual businesses.They provide: “community building, self-expression, identity, awareness of national heritage, recreation of myth, group solidarity, networking, bonding, consciousness raising, healing.. etc.” (Veblen 124). These multiply purpose community music gives all people the opportunity to listen and make music, which I find to be a wonderful thing. Music is an international language that can connect people from all around the world, regardless of their ethnicities, disabilities, or religions, it is astonishing to find something grants something like this to happen. The article also said that they have even given the opportunity to prisoners to experience music, to learn and play music. I really popped out from me was that there are so many different types of CM's, such as: Community Music Schools, CM Performance Organizations, Ethnic/Preservation Groups, Space and Place Sponsorship, Festival Gatherings, Religious-Based Community Music, Associative Community Music, Outreach Initiatives Associated with Universities and Schools, Informal Affinity Groups. All these groups, individually amaze me, though one specifically pops out, Ethnic/[reservation Groups. I love the fact that they help preserve the traditions of immigrant and indigenous First people or Native groups, how they recreate the celebrations that they once had and preserve it to their old ways so that even today they can still keep up with the spirit and carry on with their traditional celebrations. As the article carries on with the Community Music excellences, I encounter a sentence claiming that the Canadian and provincial governments only give a minimal support to the CM through grants and awards, meaning most CM groups are self-funded/non-profit groups run by participant fees and endless work of the volunteers who plays a very important role to keep this program running. If groups of people want to promote something that brings people closer together and break barriers, then why does the government limit such fundings? It really frustrates me to see what the government finds important and what isn't. Though... on an off note, I really admire volunteers who do good because they simple want to help out those in need and at the same time experience many different things that may help them in the future.
The author, Kari Veblen, made a very depend valid point, Democratization of the art is not making art available to everyone, it's making art meaningful to everyone (Veblen 129). This statement I find really emphasizes the fact that it's simple to promote the arts and make it reachable for everyone rather than thinking the bigger picture of whether or not the arts touch them in a way where it may positively affect them. Community Music wants to not only try to think of a way to allow everyone to experience music but to also understand it and make it meaningful to everyone.
Above all, this article was rather a surprise to see how much effort and sweat people put in to really promote and emphasize music education and how vital it actually is. In hopes of the future, I hope that one day the government can really open his eyes and see what's really important.
Bibliography :
Veblen, K.K. (2012). Community music making: Challenging the stereotypes of traditional music education. In C.A. Beyond & K.K. Veblen (Eds.). Critical perspectives in Canadian music education. Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier University Press.
The community music of Canada aids different age groups with the help of music education by accommodating numerous networks, organizations and individual businesses.They provide: “community building, self-expression, identity, awareness of national heritage, recreation of myth, group solidarity, networking, bonding, consciousness raising, healing.. etc.” (Veblen 124). These multiply purpose community music gives all people the opportunity to listen and make music, which I find to be a wonderful thing. Music is an international language that can connect people from all around the world, regardless of their ethnicities, disabilities, or religions, it is astonishing to find something grants something like this to happen. The article also said that they have even given the opportunity to prisoners to experience music, to learn and play music. I really popped out from me was that there are so many different types of CM's, such as: Community Music Schools, CM Performance Organizations, Ethnic/Preservation Groups, Space and Place Sponsorship, Festival Gatherings, Religious-Based Community Music, Associative Community Music, Outreach Initiatives Associated with Universities and Schools, Informal Affinity Groups. All these groups, individually amaze me, though one specifically pops out, Ethnic/[reservation Groups. I love the fact that they help preserve the traditions of immigrant and indigenous First people or Native groups, how they recreate the celebrations that they once had and preserve it to their old ways so that even today they can still keep up with the spirit and carry on with their traditional celebrations. As the article carries on with the Community Music excellences, I encounter a sentence claiming that the Canadian and provincial governments only give a minimal support to the CM through grants and awards, meaning most CM groups are self-funded/non-profit groups run by participant fees and endless work of the volunteers who plays a very important role to keep this program running. If groups of people want to promote something that brings people closer together and break barriers, then why does the government limit such fundings? It really frustrates me to see what the government finds important and what isn't. Though... on an off note, I really admire volunteers who do good because they simple want to help out those in need and at the same time experience many different things that may help them in the future.
The author, Kari Veblen, made a very depend valid point, Democratization of the art is not making art available to everyone, it's making art meaningful to everyone (Veblen 129). This statement I find really emphasizes the fact that it's simple to promote the arts and make it reachable for everyone rather than thinking the bigger picture of whether or not the arts touch them in a way where it may positively affect them. Community Music wants to not only try to think of a way to allow everyone to experience music but to also understand it and make it meaningful to everyone.
Above all, this article was rather a surprise to see how much effort and sweat people put in to really promote and emphasize music education and how vital it actually is. In hopes of the future, I hope that one day the government can really open his eyes and see what's really important.
