Teaching Philosophy

Music is a core component of the human experience, having existed as part of every human culture since the beginning of the species. Through music, we express emotional and affective information that verbal language doesn’t capture. Through music, we regulate our emotions and the emotions of others to find catharsis and create functional group dynamics. Through music, we form and explore identities to create close-knit societies and intercultural understanding. Musical thinking is deeply rooted in the human brain, and engaging with music activates many areas in the brain in a neural concert of staggering complexity; this is why music is so mentally challenging and satisfying and creates a state of flow.

As a music educator, I have the honor of showing my students the power that music has and training them to become informed and intelligent consumers and producers of music. I will act as instructor, coach, mentor, advisor, and Vygotskian more-knowledgeable-other for my students, guiding their exploration of music and helping them to refine their listening, analysis, and performance skills. I will engage with my students’ prior musical lives, help them to see connections between all forms of music, and help them to broaden their tastes and refine their musical identities. In my classroom, behaviorist, cognitivist, and humanist perspectives will be combined to reach students as whole human beings and provide a quality education in a supportive learning environment. I will strive to be the leader in creating a culture of inquiry and exploration where students become lifelong musicians and learners, unafraid to take risks and support one another.

Free, equitable, and publicly supported schools are essential to the formation of a well-educated populace and functioning democratic society. In this context, I have an ethical responsibility to provide a free and appropriate public education for any student who enters my classroom. No student should be excluded or left behind because of financial concerns, physical disabilities, or learning differences. Schools should be centers of community life, and music and other arts programs should be engaging and public-facing facets of the school district. Parents, faculty and staff, and community members should be engaged with the work taking place in my program. Community outreach through performances both inside and outside the schools is a key part of that engagement.

Music is vital. Music can bring us together and help us to understand ourselves and each other. I will work to pass this gift of music on to future generations, for the sake of creating more compassionate and reflective people and a more empathetic and peaceful world.

(Taken from an essay written as part of my Master's Degree program in 2020. For a more detailed and comprehensive version, you can read the entire paper.)