Interview with a Music Educator

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In music education, so much can be learned from experienced music teachers. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview a middle school music educator of thirty-four years. I asked several questions on many different topics, from why she became a music teacher to how she currently plans her lessons. Some of her responses were very surprising; I expected her answer to be the complete opposite of what she actually said. Other responses were not as unexpected and I was able to know what she was going to say before she even said it. In this way, I was able to gain a completely new perspective of music education through the eyes of an experienced teacher. Her answers uncovered issues that I had never thought about before and helped me to better understand her profession.

My first questions were all related to her experiences in college. First, I asked about why she chose music education as a major and who inspired her to do so. As I had guessed, the most influential person in her decision was her high school choir director. She said that she enjoyed her time with him so much that she wanted to have the opportunity to give other students that same musical experience. When she moved on to college, she considered no other majors and knew immediately that she wanted to major in music education. In order to stay focused on her goal, she concentrated on her love of music and her strong desire to interest children in music. Finally, I asked her to explain how her view of music education in college was different from what it is today. Her response to this was that she has learned that it is not enough to just love music. While that is very important, she feels that a music educator must also enjoy teaching, not just performing, and love working with children.

After learning more about her college experiences, I began to ask some questions about her first job as a music teacher. As a beginning teacher, her biggest challenge was classroom management. She said that none of the classes she took in college truly prepared her for the discipline that is involved in teaching and that only experience really taught her what she needed to know. I then asked her what she felt her strong and weak points were as a beginning teacher. She responded that her strong points were her knowledge of sight reading and her ability to play piano, and her weak area was discipline. To overcome her weakness, she took more college courses that related to discipline and worked to learn more from other teachers.

At this point in the interview, I had learned a little about her past and started asking some questions about her present job working with middle school students. I most wanted to know what she liked and disliked about the profession. She told me her favorite aspect of teaching music is the fact that she can be the most significant influence in how a child views different types of music. Then, she explained that one of the main challenges of her job is dealing with the politics involved within the staff and administration. Next, I asked her to tell me about how she planned for her lessons. Generally, she spends two or three hours each day preparing for the next day’s lesson. When a special event is approaching, such as a concert or adjudicated event, much more preparation time is required. Her lesson plans are not detailed day-to-day plans, but guides to help her reach long-term goals with her classes. The school system she works in has an established course of study, which she helped to develop, and she adapts it to fit her needs and style of teaching. In her lesson plan, she mostly focuses on rhythm, pitch matching, singing in harmony, and basic choral skills.

In addition questions about preparation outside of class, I had several questions about what goes on inside of her classroom. In her class, grades are based heavily on daily participation; she believes that the students who put forth their best efforts deserve the best grades. Besides daily participation, the students are also required to take two singing tests and a few small written quizzes each grading period. She has found that her most effective method of teaching is communicating one-on-one with her students and their parents. Parent-teacher conferences are held frequently throughout the year to keep parents updated on their child’s progress and to help her learn how she can better meet her students’ needs. To her, unsuccessful teaching methods include anything that will bring negative elements into the classroom. Another topic I brought up was her experiences with special education students. Over the years, she has had several multi-handicapped students in her classes. In order to help them get the most out of her class, she worked closely with their special education teachers to develop a plan of involvement that fit their needs. She also mentioned that she has taught a few students who spoke very little English upon entering her class. Although communication was difficult at first, she was rewarded when they were able to use choral music to improve their English. She said that these students often turned out to be some of her best students.

Because it is so important to keep students interested in a music program in order to help the program grow, I asked about how she managed to hold the students’ interest in her classes. Her students are involved in a special project each year that they work with her, such as a mini-musical, a trip, or a community performance. She thinks that giving students the opportunity to perform something they have worked hard to learn is very rewarding and keeps them interested in her program. One of her main goals for herself is to keep students interested in music even after they leave her classes and move into other areas of life. During the three years her students are in her classes, she encourages them to take part in a variety of different musical experiences. She believes that these experiences generate positive thoughts about the arts and inspire students to make music a part of their lives. Even if her students do not continue in music after they leave her class, she hopes that they will apply the creativity and discipline the have gained in her class to other aspects of their lives.

To end the interview, I asked her to explain the ways in which experience has helped her to become a better teacher. Her response was that the more she teaches, the more she learns about dealing with students. She also feels that her experience with her own children has changed the way she looks at her students. Being a mother has taught her different methods of communication with children, as well as what a child goes through at different stages of life. As a result, she understands her students better and realizes that she must take time to learn something about their personal lives, as well their musical skills. Having her own children has also given her a new perspective and given her the ability to help her students overcome many obstacles in their lives. Finally, I asked her what advice she would give current music majors, based on her own experience, to help them be more successful. She felt that observing many different teachers and students was very important in developing a successful teaching style. Then, she explained that understanding the basics of teaching music is important, but not any more important than understanding the needs of students. She said that successful teaching is always increased by taking the time to understand students.

Overall, I feel that taking the time to interview a successful music teacher was very beneficial. She opened my eyes to topics I never knew were involved in teaching music and took me one step closer to seeing what music education is actually about. Her answers have helped me to form my own opinions on many different aspects of teaching, as well as given me basic knowledge in areas I previously knew nothing about. I agree with much of what she said and her responses inspired me to work to become a successful music teacher in the future.

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