Bibliography :
Veblen, K.K. (2012). Community music making: Challenging the stereotypes of traditional music education. In C.A. Beyond & K.K. Veblen (Eds.). Critical perspectives in Canadian music education. Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier University Press.
The Celebration of Thinking Oct 19th, 2015
- Elliot W. Eisner
In this article, Elliot Eisner goes into depth with how important it is for people to really think about what they're learning and teaching. Whether or not if the teaching is correct? Is this the best way to learn? Will we ever need these in life? Many of these questions are asked throughout this article and is well explained through Eisner's mind. He really described what he was opposing and what he stood with, " I wish to portray a concept of mind, of thinking, of intelligence that is not restricted to language. Any limited view of intellect will penalize students whose aptitudes reside outside its boundaries" (1998, pg. 22). He wanted to give all students the experience to really be able to express themselves and share their intelligence with the world without having to worry about their disabilities of any sort. "Students write, not to communicate what they care about, but to answer questions posed by the teacher who already has the answers (Appleby 1981) (1998, pg. 27). He believes that some tactics of school policies and curriculum really limits a students thinking and intelligence, as if they're all stuck in a cage, forced to learn the same material that they know, at the end of the day it even won't matter anymore. Eisner even talks about how the biological stances of thinking and learning, he begins to argue that human experience aren't given to us for free and that we must earn it as an achievement. That we have to learn before we can achieve experience, in which we can also attain experience through learning experiences. I find rather interesting and surprising to read his article. Eisner really digs deep into his argument, creating analogies that I find can help the reader, him, himself just writing up this article already gives a sense of what teaching and learning is like. The use of imagination and creativity really helps to understand what Eisner is trying to say and argue, it allows people with a harder understanding to really get into this article much more easier. The little things he says in this article makes you open up your mind and think more, "Editing allows one to refine one's thinking, to make it clearer, more powerful, and, not least, to appreciate the happy results of creativity" (1998, pg.27). What he said really got myself thinking how true it was, it teaches us in a bigger picture that in order to improve you must fix yourself from your mistakes in life. And once you have, you truly understand what you really want to do, what kind of person you want to be and what your next move will be.
What really frustrated me is the fact that the arts are a more important means of celebrating thinking (1998, pg.28) but as people in general, we don't really pay attention to different types of imagination, creativity or celebrating thinking at school. No one really find the arts to be as important as other subjects, just because it's not math or science. Needless do people know, The arts are models of work that do emphasize the creation of coherent structure, that do encourage multiple solutions to problems, that do prize innovation, that do rely on the use of judgement, and that depend on the use of sensibility. In short, the arts are a most important means of celebrating thinking. (1998, pg.28). People and students need to get hands-on experience to get in touch with reality because inside a class room, listening to lectures all day only gives you knowledge. It doesn't provide you the privilege of experience.
Overall, Eisner made really valid points to how society perceives the arts and how important it actually is. He brings out the true biological and statistic facts on the importance of the arts. Hopefully one day, people can open their eyes and see actually how this world is run with the positive effects of celebration thinking of the arts.
Bibliography :
Eisner, E. (1998). The kind of schools we need: Personal essays. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann
- Elliot W. Eisner
In this article, Elliot Eisner goes into depth with how important it is for people to really think about what they're learning and teaching. Whether or not if the teaching is correct? Is this the best way to learn? Will we ever need these in life? Many of these questions are asked throughout this article and is well explained through Eisner's mind. He really described what he was opposing and what he stood with, " I wish to portray a concept of mind, of thinking, of intelligence that is not restricted to language. Any limited view of intellect will penalize students whose aptitudes reside outside its boundaries" (1998, pg. 22). He wanted to give all students the experience to really be able to express themselves and share their intelligence with the world without having to worry about their disabilities of any sort. "Students write, not to communicate what they care about, but to answer questions posed by the teacher who already has the answers (Appleby 1981) (1998, pg. 27). He believes that some tactics of school policies and curriculum really limits a students thinking and intelligence, as if they're all stuck in a cage, forced to learn the same material that they know, at the end of the day it even won't matter anymore. Eisner even talks about how the biological stances of thinking and learning, he begins to argue that human experience aren't given to us for free and that we must earn it as an achievement. That we have to learn before we can achieve experience, in which we can also attain experience through learning experiences. I find rather interesting and surprising to read his article. Eisner really digs deep into his argument, creating analogies that I find can help the reader, him, himself just writing up this article already gives a sense of what teaching and learning is like. The use of imagination and creativity really helps to understand what Eisner is trying to say and argue, it allows people with a harder understanding to really get into this article much more easier. The little things he says in this article makes you open up your mind and think more, "Editing allows one to refine one's thinking, to make it clearer, more powerful, and, not least, to appreciate the happy results of creativity" (1998, pg.27). What he said really got myself thinking how true it was, it teaches us in a bigger picture that in order to improve you must fix yourself from your mistakes in life. And once you have, you truly understand what you really want to do, what kind of person you want to be and what your next move will be.
