Categorieën: Alle - innovation - responsibilities - engagement - challenges

door Liam Comerford 4 jaren geleden

238

Early Career Challenges in Teaching Music

In the early stages of a music teaching career, educators often face numerous challenges and responsibilities. Balancing the variety of students' musical abilities is critical, requiring strategies to engage beginners, intermediates, and experts effectively.

Early Career Challenges in Teaching Music

Early Career Challenges in Teaching Music

Knowledge and Responsibilities

Have never had to run a Music program myself
3rd Music teacher in the school, with all needs covered by current, experienced teachers

Understanding budget, purchasing and organising program taken care of/ not openly shared with me

Limited opportunities to run ensembles (other teachers run all ensembles)

LTO coverage for a semester

Little responsibility to organise trips, competitions, or costs with budget

Only worried about running the classes

Student Voice and Choice

Bringing Student choice into pieces learned and performed
Struggles:

Working on and Learning Parts

Lack of focus or desire to work on music if it isn't their part/ they don't have the melody

How Do I Make Learning Ensembleship Engaging??

Students only want to sing the songs they know and like - Nothing in a language that isn't English - Nothing that is 'old fashioned'

Positive Experience:

Students designed 4-chord Vocal Mash-up and performed at Spring Concert

- Student driven - Authentic learning - Different from standard choral pieces

Innovation vs. Necessary Constants

Other
Real World Experts

Cost and Timing

Support and Funding from Admin

- Is there money in the budget? - Can the school help pay for this? - If I'm out of options, is how viable is paying them under the table?

Booking them can be difficult - Your schedule vs. Theirs

Amazing opportunity for authentic, real world leaning

Establishes strong connections with community leaders and artists

Can be from a variety of topics that will engage beyond 'Band' or 'Choir'

Rock Band and Guitar

Funding and School Support

Conflicts with other Arts Courses - Why does Music seem to get the short straw when it comes to new and innovative courses/ opportunities?

Support and Advertising for courses

Battle for funds to create program

Provides a different, more ear and trial and error based learning environment

Engages the not-usual 'Band' kids

Instrumental
Classic band learning

Balance of Instruments: - Strong chance of having little to no low brass - Lots of Saxes, but no one wants to play Tenor or Bari - Electric Basses, how many is too many?

Issues with Percussion: - Do I delay having ANYONE play percussion? - How do I keep percussion engaged when learning parts? - Can I get everyone to learn both Wind Instrument skills AND Percussion skills?

COVID-19 and Online Teaching

Instrumental... Online?
Access to Technology

My board provides Chromebooks to students BUT

Chromebooks are limited in what they can do

Ensemble Playing

Other colleagues in other boars have had their students record parts and edit it together to create a full performance

My Issue - I don't have the editing skills to put this together - I likely will not have the time to put consistent mass ensemble videos often

Equity issue again - Access to recording tech - Space to practice and record

Sharing resources - Copyright issue? - What I have access to share (not all instruments) - Not all resources I currently have are beginner student friendly

Dedicated time for students to get one-on-one teaching

Issue of Equity: - Not all students have instruments - Not all students can afford to rent instruments - Schools do not have enough instruments to lend all students

Balance of Abilities

Students come in with WIDE variety of musical abilities
The Kids in Between:

How do I make sure that they are not underwhelmed by Beginner stuff, and overwhelmed by Expert stuff?

How do I engage them to grow on the abilities they have begun to build?

The Beginners:

How can I get them up to a solid base of ability as quickly and meaningfully as possible without rushing them?

The Experts:

How do I keep them engaged and challenged when helping to bring up new and beginning students?

Opportunity to Teach

Availability of Music Sections
Continuing to Develop when Not Teaching Music

Outside of School PD

Issue Here - Financing - Most likely my own $$ - Can't interfere with School Schedule - Distance and Time

OMEA & Other Conferences

Cambrian College Conducting Symposium

UofT Conducting Symposium

Limited Permanent Music Sections

Feeling like I am stagnating in teaching ability when not teaching music

Limited opportunity to establish roots in a school and program