Statement of Pedagogical Approach and Teaching Philosophy
 
 
In a culture so focused on over-testing over-scheduled students, I wish to be a change agent.  As a music teacher who has been employed in public school settings as well as in an independent school, the same ideals seemed to hold true.  Parents and teachers alike are pushing students to take on more and more “things” to make their resumes and college applications look stellar.  Students are being told that every single quiz grade counts and hold extreme importance.  From the time that students are in elementary school they are more often than not, being told what it is that they are going to be when they grow up rather than being given the free time to explore, play and figure it out on their own. 
 
The arts are integral part to a student’s education and should not be ignored, pushed off to the side, put on a rotational schedule or cut from a budget.  These are the courses that foster the child’s most needed skills in life.  The ability to communicate, collaborate, and synthesize are skills that students cannot live without.  The act of creation whether that be through the genre of theater, dance, music, art, writing or media is something that is being robbed from students across America.  The exchange of free/playtime/create time for bubble tests and high stakes exams is not helping our students succeed and in fact, do not fully assess a student’s true ability in these subjects or their potential to succeed later in life.  Students must become critical thinkers and be able to make interdisciplinary connections on their own.  The arts, particularly music and fine art both make connections to history, literature, foreign language, mathematics and cross-cultural topics.  True synthesis and the ability to apply knowledge on their own is the true meaning of learning and knowledge in children and this simply cannot be demonstrated on a scantron.
 
Schools should be collaborative in nature, where all the stakeholders share in the decision-making processes.  Shared decision making provides increased morale amongst the administration, teachers and students as each body feels they have a voice.  Within the individual classrooms, students should also be working collaboratively, developing their communication skills and working as a group towards a common goal.  Teachers should gear instruction and the curriculum towards student interest and make their lessons applicable and interesting to the children they teach.   
 
Whether I am teaching seventy students in an orchestral setting or teaching one-on-one in a private lesson, my goal is always the same. I always try to meet the student(s) where they are and guide them to where they want to go. What I have found most interesting is that when students are asked what they wish to achieve and are encouraged to set and meet goals, they excel.  They become invested in the process and are able to set benchmarks to guide their own growth and reflect upon their past successes and failures.  Perhaps it is because I am a musician, but I try to instill a love of the process and not focus solely on the outcome.  I teach that if careful attention and planning is given to a project that it will more than likely succeed in the end.  Working as a, “guide by the side” allows me to really get to know my students, what drives them and what they ultimately wish to achieve.