Chapter 10 of The Music and Literacy Connection dealt with a variety of material surrounding different standards. Common Core was discussed, as well as P21 skill sets, executive functions, and anchor standards. It was really beneficial for me to read through these different standards, as I have never had a good understanding of this area of education. In all honesty, I have often not thought of them as very important, but I am beginning to realize that they give educators everywhere something to strive for. No matter what type of standard set I encounter in any given school, I will make sure I know it thoroughly and strive to center my curriculum so that my students can meet and excel beyond those standards.
A large portion of this chapter centered on listening, viewing, and speaking skills. These specific skills are essential to the decoding and comprehension skills in every student, across all subjects. To be able to develop literacy in any subject, a child must have good listening, viewing, and speaking skills. These skills are fundamental, and any subject can help cultivate them, just in different ways, unique to their discipline. This discussion was very interesting for me, as I have never considered this deeply. The text stated, "Literacy development is a team effort that deserves the attention of all educators, but every educator need not employ the same method" (Hansen, Bernstorf, Stuber 173). Up until reading this chapter, I never realized how closely knit different subjects could play in developing foundational literacy skills. I also always never considered what I taught to extend beyond affecting their musical literacy. I had no idea that I could also enhance their language literacy as well. This encouraged me to think further into my lessons plans, especially with my little ones, to find ways to enhance their general language literacy.
The first skill in the LVS skill set, listening, can easily be addressed through musical practices that simultaneously help the enhance a student's musical literacy. The text states, "Well-planned listening lessons provide opportunities for students to develop skills that will support all types of literacy and encourage lifelong learning" (Hansen, Bernstorf, Stuber 161). I have already done some reading about how good listening exercises are in the music classroom, and this justified listening exercises even more. During listening activities, students listen for different musical elements, such as pitch, intensity, and texture. The text goes on to state, "The listening activities suggested above contribute to literacy development by helping learners discriminate between same and different auditory stimuli, as well as bly encouraging learners to associate and/or describe sound with another form of representation (visual or kinesthetic)" (Hansen, Bernstorf, Stuber 162). Even if students do not realize it, the skills they are cultivating during a music class reach far deeper than their ability to understand music. They are being challenged in ways that reach far beyond their musical abilities and will not only help them in their musical endeavors, but in other kinds of endeavors as well.
Something that the authors talked about at the very end of the chapter was the difference between "know-how" and "know-that" musicians. "Know-how musicians are those who can easily mimic music. They can hear someone play a piece and be able to replicate it just by hearing it. This can be paralleled to when readers are able to fluently sound out words, but are unable to fully comprehend what they mean. They may understand how to do things, but they will not fully comprehend the process behind what they are doing. This can catch up to them as they step out of the classroom and into the real world. They will not always be teachers that can model an action for them to copy. Understanding the process behind a concept or action is so vital to being able to function in the real world. "Know-that incorporates the decoding along with comprehension and literacy skills that develop to a higher level of formality, and ultimately to the understanding of a specific code system for an area of intelligence" (Hansen, Bernstorf, Stuber 167). While we as educators should strive to cultivate "know-that" students, we should also recognize that more importantly, there is a balance we need to achieve. The authors state, "There is a real need to balance performance with musicology to foster true music literacy" (Hansen, Bernstorf, Stuber 167, 172).
Overall, the reading I have done on musical literacy has been so formative in my understanding of curriculum and how to teach students. I have learned that I have the potential to teach so much more than just music. I can help my students cultivate other foundational language skills that will carry them through other subject areas. I have also learned that there is so much creativity, intentionality, and detail I can and should put into my curriculum and lesson plans, as I should strive to teach both musical literacy, along with an underlying sense of language literacy as well. Even more, I have gained an incredibly amount of validation as a future music educator. I often viewed my profession as sectioned off from other subject areas, thinking it would only be worth it to teach those who would go on to play music the rest of their life. However, I now see how much collaborative work I do with other teachers of different subject material, and I feel validated and encouraged to teach even students who will not pursue music after middle or high school. Along with these important lessons, I have gained an abundance of ideas and strategies for developing literacy in my music students, and I really cannot wait for the day I am able to put them to practice. In fact, I will begin now with the different students I have, whether those are private violin students I teach over the summer, or the bands I work with during observation hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment