Concert Choir Reflection
Here’s a third and final reflection regarding the “Shto Mi E Milo” unit:
Inspired by research, graduate study, reading, and classroom experience, in looking back, the planning and implementation of this unit aligns to what I consider the ABCs of arts education. That is, the unit was presented in an environment where musical study is represented as being academic, basic, and comprehensive.
Very often, the music classroom is not viewed as an intellectual endeavor, but simply hands-on performing. In fact, members of my own school community see music education being more akin to elation rather than edification. However, in reflecting on this unit, I made considerations of style, history, culture, theory, and criticism that reveal the intent of a work. Students were engaged in activities that empowered authentic performance of “Shto Mi E Milo,” but at the same time, also acquired knowledge of it. As demonstrated in class discussions and journal entries, this unit also culminated in the engagement of students’ imaginations and emotions, those elements traditionally sought in music education. Based upon this careful balance, in my future lesson planning and approach to musical works, I will continue to not take the heart out of performing, but I will not be satisfied with just “goose bumps,” either.
In looking back on this unit, it seems that my classroom environment promoted a perspective that arts demands serious study. Admittedly, I am sometimes in danger of overcorrecting. That is, some activities become so “academic” that it causes musical study to lose its uniqueness over other subjects – that it is refreshingly different in the way it is taught and learned. As a result, if I had the opportunity to teach this unit again, I would re-proportion time spent relating to the four vocalist recordings, and provide more attention rehearsing and experiencing “Shto Mi E Milo.”
Studying the arts encourages all students to cultivate and refine their sensibilities. In looking back on the study of the four vocalists, students encountered ways in which musicians rely upon human intuition to expressively perform. Secondly, the arts establishes a basic relationship between the individual and the cultural heritage of the human family. Studying the Mecedonian folksong and listening to the interviews of the four vocalists seemed to inspire the students to experience the ways in which music is pervasive and persuasive in the ways in which it expresses humanness. Finally, studying the arts furnishes students with crucial experiences of aesthetic expression and perception. The activities of studying, listening, discussing, and performing music in this unit seemed to promote modes of thinking, observing, and reacting.
This unit reflected an environment of comprehensive music learning. That is, students seemed to experience all aspects of music – creativity, skill, theory, history, appreciation, aesthetics, and criticism. The unit was also comprehensive in that it incorporated community arts resources such as artist-in-residence grants and support of technology resources, and was multi-disciplinary as it incorporated information regarding literature, social science, and mathematics. These are enhancements I will undoubtedly continue to pursue for future units.
In reflecting upon this active unit, each of the nine lessons were never one activity, but a series of short sequential lessons that called for a variety of approaches. “Shto Mi E Milo” was selected because it offered a textbook full of learning possibilities and opened the door for assessing students in many ways. Journaling and accompanying discussions were the most prevalent mode of assessment, and while these activities proved consistently successful, I still approached them with a bit of leeriness. I learned that discussions must be planned carefully by writing down the questions that I feel will effectively guide the discussion, an approach I will apply within future units. It was evident that students learn more from the questions I ask rather than the answers I give. Well-crafted classroom questioning is definitely an art.
Finally, in planning this unit, I was overwhelmed by what seemed like too much to accomplish. Given the students’ level of music experience and the objectives that needed to be addressed, I guided Concert Choir to perform one less piece in concert than the more advanced ensembles. While I felt this was a disservice to the students at first, this approach inevitably provided time to enrich the rehearsal setting with activities that pushed deeper into the music we were studying. In the end, there is no question that the time spent helping students understand the music they are singing is time well spent. It is time that will later pay big dividends in knowledge and skills combined, and time that makes learning new music easier and certainly more enjoyable as a result of the increased level of understanding.
Compared to the traditional choral experience, I find this ABC approach sometimes an uncomfortable paradigm. It takes more planning and reflection. It requires new strategies and creativity. It takes emphasis off the product (the concert) and puts it squarely on the process, which has no neat limits or clear borders. But the rewards for students are rich ones; and therein lies the richest rewards for me, the teacher, as well.
