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Teaching Philosophy
Nathan Steinmuller
2023
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Introduction
During my freshman year of high school, I competed at the National Trumpet

Competition at the University of North Texas. The way the competition works is that

people are divided into divisions based on their age, and everyone who wants to

compete in that specific division sends in a video audition. They then select sixteen

people in each division, and those sixteen make it into the preliminary round where

they perform again for a chance to make it to the semifinals, where they only take

eight contestants. Those eight then compete for a chance to make the finals, where

they only take four, and then those four compete for a chance to win it all. For

reference, I made the finals and placed third in my division. For the National

Trumpet Competition that year, I performed “Andante et Allegro” by Guy Ropartz. By

the time the competition came around, I had already been working on it for 7

months. After I did my preliminary and semi-final performances, they announced I

had moved on to the finals. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions. I felt so

proud and I was bawling because I was so happy. That was one of the best

moments I have ever experienced. I loved reaping the benefits of my hard work and

dedication, and I couldn’t have done it without my private lessons teacher, Dustin.

Dustin taught me from sixth grade through my junior year of high school, and

he is the most important teacher I have had. He was right by my side from the

beginning of my tenure as a trumpet player and helped me become the best I could

be. Before I started working on a new solo, he would give me the music and have

me tell him what I think the piece will sound like and what kind of story I think the
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composer was trying to convey. After that, he would have me sight read it once just

with the notes and rhythms, and then had me play it again while adding musicality to

it. He would then have me defend each one of my choices and have me explain how

my choices helped me portray the story the composer was trying to convey. He put

me in the role of the teacher, and that was extremely beneficial. This semester, I just

realized that he was using reciprocal teaching. His use of reciprocal teaching was

extremely effective, as it helped me reach the semi-finals of the National Trumpet

Competition once, the finals once, helped me become a top three chair in the All-

District Honor Band three times, and helped me become a member of the Missouri

All-State Band twice.

I chose to be an educator because I wanted to help aspiring young students

become the musicians that they can be. I love sharing my passion for music with

others, and I want to help others share this passion we all have in common. What I

now understand is that the foundation of my musical career was guided by quality

teaching philosophies like those that Dustin employed. Due to the success that I

received while being taught with reciprocal teaching, I have made reciprocal

teaching the foundation for my teaching philosophy. Reciprocal teaching, by

definition, is a teaching method that aims to promote a student’s cognitive skills by

using four strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing (Palinscar

& Brown 1984).

In the process of reciprocal teaching, the roles of the teacher and student(s)

are essentially reversed. The idea of reciprocal teaching was created by two

professors at the University of Illinois; Dr. Palinscar and Dr. Brown. In their 1984
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study, Dr. Palinscar and Dr. Brown had four groups consisting of six seventh graders

each. The first group was taught using reciprocal teaching, and the second was

taught using a method called locating information. The two other groups in the study

were just control groups and had no intervention done to them (Palinscar & Brown

10).

The results of the study showed that the students who received reciprocal

teaching not only retained information better, but also the margin of error drastically

decreased when the students had to take a test after the study was over (Palinscar

& Brown 19). These results were more significant than the results of the other three

groups, thus proving that reciprocal teaching is effective in helping students

remember and comprehend course material (Palinscar and Brown 29, Figure 1).

Enhancing Important Skills

Music education has been shown to help enhance many important skills that

are necessary in order to be a functioning member of society, such as trust,

teamwork, and social skills (Blandford & Duarte 2004). Participating in a musical

ensemble not only develops necessary skills like the ones just stated, but it is way

more beneficial in the development of musicality and other skills needed to be a

musician, such as aural training and sight reading (Blandford & Duarte 5-6).

In their study, Blandford and Duarte asked members from two ensembles

(one from Portugal, and one from England) a variety of questions about how

participating in music has helped them develop as a musician. All participants stated
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that their practical musical abilities, such as intonation and sight reading, had

definitely improved (Blandford & Duarte 11). Respondents also stated how they felt

more motivated when they were playing in an ensemble, as they had competition

with the other members and how they had felt like they had more of a responsibility

playing with everyone (specifically the older members playing with the younger

members) (Blandford & Duarte 12). Lastly, members were asked about how playing

in an ensemble has helped with other areas of their life. Many reasons that were

stated include teamwork, interacting with others, meeting new people, adapting to a

new environment, and it encourages/develops creativity (Blandford & Duarte figures

4-7).

Music has also been shown to keep your mind sharp, boost iq, focus, and

persistence, boost academic performance, maintain your memory, develop fine

motor skills, and also helps in developing emotional and behavioral maturity

(Kaufman Music Center, 2022). Studies have also shown that students involved in

music are more likely to graduate on time, have less disciplinary actions taken

against them, and will more likely be a college graduate than students who are not

(Kaufman Music Center, 2022).

My Personal Vision

As stated earlier, my personal teaching philosophy is primarily rooted in the

idea of reciprocal teaching. I believe this is the most effective method of teaching

there is in order to get your students to not only remember, but to comprehend and
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to be able to apply it in their own lives, even outside of music. I have had so much

success with reciprocal teaching in aspects outside of my life, like in my AP

European History class I took my sophomore year of high school. My teacher used

reciprocal teaching, and it helped me understand and remember the content well

that I was able to get a four on the AP exam. I know so many other people who had

success while being taught under reciprocal teaching, and all of those experiences

have made me realize that I want to help aspiring young musicians achieve their

goals and become the best version of themselves that they can be.

Music education is so valuable in our schools, and the research definitely

supports that. I want to help my students develop into not only amazing musicians,

but also develop into amazing human beings. Music is also very powerful, as history

has shown time and time again that music can unite groups of people regardless of

their differences such as race, gender, age, sexuality, cultural backgrounds, religion,

and intellectual and physical disabilities. I want to help bring everyone together

despite their differences with the power of music, and in order to help achieve this

goal of mine, it would be best to use reciprocal teaching.

Conclusion

I want to be the best music educator possible. It definitely won’t be easy, but

in the end, every moment of the journey will be worth it when I get to share my

passion for music with others, and when I get the chance to help my students

become the best version of themselves that they can be.

This whole process of writing this paper has really made me appreciate the

good that music education can do for people, and how I have taken it for granted.

Not everyone has access to music education when they are young, and that

saddens me. Some little boy could have dreamed of being a professional drummer,

but because he doesn’t have access to music education because of the area he

lives in, he won’t even get the chance of pursuing his dream. This is why music

education is so important, and should be valued instead of tossed aside. I can’t wait

to be a part of the next generation of music educators and I can’t wait to impact the

lives of my students and help them accomplish their dreams.

Sources

● Annemarie Sullivan Palinscar & Ann L. Brown (1984): Reciprocal Teaching of

Comprehension Fostering and Comprehension Monitoring Activities,

Cognition and Instruction 2, 117-175

○ http://images.scholastic.co.uk/assets/a/d6/6f/palincsar-reciprocal-

teaching-1619152.pdf

● Sonia Blandford & Stephanie Duarte (2004): Westminster Studies in

Education Vol. 27, No. 1

○ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/0140672042000224934?

needAccess=true

● The Power of Music Education (2022)

○ https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/the-power-of-music-education/