What really frustrated me is the fact that the arts are a more important means of celebrating thinking (1998, pg.28) but as people in general, we don't really pay attention to different types of imagination, creativity or celebrating thinking at school. No one really find the arts to be as important as other subjects, just because it's not math or science. Needless do people know, The arts are models of work that do emphasize the creation of coherent structure, that do encourage multiple solutions to problems, that do prize innovation, that do rely on the use of judgement, and that depend on the use of sensibility. In short, the arts are a most important means of celebrating thinking. (1998, pg.28). People and students need to get hands-on experience to get in touch with reality because inside a class room, listening to lectures all day only gives you knowledge. It doesn't provide you the privilege of experience.
Overall, Eisner made really valid points to how society perceives the arts and how important it actually is. He brings out the true biological and statistic facts on the importance of the arts. Hopefully one day, people can open their eyes and see actually how this world is run with the positive effects of celebration thinking of the arts.
Bibliography :
Eisner, E. (1998). The kind of schools we need: Personal essays. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann
Can improvisation be 'taught'?: A call for free improvisation in our schools Nov 1st, 2015
- Maud Hickey
From reading this article I can really understand her view on improvisation and how important it actually. She allowed me to view this topic on a different perspective rather than just leaving my imagination of musicians playing random notes. What really intrigued me from her article was when she quoted Abramson's description, " Thus students find music though their own movements, singing, and playing. Improvisation becomes a way of finding music for yourself and by yourself, a discovery rather than an imitation" (Abramson, 1980, p.62) (Hickey pg.289). Abramson makes a very eye-opening point that I never really thought of, imitation. It really triggered my attention that I soon realized that we do imitate one another, we tend to copy and build up on the concept of others. As much as we try to think of our way of doing things, it always comes back to thinking of what someone else did that we seem to remember from the back of our minds. We lose the actual point of improvisation when we're always going to use someone else's idea rather than our own. Many of the reasons why it's harder for us to really use our own imagination and creativity is mainly because of the restrictions put on us from teachers and the music program's curriculum, or simply the way the teachers or instructor teaches. Students are bound by rules and given very limited alternatives such as dynamics, textual or timbral changes. By these restrictions in school, students are confined into one specific area are are not able to reach their full potentiality, instead they are given a set of rules and guidelines to follow. As stated in the article, improvisations is not really a topic to be taught, instead it should rather be explored by the musician him/herself. School's way of improvisation is very different than improvisation outside of school... it's not free.
" Free improvisation is a form of improvisation that is ultimately the most open, non-rules bound, most directed, and, consequently, the least (if ever) approached in schools. It is not a free-for-all approach, as it requires attentive ad sensitive listening to the environment of others involved. However, it is an improvisation that cannot be taught in the traditional sense, but experienced, facilitated, coached and stimulated" (Hickey pg. 294). There are many good things about free improvisation such as students being able to express themselves with no restrictions and allow their imagination to run free while be able to find themselves and play their own sound. But when there is good, there is bad, as one of the problem is the management of the classrooms. Hickey made a point that because of individual preferences might get in the way of producing a smooth group process. I mean think of it this way, a bunch of young kids and teenagers expressing their own sound (randomness) all in one classroom, blasting different notes and such. If you think about, the room will be filled with loud, obnoxious noises. I would say it will be really hard for the teacher to settle them down and try to make them sound like professionals.
All these remarkable points that she made in this article really allowed me to understand the importance of improvisation and how restricted it actually is in schools. I do agree with her reasonings behind wanting to advance that topic and let it spread to all schools, but by doing so, it will take a lot of time and effort as everyone has their own opinions too. Furthermore, as I explained in the beginning, this article has made me understand a lot more on the topic of improvisation and how important and essential it is for not just students but all human beings as well, regardless if they're a musician or not.
Bibliography :
Hickey, Maud. "Can Improvisation Be ‘taught’?: A Call for Free Improvisation in Our Schools." N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
- Maud Hickey
From reading this article I can really understand her view on improvisation and how important it actually. She allowed me to view this topic on a different perspective rather than just leaving my imagination of musicians playing random notes. What really intrigued me from her article was when she quoted Abramson's description, " Thus students find music though their own movements, singing, and playing. Improvisation becomes a way of finding music for yourself and by yourself, a discovery rather than an imitation" (Abramson, 1980, p.62) (Hickey pg.289). Abramson makes a very eye-opening point that I never really thought of, imitation. It really triggered my attention that I soon realized that we do imitate one another, we tend to copy and build up on the concept of others. As much as we try to think of our way of doing things, it always comes back to thinking of what someone else did that we seem to remember from the back of our minds. We lose the actual point of improvisation when we're always going to use someone else's idea rather than our own. Many of the reasons why it's harder for us to really use our own imagination and creativity is mainly because of the restrictions put on us from teachers and the music program's curriculum, or simply the way the teachers or instructor teaches. Students are bound by rules and given very limited alternatives such as dynamics, textual or timbral changes. By these restrictions in school, students are confined into one specific area are are not able to reach their full potentiality, instead they are given a set of rules and guidelines to follow. As stated in the article, improvisations is not really a topic to be taught, instead it should rather be explored by the musician him/herself. School's way of improvisation is very different than improvisation outside of school... it's not free.
