11/06/08 An introduction to “Introduction”
Before I formally introduce myself to the MIE NewsBlog, I would like to first say “Hello. My name is Sarah Rogevich and I am a Blogophobe.” I was inspired to write this after reading Jenny Giardina’s excellent introduction to the NewsBlog. Like Jenny, I have also witnessed the growth of the “blog bubble” throughout my education, both in undergraduate and graduate study, but MIEatNEC is providing me with my first opportunity to participate in it directly. I hope you will all forgive my initial trepidation as I have now immersed myself into the world of intelligent and academic blogging.
What began as an initial interest in K-5 music education has quickly become an exciting research project as I have taken on the role of Documentation Specialist for MIE 501 – Introduction to Music-in-Education. In addition to providing the NewsBlog with video and photos of our own activities and discussions from MIE 501, I hope to also be posting my documentation of my observations from the music classes taught by Michael Glicksman at the Atrium School in Watertown, MA. I am currently in the process of obtaining permission from the Atrium School administration to post videos from the classroom.
What goes on in MIE 501?
In our weekly, 2 hour class, my classmates and I cover a myriad of topics under the direction of Professor Larry Scripp. At the beginning of the semester, Prof. Scripp introduced us to the double or triple entry journal and how that format may lead us to organize our research and to answer the question “What is music’s essential role in education?”.
Each week, our class strives to answer “the big question” through guided classroom activity examples, readings provided by Prof. Scripp, and general discussion of our own experiences in music and music education. Since each student in the class brings his or her own experiences, strengths, weaknesses, and interests to this question, it is safe to say that our individual answers to “the big question” may differ a bit. Through my documentation of this class, I hope to provide the MIEatNEC community with examples of my and my colleagues’ quest to discover how music contributes to education. In a small class and an equally small amount of time, we have all begun to focus our attention on our personal interests in music-in-education such as music in speech therapy, music and adult education, and Leonard Bernstein’s Young people’s concerts.
My goals
During the remainder of the Fall 2008 semester, and throughout the Spring 2009 semester, I aspire to accomplish the following goals:
1. To provide multi-media documentation of the activities covered and topics discussed in NEC’s Introduction to Music-in-Education (MIE 501) and in Music-in-Education seminar (MIE 511)
2. To provide multi-media documentation of the music lessons taught by Michael Glicksman at the Atrium School and how they relate to our class experiences and discussions in MIE 501/511
3. and to develop the official framework for formal documentation of the music curriculum at the Atrium School to be used by teachers, interns, administrators, and families to meet the educational needs of their students as outlined in the Atrium School philosophy.
An inspiration
In addition to MIE 501, I am also enrolled in Professor Warren Senders’ class Cross-cultural approaches to MIE (MIE 547). After a particular class in which we explored ratios and harmonics with the use of a monochord, I was struck by the infinite ways which music can be utilized in education and learning. By the end of this two hour class, we had covered topics not just related to music, but to arithmetic, geometry, algebra, physics, and many other mathematical concepts to which I tend to have a strong aversion. If I, Sarah Rogevich, “not-a-math-person” can become inspired to read more about Pythagoras after one music class, how many other students can benefit from music in learning?
After pondering this question, I formulated the following three inquiries that I hope to explore through my work as Documentation Specialist and as a student in NEC’s MIE program:
- What axioms exist in music education and how do these compare to those in other subjects?
- Considering those axioms, could students benefit from a music-centered curriculum?
- In a music-centered curriculum, how would all subjects be addressed and how could this inter-curricular model enhance a student’s total education and love for learning?
Within the existing framework of the music program at the Atrium School in addition to class discussions in MIE 501, I hope to explore music and it’s influence in elementary education. These are the inquiries that I will use to attempt to answer “the big question,” but as Documentation Specialist, I look forward to bringing you insight from my classmates’ diverse perspectives. Stay tuned for videos and posts from my classmates in the near future!