Teacher and Student Perspectives
Comparing the Interviews
I found interviewing students and teachers separately on the the impact music has on their lives to be extremely interesting. What I found even more interesting however, was comparing the two results. I discovered that there were many points of intersection between the two sets of data, as well as gaps, as there were many instances were they did not align.
Firstly, I am going to discuss the points of intersection between the two sets of data. One similarity that both Mrs Grant and two students had was that there are problems with the current curriculum for music classes in high school. This is what Nelie said, “Less teacher based and more student voicing. So, with more students voices being heard, I feel like there would be a lot more room for creativity within the students and it would be a lot more enjoyable for them.” This is what Sophi said, “I think if the class was more inquiry based versus like having a strict routine because not everyone likes the same type of music, not everyone likes classical, or jazz, or Broadway even. Some people like pop and some people like R&B, so I think if it was more inquiry based, you can achieve more.” This is similar to what Mrs Grant said as she stated that the curriculum does not reflect what the students want to learn. She said, “I think that if the curriculum was more flexible and had room for students to direct their learning more than students would be compelled to take music classes.” I found it interesting that in both my teacher and two of my students interviews, the concept of letting students direct their learning more and having more creativity in the classroom came up. Another similarity between Mrs Grant and Nelie and Sophi that I discovered throughout my interviews, were the music related activities that they were involved in. Both were very active in the music and drama departments throughout high school, taking part in things such as choirs, musicals, and music classes. I think that because they were both so active in music related activities, it is why they share a similar view on the problems with current music education and how it can be improved in high school. Mrs. Grant mentioned in her interview that students are choosing to take other courses such as math and science in high school instead of taking music classes. This coincides with my interview with Willie as he said that he never took a single music class in high school. He always found something else to take and even chose to take drama instead of music to fulfill the arts credit requirement. He just had no interest to take any music class which Mrs Grant states is a problem with current music education, as students just aren’t interested in enrolling.
There were many instances were the students and teacher interviews did not align. The first being the impact teachers had on their lives. Mrs.Grant said that it was her music teacher that made her realize how much she loved music and it was her music teacher that helped her to realize that music was what she wanted to do after high school. This largely contrasts the relationship Nelie had with her teacher in high school. Nelie states that one reason why she chose to not pursue musical theatre post secondary was because the theatre program at her school had poor direction from the teachers and became a chore for her. She states, “I just felt uninspired by the teachers.” I found it very interesting and also sad that such a negative experience with her music teacher impacted her to decide not to pursue music whereas Mrs. Grant was so greatly inspired by her music teacher and that pushed her to pursue music post secondary. After these interviews, I realized that the impact a teacher has on a student is huge. They can either inspire a student and help them to realize their passions like what had happened with Mrs.Grant, or they can completely destroy them as what Nelie experienced. Hearing both stories just really reiterated how influential a teacher can be on a students life and how is it extremely important that we teach in a way that engages all types of learners as it is obvious that Nelie does not respond to a more structured and traditional way of teaching like Mrs Grant needed in high school. Another thing that did not align was that while Mrs Grant believes the music program at Westmount Secondary to be very self directed by students and with lots of room for creativity, both Nelie and Sophi thought the complete opposite. It is important to note that both Nelie and Sophi were students at Westmount and had classes with Mrs.Grant. I found this very interesting because I was also a student at this school and had many music classes such as vocals with Mrs. Grant and Nelie and Sophi. I agree with Mrs.Grant. I thought the self paced program is very much focused on students directing their own learning. We were always allowed to propose new project ideas and substitute other things for certain units and were always encouraged to be creative in her classroom. I found it very interesting to hear from Sophi in particular because she said she wanted a more inquiry based structure and a less strict one and in my opinion, we had that in the classroom. Likewise, I found it interesting that Nellie said the teachers were uninspiring because Mrs Grant was a very influential teacher in my life and is definitely one of the reasons for why I am studying music and who I am today. It was just extremely interesting to see how someone could have a completely different experience that I had and be in the exact same class and program. It goes back to the fact that every student is different and learns in a different way. While I thought the program had the right amount of self direction and creativity while still having some structure, obviously others thought it needed to have more room for creativity. While I responded to Mrs.Grant’s teaching style, it is obvious that others did not.
To conclude, in both my student and teacher interviews, it was stated that music education currently has some issues with the way it is structured. Similarly, my teacher and students are in agreeance that it needs to offer more opportunities for creativity and for students to direct their own learning. The interviews did not align when discussing the impact of music teachers on their lives. While Mrs grant had a very positive experience with her teacher, Nelie had a very negative one. Both experiences with their teachers affected whether or not they would pursue music post secondary. Also, while Mrs. Grant believes her classroom to be a space that encourages creativity and self direction, some of her students thought the complete opposite and did not enjoy her classes. Overall, I found the results of the interviews to be very intriguing as it was extremely interesting how students could have such different experiences being in the exact same class and program! It was also very interesting to hear from Willie as he is not and has not ever been involved in anything related to music. It made me realize that everyone is different and while some thrive in an experiment, some are discouraged. This will make me think critically about teaching moving forward and really make me think about how I can teach in a way that will engage all types of learners.
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