Lindsay Orlowski

            For me, thoughtful, mindful, and musical teaching and learning consists of constant questioning of beliefs with relation to practice, along with a willingness to evoke change. Music education is so deeply rooted in long-standing tradition, and as a human race, we almost always associate long-standing tradition with superiority and legitimateness. We convince ourselves that if things have been the same way for such a long period of time, then there must be a reason for that and we must be doing something right. However, the danger with this mindset is that it can allow us to accept the unacceptable due to a lack of questioning and interrogation. In music education, we see this through the glorification of Western classical music by portraying and treating it as being the most superior and legitimate form of music. We may not even realize that we possess this belief, because the music education system is set up in a way where this doesn’t have to be said at all. The superior view of Western classical music is perpetuated mainly through the sole (or at least majority) use of Western classical music in the classroom, the use of its standards to dictate what we teach students to perceive as “pretty” or “nice” sounds, as well as the seemingly compelling need to compare any other musical styles or ways of teaching with Western classical music, to name a few. But why is this the way things are? That question is exactly what I believe needs to be constantly asked by oneself, in all aspects of music education, in order to promote thoughtful, mindful, and musical teaching and learning in the classroom. However, this process of questioning and interrogating will be of no purpose if we are not willing to then take the next step of evoking change.

            The way I plan on challenging this system that prioritizes all aspects of Western classical music, is by exposing my students to as much music as the world has to offer. Now, this of course sounds like quite a daunting task, and it is, but it simply needs to be approached with the understanding that this is a never-ending goal that I would be constantly chipping away at – there is no end result. It would accumulate throughout each lesson, each unit, each semester, and each year of elementary school, and it would be constantly changing as I continue to educate myself on all the incredible things the world of music education has to offer. Now, when I talk about exposing students to as much music as possible, this encompasses several different things. Firstly, I would want to incorporate music from various different cultures and places in the world into my classroom, but whilst constantly being aware of avoiding the idea of “vacation culture.” Musics from around the world are not boxes to be checked off, and should not be stereotyped or romanticized. I secondly want to expose my students to many different ways of teaching music, such as through the use of Kodàly methods, notation-based teaching, informal pedagogy, and through the use of technology, for example. I believe that there is no one specific way of teaching music that will suit every single student. Each child has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning, and as an educator, I believe it is important to make sure that I am diverse in my delivery methods so that the needs of each student can be fulfilled. This includes taking into consideration both disability in the classroom, as well as the differing exposure children have to music outside of school.

            Overall, I want my career of music education to consist of constant improvement, both in my own practices, as well as in the system of music education as a whole. The only way to do this is to think deeply about the systems that are already in place in addition to the beliefs I currently possess, and to be willing to challenge both.