" Free improvisation is a form of improvisation that is ultimately the most open, non-rules bound, most directed, and, consequently, the least (if ever) approached in schools. It is not a free-for-all approach, as it requires attentive ad sensitive listening to the environment of others involved. However, it is an improvisation that cannot be taught in the traditional sense, but experienced, facilitated, coached and stimulated" (Hickey pg. 294). There are many good things about free improvisation such as students being able to express themselves with no restrictions and allow their imagination to run free while be able to find themselves and play their own sound. But when there is good, there is bad, as one of the problem is the management of the classrooms. Hickey made a point that because of individual preferences might get in the way of producing a smooth group process. I mean think of it this way, a bunch of young kids and teenagers expressing their own sound (randomness) all in one classroom, blasting different notes and such. If you think about, the room will be filled with loud, obnoxious noises. I would say it will be really hard for the teacher to settle them down and try to make them sound like professionals.
All these remarkable points that she made in this article really allowed me to understand the importance of improvisation and how restricted it actually is in schools. I do agree with her reasonings behind wanting to advance that topic and let it spread to all schools, but by doing so, it will take a lot of time and effort as everyone has their own opinions too. Furthermore, as I explained in the beginning, this article has made me understand a lot more on the topic of improvisation and how important and essential it is for not just students but all human beings as well, regardless if they're a musician or not.
Bibliography :
Hickey, Maud. "Can Improvisation Be ‘taught’?: A Call for Free Improvisation in Our Schools." N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Adapting Music Education to Contemporary Society and Participatory Culture Nov 1st, 2015
- Evan S. Tobias
In this article it talks a lot about how broadening the participatory cultures and musical practices may help increase the evolvement of music education in society and that technology in today's society can also really help with this matter.The expansion and high development of technology really enhance the probability of talented individuals to show off and present their talent on the web for others to see. Technology helps us move along with today's technical advancements and allows us to go on with our daily lives more easy and efficient. I have always knew that technology assist many people today but the article really opened my eyes to what more it can do and how much it can really take one person's dream to reality. In ways where now anyone around the world and show their talent and perhaps be recognize by some big cooperation and who knows, maybe even get signed; like Justin Bieber. It also surprised me that they used the composer Eric Whitacre as an example of using media to engage people around the world to share their talent with each other and other people around the world. He gave such a wonderful opportunity to people that perhaps always wanted to perform or sing with a group. And this all happened because of the development of technology. I personally love Eric Whitacre's music and how every piece had a purpose. I specially enjoy Seal Lullaby the band and choir version, simply because the slow lyrical lines and the emotions built into the piece. Well... lets not get carried away now.
Allowing people who don't have a career in music to contribute and interact through social media is also a reason to give a big thumbs up to technology! We are now able to connect with the rest of the world with just a single button. No matter how far someone can be, they are now able to share ideas and interact with each other, teach each other and perhaps give out some techniques and such. This itself already helps advance music education.
What I love about this article is that it teaches you what to do to improve rather than just talk about what you need to fix instead of giving steps on how to do it. The article mentioned that, " Having students reinterpret composers' music through new aesthetic sensibilities and share the results with others can occur along with, rather than in place of, learning an performing original music created by composers or themselves." (Tobias pg.32) I agree with this statement because the student would be still playing the same piece but with different emotions and motive, allowing them freedom which music is suppose to be. Freedom that will allow to understand the piece more when they compare the originals to them, this helps build very important musical skills that will help the students in the future. As well as letting them do mash-up and remixes are very efficient ways to help a student to compose music, because they would have to know that the mixes will have to have the same key and time signature rather than putting something random up. This will allow them to create a general understand of how composition works from the ear rather than on paper. Sometimes restrictions are not necessary in the beginning.
Overall Evan makes really remarkable statements and ideas to help us as future music educators to actually use. Hid article really influenced me in ways where his ideas are engraved in my head, which will be very helpful for me if I get into teaching music. Surprisingly nothing in particular stood out f the article that made me frustrated but rather a better understand how important it is for us to use the resources around us and how we need to start with giving students a freedom to allow them to explore first.
