Philosophy

of
Education
Music 512

Mr. Ben Rajewski

 Philosophy of Music Education

Ben Rajewski

In today’s world, many people are questioning why we have the formal education system we do

have. The system used now is surely outdated; formed during the industrial revolution and modeled

after the idea of using rigid structure and bells to teach students how to live in a factory-like

environment. The idea of having a teacher, the one in the class who knows all, and having that teacher

lecture to a room of students, so those students can be tested on what they retained, seems outdated

as well. I think that while some aspects are outdated, the problem is not with the structure necessarily,

but in the delivery. I believe we need education to help our students not only become well rounded in

core subjects and have an overall better understanding of the world, but also to help them discover

their passions and find the things in their life that make it great.

In my philosophy of music education, and education in general, what I value the most is

ensuring students are given a strong foundation in music fundamentals and understand the components

of artistic performance while finding a passion for music that continues to impact their life after

schooling is complete. I think it is very important that my students will have solid fundamentals that will

allow them to aspire to whatever goals they have in music, and be able to perform to the standards that

I push them to. I also think that if they can properly understand artistic performance, they will have a

better appreciation for the arts, as well as gaining skills from that understanding that will help them be

better in other aspects of life as well. Lastly, the main goal is to create life-long musicians, in whatever

form of music they wish to pursue or enjoy.

In my teaching of music, we need to examine exactly what is the music I am teaching. I believe

that music is the expression of emotion through the medium of produced sounds together that

accurately portray those emotions. While there are more technical definitions, I truly believe that all
music is emotion driven in one way or another, and that is the most important thing I am teaching in my

classroom. Everyone has emotions, and everyone needs an outlet for it and that is why I think every

student needs a form of music education. It doesn’t have to be in an ensemble setting, it can be through

music technology, music history, or even just understanding what music on the radio means and why it

was made. Even is a student can’t accurately express their feelings through an instrument, everyone

understands how a song makes them feel when they are singing in the car, or listening on a rainy day.

While I am a music teacher, I think the teaching needs to be a co-operative creative process between

the students and the teachers. In saying that, I think we can describe music education as a co-operative

creative process between a teacher and students, to become better musicians and learn better

understandings of why we have music and what it means to us, while also learning how to create music,

both technically and emotionally. I think the reason we need this is and the place it holds in our

education system, is that we learn so many other things about the world in our other core subjects, but

music can teach the aforementioned things, as well as life skills, people skills, and so much more that we

do not learn in other classes. I think it is integral to give students a well-rounded education and we

cannot do that without music.

In the classroom, we also need to make sure we hold students to a high standard of academics.

Even though I talk a lot about music education in the way it affects us, we still need to make sure we are

assessing and teaching students in a way that makes sure the music education is the best possible. This

involves creating a safe environment for students that is student centered, and shows a respect for all

students and understanding of our differences and how those differences help make each of us great in

our own ways. I want to emphasize a positivity based structure in my class room, as I believe students

learn better through positivity rather than negativity and putting down when the desired outcomes are

not achieved. This is achieved by me leading this, as well as me presenting and leading with

professionalism in the classroom and holding myself to the highest standard possible.
 My philosophy of music education is ensuring students are given a strong foundation in music

fundamentals and understand the components of artistic performance while finding a passion for music

that continues to impact their life after schooling is complete. Through a safe and positive classroom

lead by my professionalism and high standards, this philosophy can be well implemented and executed

to help my students become lifelong musicians and well rounded students.