Assignment 5

Describe which experiences you have gained during this basic course. Please answer the
following questions in detail:
• Look back at your own learning trajectory so far. How has it worked out for you?

For me, this subject has allowed me to realise a lot of things about my own own
practice, how I think about music and how I want to share it with other people. If in the
beginning of the year I was very enthusiast for finally learning about education, I am even
more excited now to be learning so much more than education and acquiring skills that will be
useful in a lot of situations regarding how to present, how to speak to an audience/group, how
to communicate without words, how to analyse people’s emotions and reactions, etc.

• Which tips would you give to yourself as a learner?

As a learner, my greatest weakness has always been organisation and this subject, with
the huge load of documents that it requires, has pushed me to be more active into this aspect.
I should also spend more time into making my own notes and personal conclusions, instead of
only writing when I need to, as it would help me to keep track much more of my own small
improvements and my methods of working.

• Which tips would you like to give to your former teachers?

Coming from a standardised system of education as you have in Portugal, where

almost every student ends up following a similar path, the new perspective of teaching which I
found here in the Netherlands has had me already wondering several times about former
teachers. It is not that their ideas and skills were not good, but since in that system it is
required that the student adapts himself to what is expected and wanted, I could never
completely fit in the expectations, even if I was practicing hard. What I missed more in those
times was the human connection between teacher and student, which was a very cold and
distanced relationship, and the connection to reality, to live concerts.

• Which experiences and/or parts of the basic course were of most value to you?

In my opinion, the best part of the course was to be able to actually teach someone
live, which I had done only a few times some years ago. The overall experience was very nice,
as at the same time we were teaching live, we were incorporating and trying out concepts
from the ME-A classes and reflecting in the end using the lesson forms to see how it worked. I
also enjoyed the musician in the classroom presentation, as I never had worked with such a big
group of young students before.

• What is your development in the area of pedagogical, didactical and methodical skills?

Pedagogically, my biggest improvements were relating to how I balance in class when

to give initiative to the student to either speak or try things out, or when to take it for myself
so I have the student focused on what I am explaining/demonstrating. Didactically, I have
grown a lot in terms of lesson planning and structuring. If in the first lessons, I would always
teach quite in the moment, improvising a lot of exercises and providing long speeches, now I
spend quite some time into making the lesson time was efficient as possible and full of
different exercises and activities, in an attempt to prolong the student’s attention and
enthusiasm. Methodically, I have research quite a lot for the books and scores that fit my
concept of music teaching. My idea is to slowly build different collections of methods and
scores which can fit different profiles of students and that match their goals for the
instrument. I have also become very analytical of my student, and find myself often watching
how she plays, more than what she is playing.

• In which skills have you grown the most? What was key to this/these development(s)?

My analytical skills have definitely improved, as now I have way more references of
what to look for in a class and how to break it down and compare it to the theoretical
concepts. This has to do mainly with the filling in of the lesson forms, as it made me reflect
almost every week into my own practice and my own performance as a teacher. My
communication is also way more effective, as it has become more concise and clear, with the
intent of keeping the student at all times engaged in the task rather than listening.

• What is the most signi!cant feedback you have received? What have you done with it?

For me, the feedback from the MEB teacher regarding my classes was been the most
significant, as it helps me adjust my method almost every week in a very practical way. For
instance, in the the first lessons I was not paying so much attention to the students musical
goals or needs and I was paying too much attention to technique and mechanics of the
instrument. The teacher helped me realise give more space for the student to experiment
things and come up with own solutions, instead of being heavily instructed.

• In what way did the ME-A lessons help you with your development?

The most interesting thing about these lessons was that many of the topics discussed
applied not only to education but also to your own development as a musician and a person.
Personally, I deeply enjoyed the Victor Wooten video “Music asa Language” and the different
theories that were presented to us regarding education, such as the 3 dimensions of learning,
the four teacher roles or the Self-determination theory.

• In what way did the ME-B lessons help you with the actual teaching?

Since most of us never had teacher before, these lessons were crucial to understand
exactly how to build your own method from scratch, based on your experience and what you
can observe from your own experiments, through the lesson forms. The teacher’s feedback
was pretty useful throughout the year, and also the way he coached us into spreading out all
the different assignments throughout the year, so the work load at the end is not extreme.

• Would you like to add something to the basic course?

For me, what is lacking now in the basic course is just teaching experience. Although all
of us get one or two students to teach, they mostly are peers from university, which already
possess a lot of knowledge regarding music. In Portugal, it is custom for education students to
visit high schools where they observe classes and also have the opportunity to teach younger
students. As a percussionist, this is a very different experience as you also have to adapt to the
facilities and instruments that are provided by this place. Therefore, I would like to suggest
that Codarts actively searches for opportunities like this, which remove us from our comfort
zones and makes us adapt to circumstance, something so important in the professional world.
• What do you think the near future of you as a teacher can look like?
 For now, I would like to get more teaching experience with very young students, as it is
something I have done done yet. As it is, either a position in a music school or giving private
classes would be the paths to follow. High-school level teaching is also a possibility, but I would
like to save it for later, when I am more certain of my method of teaching.

• Which goals do you set for yourself as a (hypothetical) future teacher?

I always had the goal to at some point in my career build a class of young
percussionists of my own, where I would bring together all the knowledge and experience that
I have acquired over the years and inspire them to build their own projects. My goal has been
always to bring out percussion to the general audience and make it shine on the big stages as
all the other instruments do, while expanding its repertoire and technical aspects. This is
something I want to cultivate among my students as I realise that it is too much of a task for
only one person. In a way, I think that all percussion students have this desire at some moment
in their lifes, when they watch their colleagues perform widely known solo concertos,
symphonies or chamber music works, but most people stick to the goal of having a job after
university, which is already very difficult, settling for either a teaching or an orchestral position
and lose the ambition for something more. That’s why, in my role as a teacher, it only makes
sense

• Can you briefly elaborate your vision on music education?

Music education is for me a fundamental piece of knowledge that should be present in

every musician’s baggage, as it is firstly the way through which we pass on our knowledge and
skills regarding music as a whole, and secondly a highly cientific approach designed to
stimulate creativity and personal growth. As such, it encompasses many different domains of
science relating to psychology, neuroscience and social studies in the relation to the way we,
as teachers, should approach someone who has the desire to learn music. However, being
complex as it can be, music education is in the end a study of communication, on what
information is needed, how to break it down and how to bring it out clear and effective.