Avery Burns

May 5, 2021
Music Education Philosophy Statement

Personally and professionally, I aim to positively impact the lives of as many people as
possible by using my unique strengths and skills. Fortunately, education is a field where you can
influence the individual lives of countless students and therefore also play a part in shaping your
greater society and community. The purpose of education is to help students develop a holistic
understanding of their society and community, and their identities within those spaces.
Therefore, schooling is not exclusively about learning content and culture; it is also about
constructing self-image through a variety of meaningful experiences. While learning the
technical aspects of music is incredibly valuable to students, the opportunity to learn about self-
expression, emotional intelligence, and making connections between their personal and academic
lives through music is similarly invaluable. The many opportunities for students to grow
academically and personally through education, and specifically music, is what inspires me to be
a music educator.

Though core classes focus on personal ability, singing is a function of the human body;
each student’s voice is unique to them and is therefore a direct form of self-expression. Music
communicates the human experience through sound, making it innately more personal than most
core subjects, but choral music in particular conveys the human experience by combining text
with music elements that are performed by human voices. While choir teachers do not have to
convince their students that singing is personal, they do have to teach their students how to use
musical skills and techniques to achieve expression as a group through singing. This pairs the
importance of a technical side of musicianship with a greater personal motivator for students.
The goal is best stated in the WMEA Standard, “Highlight how music interacts with the affective
domain, such as feelings, values, opinions, wishes, personal awareness, or character.”
(MU:Cn10.1.H.IIIb-WI) They will not only learn musical skills and learning habits that will help
them through their academic studies, but they will also learn how to relate more personally to
their academic work, and how to comfortably express themselves and process emotion. Very few
other subjects focus on the direct intersection of academia and emotion to the same extent that
choral music does, and that is what separates music from other content areas.
 My motivation for teaching is greater than myself—it is instead rooted in the growth,
knowledge, and success of my students. I have a passion for music education because of its
unique abilities to assist in personal and academic growth for my students, and that passion is a
large part of what will make me an effective music educator. My classroom will be a safe,
inclusive, and productive space that will allow students to feel comfortable making mistakes and
therefore encouraged to learn in the way that is best for them. My philosophy on classroom
environment relates closely to Wisconsin Teacher Standard #3 - Learning Environments: “The
teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative
learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-
motivation.” Part of creating a safe space is allowing students to feel free in their creative
expression but also to have set expectations and boundaries in place to give students a flexible
but present structure. Though nothing will hold them back from their exploration, having
guidelines and professional boundaries in place will be essential to making students feel
supported and safe in their exploration.

In summary, music is a wonderfully powerful art form, and I cannot wait to share it and
its many benefits my future students.