Ato Noel

February 12, 2014

Principle of Music Education

From what I gather from the text I already assumed that teaching in general is nowhere close to
being an easy profession, but the more I read the more the author strips away any assumptions about
teaching. It seems as if the William Ayers is telling the reader how unglamorous teaching is, with the
extremely low pay, and how much time and preparation it goes into molding your students, and also
how flexible your teaching methods have to be. I did not know how much thought and effort that goes
into changing your style or approach per student. The author made it very clear that every child is
different with their own background, so it is essential that you as a teacher know how to cater to each
individual child. As I read more into the book I reach the section where the authors sheds light on how
there a lot of teachers in the profession who dont respect it. I know firsthand teachers who dont
respect their job and it is very evident in the way they teach and how they interact towards their
students. This makes me wonder about the Music Educators who do not respect themselves enough to
respect their profession, and how they are doing a disservice to their students. A lot of the assumptions I
had about Music Education or just teaching in general regarding how a teacher should operate was
dispelled by the list of Myths. Obviously there were some that I was quickly able to identify as myths,
however there was one myth that I actually thought was an essential step for any teacher. Good
classroom management is an essential first step toward becoming a good teacher I thought It was
necessary to show who is in controlling the classroom but what the author says is that working with a
large body of students is something that takes experience, and patience and to fully connect with your
students establishing yourself as the hardened teacher is not the proper approach to running a
classroom.