J.

Eric Roper
December 9,2013
Critical Pedagogy I
Philosophy of Music Education
Willing and Able to Learn
It is necessary to be concerned about the importance of
educating a really beautiful human spirit. Shinichi Suzuki
It is a basic human instinct to learn and gather information about
everything that we see, hear, and feel. We process information in so
many different ways and are constantly being bombarded with
information. The human brain processes billions of bits of information
but is only aware of a small sliver of that amount, and how our brains
process that sliver greatly influences how we retain information. Music
education has many different methodologies of teaching and how to
teach music that all work on distinctive kinds of information
processing. Ive seen performances by incredible performers who
simply cannot read the notes on the page, yet are more musical,
sometimes, than those who can. Teaching this subject is similar. In fact,
Shinzi Sizukis entire methodology of music education teaches music
through emotive responses, Beautiful Heart, and focuses more on
the interpretation of music, rather than the notations. Often beginning
string players in the Suzuki method learn by rote, which is a very good
way to teach students because it not only allows them to participate in
classes and music, but also improves ear training. In this way, music is

the most accessible subject because anyone has the potential to be

successful at it.
I believe that school is an important aspect of society and I think
that it is important to educate everyone, no matter what because
everyone has the right to be informed on what happens. In secondary
education I strongly believe that everyone should have a basic wellrounded education, however I think that arts education should take a
higher rung on that ladder than it currently has, particularly with
music. Because everyone learns differently, and because there are so
many people from all walks of life that enter public education as well
as private, there will be people who succeed more at one subject than
another. This has been a fact of schooling for as long as it has existed.
The significance today is because everyone has the availability, and
often the requirement, to learn a little bit of everything in the four main
academic suits. In addition, federal law mandates that state standards
be developed and improved in order for states to receive federal
assistance.(CITATION) This means that depending on what state you
looked at in terms of education you would see slightly different
requirements and mandates about what is supposed to be taught in
those states. That is a lot of education requirement for people who are
going to excel at certain subjects and not others, and unfortunately not
much is being done to help.

Students also have a tremendous amount of pressure set upon

them because they are ultimately in charge of their own education.
The education system at this moment does its best to ensure that
students are ready to take control of that responsibility and guide them
along to be successful but it is their decision to learn or not. Teachers
are usually prepared to take that responsibility, and as a future
educator I hope to be the most prepared I can be.
With that said, not everyone is able to necessarily succeed to the
highest degree at everything in school, music is a good place to find a
comfort and ensure the success of every student, if they are willing to
learn. Music education methodologies, including the Suzuki, Dalcroze,
Kodaly, Orff, and many other methods are approaches and general
guidelines for music educators to follow that help teach aspects of
music to everyone. It does not matter how someone learns and retains
information because there is a way for them to succeed in a music
classroom. But what exactly are the different ways that people learn?
Bernice McCarthy (2000), the author of About Learning, very
eloquently put the processing styles of learning into a very visual and
comprehensive way, categorizing the ways people process information
into four sections. She wrote that there are five steps to learning which
are experience, reflection, conceptualization, acting, and integration.
Once students experience something new (p. 9), they are able to
reflect on the experience, attempt to understand it (p. 10), interact

with it (p. 11), and then adapt it into their lives. McCarthys (2000)
acclaimed cycle is also a way in which students can understand how to
reflect and act positively upon their life experiences. In 2010 McCarthy
released a video explaining her 4MAT system, covered in her book
About Learning, with the quadrant diagram she is so famous for. The
four quadrants divide learning into four types of basic learners, which
are:

Type 1: Why?
o Imaginative Learningo Feeling and watching, seeking personal associations,
meaning, involvement.
Type 2: What?
o Analytic Learningo Listening to and thinking about information; seeking
facts, thinking through ideas; learning what the
experts think.
Type 3: How?
o Common Sense Learningo Thinking and doing Experimenting, building, creating
usability, Tinkering.
Type 4: If?
o Dynamic Learningo Doing and feeling, Seeking hidden possibilities,
exploring, learning by trial and error, self-discovery
She then divides each quadrant in two for right and left-brain function.
In this way students are able to comprehend information, retain it, then
implement it into their lives.

In the same way that everyone learns through this 4MAT system,
music is no different. Each person with his or her unique style of
learning will be able to take part in a musical experience. There will be
difference in what everyone takes away from that experience, however
on the whole everyone will be able to succeed with not too much
trouble. There are certain aspects of music that will act more along the
lines of an academic course like theory which aligns with mathematics
very nicely, so there will people who excel at certain areas, but that
doesnt mean that a person who is not the best at reading music or
deciphering music notation cannot participate in a music class. In fact
Shinzi Sizukis entire methodology of music education teaches music
through emotive responses and a, Beautiful Heart and focuses more
on the interpretation of music, rather than the notations. Often
beginning string players in the Suzuki method learn by rote, which is a
very good way to teach students because it not only allows them to
participate in classes and music, but also improves ear training. So in
this way, someone may argue that his methodology focuses, according
to McCarthys (2000) learning styles diagram, fits into the type 1
category of learning through more imaginative learning. But there are
other aspects of his methodology that are a little more analytical
through type 2 learning, or dynamic through type 3. But meanwhile
through these curricula, there are ways of ensuring everyone who

participates can be successful no matter what type of learning they

may use.
Not only does music cater to the needs of every learning style in
some way or another, there are many advantages to brain function
because of music, so that no matter who you are, your brain function is
affected very similarly from music. An article written by Med Kharbach
(2012) expanded the usefulness of music on how it helps with learning
and stimulating the brain. His article stated how studies showed that
music combined the left and right side of the brain as well as
stimulated the prefrontal, motor, auditory, sensory, and visual cortexes
because of how involved music is with all of those functions. In that
sense, if all of those brain functions are stimulated while participating
in music, then it carries the biggest chance for success if someone
participates in music.
As a future music educator it is my hope to have all of my
students be successful in any musical endeavor they participate in. It is
not only my responsibility as an educator, but also as a lover of music
to help students find their passions in music and translate those
passions into the rest of their lives. Even if none of them pursue a
musical career I hope that each of them takes something positive away
from my lessons to them. Keeping in mind the differences in how
students learn will also be a positive thing to ensure students success
because I can look for new comprehensive ways to teach my students

how to learn and appreciate the music that they have the rest of their
lives.

Works Cited
McCarthy, B. (2000). About Learning: 4MAT in the classroom. (p. 9, 11,
13). Wauconda, IL: About Learning, Inc.