Bibliography :
Tobias, E.S. (2013). Toward convergence: Adapting music education to contemporary society and participatory culture. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 29-36. dos: 10.1177/0027432113483318
- Evan S. Tobias
In this article it talks a lot about how broadening the participatory cultures and musical practices may help increase the evolvement of music education in society and that technology in today's society can also really help with this matter.The expansion and high development of technology really enhance the probability of talented individuals to show off and present their talent on the web for others to see. Technology helps us move along with today's technical advancements and allows us to go on with our daily lives more easy and efficient. I have always knew that technology assist many people today but the article really opened my eyes to what more it can do and how much it can really take one person's dream to reality. In ways where now anyone around the world and show their talent and perhaps be recognize by some big cooperation and who knows, maybe even get signed; like Justin Bieber. It also surprised me that they used the composer Eric Whitacre as an example of using media to engage people around the world to share their talent with each other and other people around the world. He gave such a wonderful opportunity to people that perhaps always wanted to perform or sing with a group. And this all happened because of the development of technology. I personally love Eric Whitacre's music and how every piece had a purpose. I specially enjoy Seal Lullaby the band and choir version, simply because the slow lyrical lines and the emotions built into the piece. Well... lets not get carried away now.
Allowing people who don't have a career in music to contribute and interact through social media is also a reason to give a big thumbs up to technology! We are now able to connect with the rest of the world with just a single button. No matter how far someone can be, they are now able to share ideas and interact with each other, teach each other and perhaps give out some techniques and such. This itself already helps advance music education.
What I love about this article is that it teaches you what to do to improve rather than just talk about what you need to fix instead of giving steps on how to do it. The article mentioned that, " Having students reinterpret composers' music through new aesthetic sensibilities and share the results with others can occur along with, rather than in place of, learning an performing original music created by composers or themselves." (Tobias pg.32) I agree with this statement because the student would be still playing the same piece but with different emotions and motive, allowing them freedom which music is suppose to be. Freedom that will allow to understand the piece more when they compare the originals to them, this helps build very important musical skills that will help the students in the future. As well as letting them do mash-up and remixes are very efficient ways to help a student to compose music, because they would have to know that the mixes will have to have the same key and time signature rather than putting something random up. This will allow them to create a general understand of how composition works from the ear rather than on paper. Sometimes restrictions are not necessary in the beginning.
Overall Evan makes really remarkable statements and ideas to help us as future music educators to actually use. Hid article really influenced me in ways where his ideas are engraved in my head, which will be very helpful for me if I get into teaching music. Surprisingly nothing in particular stood out f the article that made me frustrated but rather a better understand how important it is for us to use the resources around us and how we need to start with giving students a freedom to allow them to explore first.
Bibliography :
Tobias, E.S. (2013). Toward convergence: Adapting music education to contemporary society and participatory culture. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 29-36. dos: 10.1177/0027432113483318
"Arts-Based Service Learning with First Peoples - Nov 8th, 2015
Towards Respectful and mutually Beneficial Educational Practices"
- Lori Anne Dolloff
In Dolloff's article, it explains a lot on sharing musical experiences around the globe and how others have done so too. I found it fascinating how she thought of the idea, to learn and explore as well as helping other experience what they can't there but through people who come visit. Like not only did she planned on doing this but people from years back such as Hannah Breece who's done teaching with the indigenous population has also. I find that it's quite interesting to see people going out of their way to help others learn what they are unable to obtain because of the location barrier. Another astonishing thing that captivated my attention was this woman named "Lady Bountiful", who's wealthy and could do anything she really wanted. Instead she goes out of her way and help the poor as well as trying to develop a desirable civilized state that will bound to lift the people who are in need of this kind of attention. The fact that she spends her life traveling and helping people while she could spending money on herself, friends and family. Her pure heart and mind is what really captivated me as well as the other young women whom had made numerous positive changes in other people's lives. She lived a life of giving and helping the minority but all she did was always gone unacknowledged during that time, though that did not stop her from what she wanted to do. She did because she wanted to, she wanted to help the needed as much as she could, using her wealth, time and care.
While reading the rest of the article, I realized that it really emphasizes in teaching us rather than just speaking and talking to us. Dolloff really teaches us how to improve such as asking questions throughout the text, How might my ideas of appropriate repertoire choices and teaching techniques be acting to re-colonize or "civilize" the groups I'm working in? (Dolloff pg 6). This questions allow us to really think to ourselves what it means to teach and how we can teach in the best way possible; somewhat like a guide.
Dolloff explained that when she went up north to the Arctic she bought lots of arts and crafts, as well as clothing to the kids in Toronto so that they can get an idea of how the children in the Arctic lives and the difference in culture it has between the two. It really helps expose different cultures to young children so that they know what's going around the earth and that there are many other kids who could be less fortunate than the ones in Toronto. It was a very good idea on how Dolloff actually brought stuff back from a different place and even after having done what she wanted to do in the first place, she still asked herself question so that she knows and remembers exactly why she did what she did in the first place and how it helped serve her purpose in doing so. She even learned myths and legends to extend her knowledge of repertoire, also bringing it in the classroom for everyone else to learn. As she mentioned in the article, I found the simplest effort, of translating the words on my movement cards into Inuktitut brought such smiles to the faces, that I embarked on a course of not only translating , but adapting my finger plays and songs to the vocabulary and natural geography around me. (Dolloff pg 8). The identity of her teaching and personal really engages with each other during those times in the classroom, allowing more students to learn new things and experience.
