I have been enrolled in the 1800B Introduction to Music Education class for about a month now. I took the class with somewhat of a blind eye. I can now honestly say that I am glad I took this class. I know that I want to, one day, become a music educator. For this reason, I believe that taking this course will be beneficial to me. In one month, this course has immensely widened my perception of the purpose of education. I have confronted and questioned many of my personal beliefs regarding education. I feel as though I have acquired many additional teaching styles that I can hopefully incorporate in my own teaching methods with my own students in the future.
I appreciate the in class peer discussions because it gives every individual the opportunity to state their own opinion(s) without feeling uncomfortable or judged. Some students may not enjoy classroom participation, which is why peer discussions are positive substitutions for this. This is one example of a teaching style that I hope to employ when I become an educator.
I believe that I have become more open minded regarding, not only the purpose of education, but the many differences obtained by mindful and not-so-mindful educators that I had not come to realize before. By taking this course, I feel as though my perception of learning has also vastly been altered. The idea that the student is like a seed, that the learning process is the soil, fertilizer, water, and sunlight, and that the product is the plant, is a wonderful and positive outlook on education. This idea addresses that different students require various learning styles in order to become their best self. In the end, we all have different personal goals that we wish to achieve. Although how we reach our own goals may differ from others, what is most important is that we do not give up on these goals, always strive for improvement, and never fear of making a mistake.
Furthermore, I greatly appreciate that in this learning environment, there are no “right” or “wrong” answers. This creates an environment where the student is not afraid to speak up and state their opinion(s); an environment where everyone can feel comfortable with one another. I believe that this is an extremely important aspect of education. If a student does not feel comfortable in the classroom, there will to learn will diminish. Creating a positive learning environment allows the student to express themselves and encourages creativity.
Finally, I often take the time to recapitulate what I have learned in the course. I constantly find myself applying the knowledge I have acquired from the course to my own educators. I think about their teaching styles and what I like and dislike about them. From this kind of analyzing, I can easily create a personal teaching philosophy of what I consider to be mindful teaching.