Erin Emery-Dumas

Continuing my series of reviewing old papers I wrote in college, I’d like to review my essay titled “Urban Music Education.” You can read the original work below.

Reviewing this work is going to be a bit different than others because of the fact that I currently work in a suburban school district, rather than urban, but I am curious to see if my research holds up in various areas.

In my second paragraph, I state that “It is crucial for music education to be at the fingertips of urban youth, as it gives them an expressive outlet, teamwork and leadership skills, and opportunities to practice time management.” This is something I believe is true for EVERY student, regardless of if they are in an urban, suburban, or rural environment. Music provides many life skills that are beneficial in day to day life, such as responsibility, self-accountability, and a sense of community. This goes not only for students of all backgrounds, but also of all ages. If students begin music education at a young age, they will begin developing these skills when their brain development is most rapid.

Following that, I found another statement that I find to be very true, at least in my district. “Unfortunately, many existing programs do not include as much diverse literature as required for urban cultures.” As I mentioned in my previous paper review, the oldest method book in my classroom was published in 1995, and the newest in 2006. (This does not include virtual resources.) Many of the composers, authors, and publishers are white and do not properly represent POC in their literature. Why would a student be motivated to practice their instrument if they don’t see anyone like them being successful at it? In my classroom, I share music from various cultures AND share diverse musicians playing this repertoire.

Something that hits really close to home is that I “”do not feel readili”wish [my] schooling had included more real-life experiences, especially prior to [my] intern teaching placements, and in turn have had to attend clinics and workshops to feel successful in urban classrooms.” I did not have a single class focused on urban education during my time at Western Michigan University. The pre-intern and intern placements I had were all in predominantly white areas, and did not properly prepare me to teach in the area that was (at the time) my dream location. Because of this, I try to attend as many session about diversity and urban education whenever I am at professional development events and conferences.

After this, I discuss the importance of acknowledging slang and connotative terms rather than strictly using only the denotation of each word. We have talked about this extensively at a PD series that my district has provided us with. At these sessions, we watch videos by Dr. Hollie from the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning. He talks about how important it is to be aware of the sociocentric behaviors of our students and using that to our advantage. In my paper I state that “giving students the chance to practice code-switching in the classroom, they will be more adept at using proper vocabulary when the time comes.” There is one critique I would like to make here — saying that MY vocabulary is “proper” completely invalidates sociocentric behavior. Just because someone else’s vocabulary is different, do not make it wrong or improper.

Overall, I feel like my paper holds up over the past few years, but I would say that the statements stand for ALL students, not just those in urban settings. If I remember correctly, I felt this way while writing the essay, but my focus was on a specific demographic rather than the whole because of the assignment at hand.