So to end of, a quote from Robert Davis' article speaking the truth of music education, education can be a location to foster.... healthy distrust of singularized concepts of cultural identity because it uses the resources of culture to foreground the aporia at the heart of all terrorized constructions of identity, most resolutely those with which it is itself directly implicated, ... " (a2005, P.5)
Bibliography :
Dolloff, L. (2015) A Quallunaaq on Baffin Island: A Canadian experience of decolonizing the teaching. Forthcoming In Bartlett, B.L., Bennett, D., Power, A. & Sunderland, N. (Eds.). Arts-based service learning with First Peoples - Towards respectful and mutually beneficial educational practices. NY: Springer Publishing.
Towards Respectful and mutually Beneficial Educational Practices"
- Lori Anne Dolloff
In Dolloff's article, it explains a lot on sharing musical experiences around the globe and how others have done so too. I found it fascinating how she thought of the idea, to learn and explore as well as helping other experience what they can't there but through people who come visit. Like not only did she planned on doing this but people from years back such as Hannah Breece who's done teaching with the indigenous population has also. I find that it's quite interesting to see people going out of their way to help others learn what they are unable to obtain because of the location barrier. Another astonishing thing that captivated my attention was this woman named "Lady Bountiful", who's wealthy and could do anything she really wanted. Instead she goes out of her way and help the poor as well as trying to develop a desirable civilized state that will bound to lift the people who are in need of this kind of attention. The fact that she spends her life traveling and helping people while she could spending money on herself, friends and family. Her pure heart and mind is what really captivated me as well as the other young women whom had made numerous positive changes in other people's lives. She lived a life of giving and helping the minority but all she did was always gone unacknowledged during that time, though that did not stop her from what she wanted to do. She did because she wanted to, she wanted to help the needed as much as she could, using her wealth, time and care.
While reading the rest of the article, I realized that it really emphasizes in teaching us rather than just speaking and talking to us. Dolloff really teaches us how to improve such as asking questions throughout the text, How might my ideas of appropriate repertoire choices and teaching techniques be acting to re-colonize or "civilize" the groups I'm working in? (Dolloff pg 6). This questions allow us to really think to ourselves what it means to teach and how we can teach in the best way possible; somewhat like a guide.
Dolloff explained that when she went up north to the Arctic she bought lots of arts and crafts, as well as clothing to the kids in Toronto so that they can get an idea of how the children in the Arctic lives and the difference in culture it has between the two. It really helps expose different cultures to young children so that they know what's going around the earth and that there are many other kids who could be less fortunate than the ones in Toronto. It was a very good idea on how Dolloff actually brought stuff back from a different place and even after having done what she wanted to do in the first place, she still asked herself question so that she knows and remembers exactly why she did what she did in the first place and how it helped serve her purpose in doing so. She even learned myths and legends to extend her knowledge of repertoire, also bringing it in the classroom for everyone else to learn. As she mentioned in the article, I found the simplest effort, of translating the words on my movement cards into Inuktitut brought such smiles to the faces, that I embarked on a course of not only translating , but adapting my finger plays and songs to the vocabulary and natural geography around me. (Dolloff pg 8). The identity of her teaching and personal really engages with each other during those times in the classroom, allowing more students to learn new things and experience.
So to end of, a quote from Robert Davis' article speaking the truth of music education, education can be a location to foster.... healthy distrust of singularized concepts of cultural identity because it uses the resources of culture to foreground the aporia at the heart of all terrorized constructions of identity, most resolutely those with which it is itself directly implicated, ... " (a2005, P.5)
Bibliography :
Dolloff, L. (2015) A Quallunaaq on Baffin Island: A Canadian experience of decolonizing the teaching. Forthcoming In Bartlett, B.L., Bennett, D., Power, A. & Sunderland, N. (Eds.). Arts-based service learning with First Peoples - Towards respectful and mutually beneficial educational practices. NY: Springer Publishing.
The Invisible Student: Understating Social Identity Construction within Performing Ensembles Nov 15th, 2015
- Ryan M. Hourigan
I know this is the most awkward way too start off with an article response but I just have to say how much I love how Mr. Hourigan used an example of a student named Jason throughout the article. It really gave me a mental picture and idea to help me read along his text, as if he's giving me little scenarios to help me visualize what he means in his article.
The article pretty much explains what a healthy classroom environment is and steps on how to make everyone feel comfortable where they are and are able to communicate in a healthy everyday environment. What really interested me was the he used the word, "invisible". He used it in a manner where it corresponds to students that have social issues and are unable to communicate in a way to build conversations and such, "... the term invisible students will apply to any student who is challenged socially within our music programs and has become overlooked in our daily classes and rehearsals." (Hourigan pg 35). Hourigan makes a brilliant point of how music is a very interactive and social experience that for many create relationships that last for a life time due to the similar interest of music! I know for myself my music friends all of high school have been the closest and still are even though we're all at different universities pursuing our own dreams and aiming to reach our future career.
