Portfolio Essay 1.

The candidate uses understanding of differences in individuals, cultures, and communities

to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet rigorous
standards.

In my music classroom there will be many opportunities for students to learn about

themselves and they culture they can from as well as the cultures of their peers around the world

ensuring that every student will be included in the learning process throughout their education.

Music is sometimes said to be the “universal language” which sounds good when you want to

defend keeping a music teaching job that is getting ready to be cut but the saying simply isn’t

true. In every culture, we learn music uniquely because of the specific aspects of our music that

differ from that of other cultures. For example, in Western Music there are 12 pitches spaced

evenly across an octave but in the Indonesian culture they only have 7 pitches, this means that

the learning process must be different from culture to culture. Luckily, most of the music of

North America is broken into the same 12 pitches which allows teachers to keep one constant no

matter who is in their classroom, solfege. By using solfege in my classroom I are creating a

common language for everyone to use together. It is a new language to everyone because no one

speaks it outside of music. This allows any one, no matter their cultural upbringing, to begin to

make music together.

The differences between communities is great and can be defined mostly by their culture

and the Social Economic Status or SES. When teaching in a new area the teach must do their

own research of what the students’ home life is like and from the research determine what the

expectation can be for activities such as morning choir, purchasing their own instruments,

purchasing specific concert attire, etc. Once that has been determined, a teacher should adjust

their curriculum to include aspects of the students’ community into the learning process. For
example, add a choir performance to the fall community picnic that the park puts together or

organizing live music at a local fundraiser that allow the students to use what they are being

taught outside of the classroom.

When teaching anywhere it is important to get to know the individual students, music is

an especially individual experience. This knowledge helps enhance a student’s learning process

to be the best it could possible be.