Influential Teacher
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During Fall Reading Week, I had the chance to visit and interview a very important figure in my life: Jennifer Doria (known as Mrs. Doria or J-Dors) was one of my high school instrumental music teachers, as well as my vocal music teacher. It truly was a great and somewhat emotional experience, as I have not seen her since June. But what makes her so influential? I mentioned in my “Who Am I” video that my music teacher was the one that made want to pursue a career in music, and she was that teacher. She was the person that made want to study music in post secondary education, and was one of the first people to make me understand the importance of music in my own life. She was also the first person to show me how to grow as both an instrumentalist and a vocalist, and if it was not for her, I probably would not be where I am today.
As I perviously mentioned, the interview with her was a great experience as it allowed me to view her perspective on music education as well as ideas for me on how to grow as an educator. Perhaps the most important thing I took form my time with her was her philosophy about music education; music is a way to teach about life and about community. She told this to me in our interview as well as countless times in her class that people are constantly looking for meaning in life, and for her, she found it through music. That is why that her methods of teaching always find a way to bring people together through music as well as provide reflection on how to grow as a person, relieve stress, and countless other aspects about life. This I feel to be especially important in todays society as we are constantly trying to find ways to better our lives and grow as human beings, and I feel that music is a powerful art form that has the ability to achieve this. That is why I believe that music education is such an important thing as it allows people to reflect and grow, both individually and through community.
But community does not come right away. Another thing that was mentioned in our interview is that trust is an important factor of building community in a classroom. In her words, music education is an exercise of trust for both the student and the educator. She mentioned to me that as the educator, it is her job to facilitate an environment of trust for all students, which I both have witnessed first hand and fully agree with. When a trusting environment is created, it allows the student to grow as a creative individual and slowly eliminate fear (which she believes to be a paralyzing force, bringing out the worst in students). This trust brings people together and creates a fun and supportive environment where both creativity and curiosity are encouraged, and allows people to enjoy what they are learning and absorb more of it.
One other thing that we spoke about during the interview was the idea of discipline. She told me that having the right level of discipline is important in a classroom setting as although trust brings people together and be open to what you have to say, discipline ensures that students are learning the material you are presenting to them. She also told me that discipline creates resilience as an educator, and that it takes work, practice and effort to create an appropriate level of discipline in the classroom. This is something that I believe in because without discipline, a classroom does not have structure, and no learning will be accomplished. On a personal note, in my early days as a swimming instructor (around Grade 11), I had a hard time getting students to listen to what I had to say, and there seemed to be no learning happening whatsoever. I did not want to be to harsh on my students to the point where they were afraid of me, so I spoke with Mrs. Doria to see if she could help me. This is when she thought me about the importance of the right level of discipline, and it changed my teaching style. From that day I made sure to have the right amount of discipline, and it kept the class listening and engaged, while still keeping a level of trust. That experience made me realize how much of an impact she has on me as an educator.
Overall, the interview experience was a great growing opportunity as it allowed me to reflect on what it means to be a music educator and create new methods on how to improve my teaching style. It was also a great opportunity to speak to an influential figure in my life and I plan to use this experience to help me grow as an educator.
As I perviously mentioned, the interview with her was a great experience as it allowed me to view her perspective on music education as well as ideas for me on how to grow as an educator. Perhaps the most important thing I took form my time with her was her philosophy about music education; music is a way to teach about life and about community. She told this to me in our interview as well as countless times in her class that people are constantly looking for meaning in life, and for her, she found it through music. That is why that her methods of teaching always find a way to bring people together through music as well as provide reflection on how to grow as a person, relieve stress, and countless other aspects about life. This I feel to be especially important in todays society as we are constantly trying to find ways to better our lives and grow as human beings, and I feel that music is a powerful art form that has the ability to achieve this. That is why I believe that music education is such an important thing as it allows people to reflect and grow, both individually and through community.
But community does not come right away. Another thing that was mentioned in our interview is that trust is an important factor of building community in a classroom. In her words, music education is an exercise of trust for both the student and the educator. She mentioned to me that as the educator, it is her job to facilitate an environment of trust for all students, which I both have witnessed first hand and fully agree with. When a trusting environment is created, it allows the student to grow as a creative individual and slowly eliminate fear (which she believes to be a paralyzing force, bringing out the worst in students). This trust brings people together and creates a fun and supportive environment where both creativity and curiosity are encouraged, and allows people to enjoy what they are learning and absorb more of it.
One other thing that we spoke about during the interview was the idea of discipline. She told me that having the right level of discipline is important in a classroom setting as although trust brings people together and be open to what you have to say, discipline ensures that students are learning the material you are presenting to them. She also told me that discipline creates resilience as an educator, and that it takes work, practice and effort to create an appropriate level of discipline in the classroom. This is something that I believe in because without discipline, a classroom does not have structure, and no learning will be accomplished. On a personal note, in my early days as a swimming instructor (around Grade 11), I had a hard time getting students to listen to what I had to say, and there seemed to be no learning happening whatsoever. I did not want to be to harsh on my students to the point where they were afraid of me, so I spoke with Mrs. Doria to see if she could help me. This is when she thought me about the importance of the right level of discipline, and it changed my teaching style. From that day I made sure to have the right amount of discipline, and it kept the class listening and engaged, while still keeping a level of trust. That experience made me realize how much of an impact she has on me as an educator.
Overall, the interview experience was a great growing opportunity as it allowed me to reflect on what it means to be a music educator and create new methods on how to improve my teaching style. It was also a great opportunity to speak to an influential figure in my life and I plan to use this experience to help me grow as an educator.