He mentions throughout the article ways to help with students like these, that is is our job to assist our students as future mentors, educators and teachers, to create an inclusive social atmosphere so that these "invisible" can feel comfortable where they are and be able to communicate and social with other members and students. "... the longer a teacher waits to provide information and model appropriate social behaviour, the more vulnerable the group is to form a social hierarchy." (Hourigan pg 35). This explains that once groups of students starts to form in "cliques" than it would be more difficult for the "invisible: student to socialize as it was already hard in the beginning. His article really shows me the consequences of a matter and how to prevent it rather than prolong it. He is able to really captivate the attention of the reader in ways they can get a visualization of the situation by his example of Jason.
Hourigan also subdivide his points into little subtitles to create different scenarios which teachers in school will face in a classroom filled with students. He also carefully repeats that it is not solely the teacher's responsibility to shoulder how to care for a student but every staff's. That being a teacher in that kind of situation can call for other staff to help such as other teachers, counsellors and school psychologists. His article really emphasized in what a good environment it is for a student with such a challenge and he carefully writes down all the possible ways to approach such a matter in the safest way as possible.
Ryan Hourigan's article really opened my eyes to see how much teachers and educators have to deal with in a classroom or generally with their students. The way they speak and their actions really reflect on the student, and that we as future teachers should be very careful with how we approach such dilemmas and take more caution and awareness around us (as in students).
I really enjoyed reading this article because it reminded me of Maud Hickey's how she taught step-by-step, rather than just creating a problem and letting yourself think of how to solve it. They both provide us with the solution to the problem and that just makes a article more useful and educational to read!
Bibliography :
Hourigan, R. M. (2009). The invisible student: Understanding social identity construction within performing ensembles. Music Educators Journal, 34-38.
- Ryan M. Hourigan
I know this is the most awkward way too start off with an article response but I just have to say how much I love how Mr. Hourigan used an example of a student named Jason throughout the article. It really gave me a mental picture and idea to help me read along his text, as if he's giving me little scenarios to help me visualize what he means in his article.
The article pretty much explains what a healthy classroom environment is and steps on how to make everyone feel comfortable where they are and are able to communicate in a healthy everyday environment. What really interested me was the he used the word, "invisible". He used it in a manner where it corresponds to students that have social issues and are unable to communicate in a way to build conversations and such, "... the term invisible students will apply to any student who is challenged socially within our music programs and has become overlooked in our daily classes and rehearsals." (Hourigan pg 35). Hourigan makes a brilliant point of how music is a very interactive and social experience that for many create relationships that last for a life time due to the similar interest of music! I know for myself my music friends all of high school have been the closest and still are even though we're all at different universities pursuing our own dreams and aiming to reach our future career.
He mentions throughout the article ways to help with students like these, that is is our job to assist our students as future mentors, educators and teachers, to create an inclusive social atmosphere so that these "invisible" can feel comfortable where they are and be able to communicate and social with other members and students. "... the longer a teacher waits to provide information and model appropriate social behaviour, the more vulnerable the group is to form a social hierarchy." (Hourigan pg 35). This explains that once groups of students starts to form in "cliques" than it would be more difficult for the "invisible: student to socialize as it was already hard in the beginning. His article really shows me the consequences of a matter and how to prevent it rather than prolong it. He is able to really captivate the attention of the reader in ways they can get a visualization of the situation by his example of Jason.
Hourigan also subdivide his points into little subtitles to create different scenarios which teachers in school will face in a classroom filled with students. He also carefully repeats that it is not solely the teacher's responsibility to shoulder how to care for a student but every staff's. That being a teacher in that kind of situation can call for other staff to help such as other teachers, counsellors and school psychologists. His article really emphasized in what a good environment it is for a student with such a challenge and he carefully writes down all the possible ways to approach such a matter in the safest way as possible.
Ryan Hourigan's article really opened my eyes to see how much teachers and educators have to deal with in a classroom or generally with their students. The way they speak and their actions really reflect on the student, and that we as future teachers should be very careful with how we approach such dilemmas and take more caution and awareness around us (as in students).
I really enjoyed reading this article because it reminded me of Maud Hickey's how she taught step-by-step, rather than just creating a problem and letting yourself think of how to solve it. They both provide us with the solution to the problem and that just makes a article more useful and educational to read!
Bibliography :
Hourigan, R. M. (2009). The invisible student: Understanding social identity construction within performing ensembles. Music Educators Journal, 34-38.
