TAB WILCOX
Music Educator | Guitarist
MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
_edited.jpg)
Reflecting my belief that education’s greatest purpose is to create equity between learners and, ultimately, members of our society, my music classroom will embrace integration and honor the diverse, intersecting identities of my students; my approach is to adopt a culturally responsive curriculum, centering repertoire around the histories and contributions of people from historically marginalized groups. To this end, a cornerstone of learning in my classroom will be collaborative discourse where students engage in respectfully constructive dialogue about the music we study, in search of a robust understanding of the cultures they originate from. Supplementally, historical and cultural events will be cross-examined to give students academic context to authentically perform the music as intended with appropriate expression and intent.
My classroom population will allow for a synthesis of students with pre-established musical ability and those whose abilities are latent; by utilizing repertoire that accommodates a range of ability, I aim to deconstruct the social stratifications of achievement gaps and put every student on equal footing with one another. This repertoire will borrow from a variety of methods books, determined by preliminary one-on-one meetings with each of my students to gauge their experience, interests, and goals in my class; I will use this input to build a student-centered
classroom that simultaneously functions within the parameters of state and national standards. To create as accessible of a space as possible for music-making, my classroom will assume an unconditional policy of inclusivity that encourages compassionate, culturally-conscious behavior and averts damaging behavior that disrupts classroom management.
Effectively modeling for my students is a foundational method of my teaching; specifically, I will model humility, critical thought, and constructivist principles to shape proactively strategic learners. It is my goal to lessen the binary construct of right or wrong answers and afford students flexibility in responding to problem-based lessons so they are independently equipped to resolve problems within a musical context beyond the classroom. Rather than only assessing their ability to satisfy arbitrary performance criteria, the music learning of my students will be primarily assessed formatively, engaging each student where they are at in their own development of understanding and allowing them to grow from there. Ensuring that all learners feel secure in this approach, frequent questioning of course content, peer-assessment, and self-evaluation activities will normalize reflective, goal-based practices that actuate meaningful learning, both in music and other fields of study.
As an instructor, my role is to serve my students as an unbiased collaborator to enrich their understanding of music. I strive to constantly evolve my perception of my students, not reducing their character to innate social dispositions but rather championing the unique qualities and experiences that every student can contribute to the classroom. Every learner will be guaranteed equality of educational opportunity; I will actively pursue opportunities that allow learners to connect with the music culture surrounding them and provide students with resources that propagate equitable musical and academic success. In doing so, students will obtain authentic and accessible music experiences that broaden their appreciation of the art and center around their interests and learning goals.
The collaborative achievement of music is incomparably fulfilling in the areas of self-growth, socialization, and cultural awareness; I want my students to leave the classroom with a kinship towards their peers and a competent foundation in musicianship through which they continue to study music and grow as individuals. Fundamentally, I want to confront the perception of music as a ‘fine art’ and eliminate the elitism of this misnomer to redefine music as a ‘human art,’ something everyone equally deserves to participate in, regardless of social location.
Included on this page is my philosophy of music education, which details my approach to contextualizing learning in real-world histories and peoples, building a classroom space that deconstructs achievement gaps, and focusing on goal-based learning practices; the document also describes my role as a collaborator to learners and philosophy regarding access to and perception of the arts in education today. My philosophy of music education demonstrates my awareness of learner development and differences, varied application of content to confront global and relevant issues, adherence to a variety of instructional and assessment strategies to maximize learning, and creating learning experiences that encourage active engagement from students. (InTASC 1-3, 5-6, 8)