Pracitcum Reflections
My practicum placement was a rewarding and transformative experience that has strongly reinforced my desire to teach, while also exposing me to many of the challenges I will face in my early career. Going in with a desire to utilise my strengths in conducting and ensemble work, I often found myself working in a very different musical context, and was made keenly aware of the great diversity of the music teaching profession.
I found my school to have an incredibly robust music program, albeit one without a single orchestral instrument in sight. The students were however incredibly gifted guitarists, pianists, drummers and vocalists. To ensure I was able to respond effectively to their skillsets, my breaks often saw me frantically learning Ukulele chords in the staff room, or brushing up on my very limited guitar skills. There were moments however where I was able to play to my strengths, such as accompanying HSC performances and helping mentor senior students in their composition assignments.
Above: The music classrooms from my placement.
I experienced the full range of classroom behaviours across the 4 weeks, and had to adapt quickly to manage some of the most difficult situations. Much of my theoretical and behavioural understanding suddenly became irrelevant as I was faced with disengaged, confrontational and disruptive responses from students, and I felt my first true moments of ‘praxis shock’. While I recognised that many interactions were often down to my new introduction and to lack of familiarity with these students, it still brought into sharp focus how trust has to be built, and how routines and expectations that are established at the beginning of the year are so important to that success.
Being located in South Western Sydney, the school’s student population came from a great diversity of cultural backgrounds. I often found myself analysing the schools unit plans and curriculum implementation, and whether it was reflective of the students' lived experiences. I wondered if there might’ve been room to incorporate Arabic musical traditions reflective of a plurality of students' backgrounds, or indeed the musical traditions of any of the students. I was able to find relatability with the year 7 classes in particular through teaching the hit K Pop song ‘Golden’ on ukulele, and could see firsthand how their engagement instantly improved through their shared interest in the repertoire.
I found my confidence grew day after day, as I became more comfortable building relationships with students and establishing my authoritative teaching persona. Overall I found the experience to be richly rewarding in both seeing the musical and social developments of students, as well as of my own teaching practice.
The ukulele progression resource for ‘Golden’ I developed for the year 7 classes.