Think Everything's "Normal?" Then It's Time to Reconsider And Promote A New Narrative Of Disability Nov 15th, 2015
- Drew Serres
"Ableism is the idea that what a person can achieve or their ability to live a fulfilling life is determined by their disability." (Serres pg 1). That definition of ableism has such a deep meaning to the point where it is so true. Society looks at disabled people as if they're all in pain and suffering, but in reality everyone's different and not all disable people would be in suffering. This article pinpoints a lot of facts that are indeed reality, which comes to the conclusion of frustration. The reality of how people now-a-days think is just very concerning and could turn out very negative in the future, especially when Serres mention parents, pictures and their disabled child, "Parents or staff will often setup photos so that they hide the wheelchair and, thus, makes the kid seem 'normal.' It seems to me that this is clearly about making everyone else more comfortable, not to make the student feel more included." (Serres pg 1). In actuality, parents do, do that and what comes out of it is the feeling of the child feeling "different", with the fact that he has to "blend" in with the other kids just to fit in when in reality he doesn't need to, he can be himself. The ways of unintentional manipulation shown through parents, teachers, staff and peers just causes the disable child to become something he/she doesn't want to be. Instead of trying to hide it, they should embrace it and let the child decide what he/she wants.
Another topic that frustrated me was the U.S. society forcing the Deaf to communicate normally instead of learning sign language, honestly that is just cruel! How can other people just come by and force someone to do something they have trouble with and just jump to the conclusion that it's easy. I mean like, they wouldn't be learning sign language if they could hear right? It just really outrageous to see how people think that just because you're disable you have to do everything differently, which absolutely is not true! We're all human and we can do what other people can if we just set our minds to it! Not only that but somehow in the history of humanity, we as people believe that anyone who doesn't fit in needs to be fixed. People are not broken toy that needs to be fix, especially when they're only disabled. I'm sure if a person is cripple, he/she might want to walk again and thats fine, but to assume that since they're somewhat different and that assumes that they need to be changed and be normal like the rest of society is just a "no-go". I personally find that society itself needs to be fixed!
Everything that Drew Serres has described in his article makes absolute sense and I personally agree with him on how the world perceives the obsession with being normal and if you're not than something is wrong and you need to be fixed. His ideas of how to prevent these events and dilemmas are well portrayed throughout and I think that everyone should read this article because it really opens your eyes on how deep and important this topic is.
Bibliography :
Serres, D. Think Everything's "Normal?" Then It's Time to Reconsider And Promote A New Narrative Of Disability. Retrieved from http://organizingchange.org/think-everythings-normal-than-its-time-to-reconsider-and-promote-a-new-narrative-of-disability/
- Drew Serres
"Ableism is the idea that what a person can achieve or their ability to live a fulfilling life is determined by their disability." (Serres pg 1). That definition of ableism has such a deep meaning to the point where it is so true. Society looks at disabled people as if they're all in pain and suffering, but in reality everyone's different and not all disable people would be in suffering. This article pinpoints a lot of facts that are indeed reality, which comes to the conclusion of frustration. The reality of how people now-a-days think is just very concerning and could turn out very negative in the future, especially when Serres mention parents, pictures and their disabled child, "Parents or staff will often setup photos so that they hide the wheelchair and, thus, makes the kid seem 'normal.' It seems to me that this is clearly about making everyone else more comfortable, not to make the student feel more included." (Serres pg 1). In actuality, parents do, do that and what comes out of it is the feeling of the child feeling "different", with the fact that he has to "blend" in with the other kids just to fit in when in reality he doesn't need to, he can be himself. The ways of unintentional manipulation shown through parents, teachers, staff and peers just causes the disable child to become something he/she doesn't want to be. Instead of trying to hide it, they should embrace it and let the child decide what he/she wants.
Another topic that frustrated me was the U.S. society forcing the Deaf to communicate normally instead of learning sign language, honestly that is just cruel! How can other people just come by and force someone to do something they have trouble with and just jump to the conclusion that it's easy. I mean like, they wouldn't be learning sign language if they could hear right? It just really outrageous to see how people think that just because you're disable you have to do everything differently, which absolutely is not true! We're all human and we can do what other people can if we just set our minds to it! Not only that but somehow in the history of humanity, we as people believe that anyone who doesn't fit in needs to be fixed. People are not broken toy that needs to be fix, especially when they're only disabled. I'm sure if a person is cripple, he/she might want to walk again and thats fine, but to assume that since they're somewhat different and that assumes that they need to be changed and be normal like the rest of society is just a "no-go". I personally find that society itself needs to be fixed!
Everything that Drew Serres has described in his article makes absolute sense and I personally agree with him on how the world perceives the obsession with being normal and if you're not than something is wrong and you need to be fixed. His ideas of how to prevent these events and dilemmas are well portrayed throughout and I think that everyone should read this article because it really opens your eyes on how deep and important this topic is.
Bibliography :
Serres, D. Think Everything's "Normal?" Then It's Time to Reconsider And Promote A New Narrative Of Disability. Retrieved from http://organizingchange.org/think-everythings-normal-than-its-time-to-reconsider-and-promote-a-new-narrative-of-disability/