It was really fun getting to talk to Lesley Dawe in class on January 25th. I've read countless articles and journals, but this is the first time I've ever matched a name to a face. Lesley was very much what I expected her to be. She was very friendly and eager to answer questions posed by the class.
She first elaborated a bit more on her article, and the kind of teaching she's putting into practise at an elementary school at the Peel District School Board. What really interested me was how her music classes were split into the "band" stream and a more free-reign stream. I really admire her willingness to focus on what the students want to do, rather than what she thinks would be best for them. I know for me personally, it's really hard for me to relinquish control to someone else. I feel like that would especially be hard to do when you're giving choice to students. How do you successfully give your students control of their learning, while also establishing yourself as the authority figure? She did answer a question similar to this. She establishes rules and proper behaviour in her classroom before anything else in order to create a safe space for her students, but she doesn't inhibit them from using their creativity. I remember I wanted to ask her how she can cover musical "theory" per say in her classroom if she allows the students to pick the kinds of things they want to learn. It was interesting to see how despite not specifically "planning" to teach certain elements of music, they would come up in class anyway. Her class explored the elements of music organically, learning about them as they needed to when they were completing tasks, such as analyzing pop music. This was really comforting to me because it was a real life example of how even if we relinquish control and don't plan step by step what is going to happen, as long as we have a direction (which the students help choose), the end goal will still be met, and in a way that is exciting and engaging for kids. What I appreciated most of all of Lesley was she truly wanted to make music an enjoyable experience for the kids in her class. All too often, I find that the joy behind music gets sucked out of the class because everyone is just too focused on learning the technicalities that make up music. However, I'm glad that there are teachers out there like Lesley that continue to foster love and passion for music. I can only hope to do the same.
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Carole PalattaoI'm an 18 year old studying classical voice at Western University. I'm also a hardcore mental health advocate, and I do creative writing on the side for fun!
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