Allison Grant

PME Reflection
This semester in PME I have grown and learned a lot towards who I want to be
as a music educator. How we teach, why we teach, and developing my teaching
philosophy have been a large part of this development. I intend to teach in a very
constructivist way. The theories we looked at by Bruner and Piaget really applied to
my philosophy and ideas of how I want to be as a teacher. Being able to allow my
students to excel in their own ways and have an impact on what we learn is a huge
deal for me. A constructivist teacher allows their students to grow how they
understand and together to shape the class. As a student, having a constructivist
teacher is much more engaging and often students learn more, in my experience.
This leads into why I teach. I teach because I was taught once. But I do not intend to
teach how I was taught. I want to teach because I was inspired by someones love
for music and seeing that passion in action and being shared with the world was an
inspiration to share what you love. A teacher should be someone who has just so
much passion for their area of expertise and want to share it with the world to
continue on for generations. From these areas of growth, my teaching philosophy
has developed into what it is today: A passionate educator that puts their students
first.
From my teaching episode I learned a great deal about being on the other
side of the classroom. It was such an amazing experience and I thoroughly enjoyed
teaching my peers. From that experience I learned about time management mostly.
Being able to get all the way through the lesson and having all your students fully
understand, is a hard thing to accomplish and Im sure will be a challenge
throughout my career as an educator. I will always be improving my skills for my
students.
In regards to the pedagogues we have learned about this semester Campbell
stuck out to me. His ideas of the grammars of schooling and being a change
advocate I fully intend to bring into my classroom. I agree that we have fallen into
these certain grammars of how school should be and how music education
specifically is run. I want to be the best I can for my students and be constantly
improving. In order to do that, I must be a change agent for our field. Something I
will strive to change is being confined to only a few classes. I want to expand my
curriculum to gain interest of student from more areas of music like modern music
and tech composition.
PME had been a privilege and a wonderful period of growth I will never forget.
I have learned an incredible amount about myself, my education, my future, and
who I want to be to make an impact on someones life. It has been filled with selfreflection, learning from others, and carrying on traditions to create great
educators. I cant wait to continue my education training and am so excite to be the
best I can be for my students.