Teaching- The First Requirement of Teaching

Teachers today have so many responsibilities. Not only are we responsible for educating students in their subjects, but also we are responsible for teaching the students how to be part of a class, how to manage their time, etc. In one 35 minute music class, outside of music concepts, we may be incorporating concepts such as procedures for entering the room, how to speak to classmates, how to listen when it is time, taking out instruments, putting instruments away carefully, personal space, using manners, and more.

Those in training to become teachers have a long road of preparation. I believe that by the time I completed my undergraduate program, I had somewhere around 160-180 credit hours. My program involved:

music courses- history, performance, theory, ear training, orchestration; 

music education courses- vocal and instrumental pedagogies, elementary methods, secondary methods; 

education courses- special education, multicultural education, curriculum and design; 

honors college courses- many of these replaced general education courses, but were 4 credits each instead of the regular 3; 

and I had a film and video minor which was about 15 credits.

I honestly do not know how I completed the degree in the time that I did. I did my student teaching (12 credit hours) as a 9th semester, so I technically received my degree in December, even though I marched in May.

The amount of preparation could be overwhelming at times, and while an undergraduate student in the midst of preparation, the end goal can sometimes get blurred. I had a very difficult time, personally, understanding how I would apply everything that I was learning. It wasn’t that I didn’t find the material important, the biggest issue for me was that future students were just a figment of the imagination, they had not materialized yet for me.

Long story short, there are so many things that college curriculums determine that someone must know before becoming a teacher. 

However you must learn through experience the most important requirement of a teacher--you have to care about your students.

It sounds so simple, yet I didn’t learn it until I started teaching. 

All of the theoretical knowledge meant nothing until I actually started building relationships with learners. The catalog of performance experience, music theory knowledge, historical practice, and more all served to build connections with my students.

Why do I arrive at school early to be sure everything is set up? Because I care how the lessons will go for my students.

Why do I follow up with a student that seemed to be confused with a concept? Because I care about that student’s growth and understanding.

Why do I question a student’s actions when they make an unhelpful choice? Because I care about that student and how it affects everyone else in the room.

Why do I modify assignments for students that need it? Because I care about that student.

Why do I pull a 13 hour shift on concert days? Because I want my students to have a positive experience in a performance setting.

What you learn in undergraduate music education programs may not reveal the full picture until you are in your own classroom. In college, you may laugh at learning 4 different ways to teach the same concept but then you are in the moment and have 4 different students that need their own way to learn each concept.

I don’t think anyone actually familiar with education can claim that the pay is high, but measured in the number of relationships you build and countless lives you change through your work, teaching is the most rewarding career I have ever known.