University of Southern Maine
We’re very much student-focused. Because we’re a small department, we’re able to take time with each student to ensure that they’re getting the most out of their experience and that we’re preparing them to become music educators.
It plays an important role from the very beginning. In their first year, we provide students the opportunity to observe teaching and learning going on in schools. It’s important to get our students out in the field, so they can get a sense of what it’s all about, and they can make the decision whether teaching is what they want to do.
Students spend their final semester student teaching. We’ve had a number of students placed in local schools, but we’ve also placed a few outside of the area, such as Boston, North Carolina, North Dakota, and even in Europe.
I had the opportunity to teach at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. In fact, I taught one group of students from 5th through the 12th grade. That taught me which teaching techniques work at different levels, and which don’t. An experience like that helps you adapt your teaching personality.
I learned the value of exposing students to the various things you do. For example, I can’t imagine not ever revealing that I play the trumpet, or sharing with them the music I enjoy. That generates interest, and it helps keep students motivated, and it gives students a sense of what you’re all about.
As faculty, we’re trying to be the people who connect the classroom, students, and field experiences. We want to have students who definitely want to teach. Not all students are focused on teaching at first, and we help them make their decision. The program is very good at tying together current methodology, philosophy, and the history of music education, and introducing it to students.
As a music teacher, you’re always referring to your musician side, in terms of how I might approach things. I don’t think about the two sides as being separate. When I’m playing in an ensemble or small group, part of me is asking, How does the music sound? How are we interpreting it? How does it fit the style we’re trying to create? Is it true to composer? Overall, questions like that flow back and forth between the teacher and musician sides.
I’m always amazed at students’ enthusiasm for learning, the closer they get to authentic teaching experiences. For music majors at any college, the course load is heavy. What’s surprising is the fact that they are able to balance everything, and also deeply absorb everything.
I’ve had students who knew from day one that they wanted to teach, and I knew from the way they carried themselves that they’d make excellent teachers. So far, that’s played out. Some students had one personality in my class, and I wondered about them. Then I saw them out in the field, when their teacher personality came out, and I was sort of wondering if it was the same person. It’s amazing how dynamic students can be when they’re teaching.
We’d be nowhere without local schools. We have a network of 60 to 70 teachers who volunteer to have students observe, teach a lesson, come in and ask questions. The program has speakers come in two or three times a month to discuss different topics. That’s important because it gives students a chance to learn about the career, and the job market. A lot of the best teachers out there are mentors in their field. It’s their way of giving back.
Like all teacher education programs, we want students to have a variety of experiences. Maine isn’t as ethnically diverse as other places, so we have to be creative to expand those experiences. One of best parts of my job is when I go out to see our students teach, I also get to see the tremendous support for music that’s out there. It’s very rewarding to see communities of all sizes support music education programs. To see towns in Aroostook County support their student musicians as much as they do in Portland is absolutely amazing.
I live in Gorham, because when we moved from Colorado, it seemed most logical to live near where I worked. I liked the idea of being able to go over to my children’s school, or come home and say hi between teaching day and evening courses. It saves a little on gas, too.
The biggest surprise is the amount of support for local music and art here. The artist presence in Maine is amazing. There are so many opportunities for people to develop their art. As a performer, there’s a nice feel to the place. I play in a big band on Monument Square, and people come up to you afterward and tell you they enjoyed the performance, and they want to know where they can see you perform again.
