Ciara Thompson Educational Psychology and Measurement Rachel Gatewood Research-Based Theory of Teaching

Ciara Thompson Educational Psychology and Measurement Rachel Gatewood Research-Based Theory of Teaching Educational Psychology and Measurement has not only given me a window into how the human brain processes information, but also how various teaching strategies based on that knowledge and research are able to direct my students learning and behavior toward a more successful and enjoyable outcome. My intent as a future educator is to show and transfer my passion for music and various cultures to my students through my teaching strategies. I also intend to show my students that every subject taught in school plays a vital role in music, as well as music playing an important role in every core curricular subject. I have learned several methods based on different cognitive processing theories that can enable my students to thoroughly enjoy the content and repertoire I present in my class, as well as the learning process. I would like my students to leave as musicians, rather than simply people who can play music, even if they do not plan to pursue music beyond my class. That is, in addition to simply knowing notes and rhythms, my students will know theory behind the music as well as the historical, cultural and dramatic intentions that contribute to the character of the piece and be able to execute the character of the piece in a performance setting. My goal is to be not only a teacher, but ultimately a world traveler, bringing my students on musical explorations to all corners of the earth. In the music classroom I plan to use social and cognitive constructivism through utilizing student-centered and discovery-learning opportunities; giving scaffolding support when needed but basing a lot of my classroom design on student-centered and student-leadership activities. With exploration through a thematic-curriculum of different facets of ‘world music’ and multiculturalism, my students will simultaneously be learning about the various technical aspects of music while engaging with musical traditions and practices from around the country and world. I will be instilling a hidden curriculum that will be more easily retained by association with various cultures covered within ‘world music.’ I can bring this thematic curriculum to the students on a very real level through technology that the students will be using frequently. Through social media and video calls, our class can literally teach and learn from other music classes all over the world. This utilizes social constructivism to interact and exchange musical techniques and traditions. This thematic curriculum is also a spiral curriculum, as the students will be brought back to different technical and cultural aspects of music on deeper levels as they progress through the different school grades. Teaching music in a multicultural manner is a fun way to comprehend the many techniques involved in music making. It is also a very relaxed way to explore cultural diversity and to help students gain an acceptance of their peers’ various ethnic backgrounds. The Woolfolk textbook that we use in our class, Educational Psychology, mentions Ladson-Billing’s culturally relevant pedagogy, which suggests that students of diverse ethnic backgrounds will succeed further if they experience academic success, develop and maintain their cultural competence, and develop a critical consciousness to challenge the status quo. This is not simply something to teach minority students or students within poverty, but is a very important lesson for students of all backgrounds. Being able to tie what we learn in class into global society and to understand more about ‘real world’ issues through the comfort of music will help students empathize, and give students a chance to use critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to bring a positive ending to current issues in the future. No matter the student’s background, it is also very important for every student to feel welcomed and supported by his or her teacher and peers. Geneva Gay supports the concept of culturally responsive teaching, which is a style of teaching “that uses the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them. It teaches to and through the strengths of these students. It is culturally validating and affirming” (Gay 2000). This form of differentiated instruction insures that each student experiences academic success in the classroom. Through being a firm but compassionate teacher and showing my students that I care about them as individuals as well as their education, they will become more resilient and independent learners. Thereby caring more their success, as well as respecting my class and content, and being motivated to come to my class and succeed daily. Motivation, both internal and external, is a key factor in the processing and retention of learned material. Through content discussion within our classroom as well as observation from both the student and teacher standpoint, I have noticed that students are much more inclined to learn and be involved with the content if the teacher is interested and enjoying the subject, organized, enthusiastic, and has both breadth and depth of the content and content-related knowledge. This is the definition of an Effective-Teacher. There are many strategies, reward and punishment systems and teaching techniques that can instill both internal and external motivation in a student. Looking back on seventeen years of student-based observation, and from the teaching experience I have acquired thus far, I have observed that students respond better to the course content when they consider it to be fun and engaging. It is true that direct instructional techniques are beneficial for individual comprehension, introducing new material, and reviewing material that has been covered. However some of the most memorable content that I have learned over the course of my student experience has been learned through indirect instructional techniques, which made the content fun and motivated me to do my best in the class. Additionally I felt great self-efficacy after accomplishing assignments through indirect instruction, which motivated me even further. Social interactions are incredibly important during the learning process. Having an amicable and dynamic relationship with one’s peers and one’s teacher can have a drastic effect on how motivated a student is to succeed. This can be supported by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory. The social cognitive theory is explained well by Bandura and Locke, in saying that the “social cognitive theory is a dynamic system that explains human adaptation, learning and motivation. The theory addresses how people develop social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral capabilities; how people regulate their own lives; and what motivates them” (Bandura, 2007; Bandura & Locke, 2003). It is therefore important to incorporate as much student interaction as possible into the classroom. If a student is isolated from their peers in someway, or if all the students are isolated from each other because their attention is always on the teacher, they have less of an opportunity to learn through observation and modeling, and are less motivated to come to class and succeed. If the students’ activity in the classroom is to listen to the teacher and observe, then they do not have the opportunity to exchange ideas and develop self-efficacy in the subject. A very important aspect of learning is classroom design. This does not simply mean the layout of the classroom, but also the persona and demeanor of the teacher, classroom and conflict management, the design of the lesson plans for the day, and the flow of transitions, teaching and learning. The classroom design will inevitably be different depending on the age group of the students, the students’ and teacher’s personalities and interests, and the specialization of the class and/or teacher. In addition to all of these components, our Educational Psychology and Measurement class realized something in experimenting with different classroom designs. We as a class discovered that everyone has a different preference of what their optimal learning environment would be. As music is a very creative and dynamic educational environment to begin with, it can be quite simple to make the layout and design of the room fun, creative and ever changing. The classroom layout is especially malleable within the choir room, where there are no desks, music stands or instruments. Traditionally choirs will stand in rows by voice part, but this can easily be changed by mixing up the voice parts, standing in quartet circles, or even in one big circle with the conductor in the middle. This is very doable and I would like to extend this flexibility to everything that makes up classroom design. For instance, some students might learn more effectively when the lights are dim rather than bright, or when the walls are clean and organized rather than when there are many posters, pictures and diagrams pinned up. I would try my best to subtly accommodate as many of these different learning needs as possible by designing several different learning environments into one room. Classroom management and discipline will always be necessary within classroom design. Students do not appreciate teachers who are too strict and lose their temper. Nor do students respect teachers who will never enforce rules or discipline. In order to enforce discipline or resolve conflict with respect, teachers need to do so consistently and fairly based on the classroom parameters that the teacher and students have agreed upon at the beginning of the year. Discipline made within the classroom should be to calm the situation and get back to the lesson. If further efforts are necessary outside of the classroom, they should also include peer/self mediation exercises such as role reversal, and/or negotiations such as reaching an integrative agreement.

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