Breakthrough

I believe in the power of education. I believe that every student can do anything they put their mind too. I believe that students learn best when the content is special, relevant, and accessible to them.

I’ve spent the past year forming my first round of teaching philosophies, and I’ve finally created something I’m proud of. My philosophy has been born out of a passion for educational equity and a desire to learn to explore music in different ways.

First, educational equity.

Often as a child, labels and stereotypes are forced upon you that you’d rather not have. And eventually, everyone can only see you through the lens of those labels and stereotypes to the point that they start to become part of your identity. And at that point these labels are so normal that you forgot you ever existed without them in the first place.

And these “label makers” don’t necessarily have ill intentions, they are just justifying your differences as a means to an end. Shy, quiet, sensitive, awkward—these labels have stuck with me. And I can still recall specific memories of having those labels forced upon me. In the time since, I have learned to embrace myself for who I have grown up to become, but I understand that I am extremely privileged and that I have things off pretty easy compared to most people in our world.

We can all relate to labels to some extent, but there are many people who have much more difficult battles to fight in this world of labels. To potentially have your life prospects determined by the situations you were born into, by where you live, by the reputation of your family, by what you look like—it’s simply not fair. And it has never been fair.

And this lack of justice irks me to my core.

Hence why I’ve grown increasingly passionate about education. Not just education, but QUALITY education for every child, regardless of circumstances. I recognize that so many of our students are under-served, and I am striving to actively do something about this issue.

I can’t do much as an individual, but as a team—now that’s a step in the right direction. And I am so excited to join forces with the Breakthrough Collaborative. Breakthrough is an organization that aims to effect positive change in urban schools and offers high-potential, under-served middle schoolers the opportunity to participate in rigorous academic enrichment programs. All Breakthrough classes are taught by high-school and college students from around the country who are interested in pursuing a career in education. This summer, I will be a teaching fellow with Breakthrough Houston! I am beyond thrilled to spend my summer lesson planning and teaching, as nerdy as that sounds.

But there is another “team” I am part of that’s worth mentioning—the music education community. And that brings me to my second point—learning to explore music in different ways.

Music is such a special thing to share with students. Not to mention that music is one of the only subjects to cover all five developmental domains—cognitive, communication, physical, sensory, and emotional. Music gets students’ brains working, and it provides them a way to express themselves. On top of all the benefits of studying music, music is an integral part of society, so shouldn’t music also be an integral part of school curriculum?

But if music is so important to everyone, why does it sometimes appear to be unimportant in school curriculum? Music educators tend to point their fingers at others, and the finger-pointing is justified to an extent, but it’s important to point our fingers back at ourselves. We must ask ourselves—how can we make music special, relevant, and accessible to our students?

And the more I’ve thought about this question, the more passionate I’ve become as regards learning to explore music in different ways with my students. My childhood music education consisted of a performance-based curriculum. I learned a lot and had fun, but my personal musicianship did not extend far into the realms of composition and improvising.

In fact, I got to the point where I told myself I couldn’t compose and improvise. I wish I learned to explore music in these ways at an earlier age, but I am glad to be learning now.

After all, music is so much more than an art of performing—music is an art of creating. And what better way to explore the art of creating music than by writing it?

Composition sounds very daunting, but I want to normalize utilizing composition in our music classrooms. To me, composition is as simple as finding a way to physically write out the music you created. This definition transcends standard notation and even includes song writing. The possibilities are endless!

The notion of composition excites me because it seems like the perfect answer to my teaching philosophy. Imagine—students actively engaged in music by writing and creating their own music—that’s sure not an instrument case that will collect dust after they graduate.

Writing music is special—it’s a way to express yourself in a way mere words cannot. Writing music is relevant—it’s what all the big stars in the music industry live to do! And writing music is accessible—no musical background necessary! And being able to write music likely means seeing a reflection of the music the students enjoy. A lot of the “standard repertoire” found in music classrooms is based on western classical music traditions, and many students feel a disconnect to the world of classical music.

See how exciting?? Okay, so maybe you’re not as much of a music ed nerd as I am, but hopefully after reading this you have been able to see the importance of education AND arts education to my life. And hopefully I have inspired you to think about the importance of education and the arts to our society. Keep an eye on the Breakthrough Collaborative, and keep your ears open for some future research I will be conducting on the value of composition in the music classroom.

Can’t wait to share with you!

Maggie