Dr. Elizabeth Gould Reflection
Our Music Education class had a guest speaker on Wednesday, September 21st. Dr. Gould is a professor at the University of Toronto. She teaches and lectures about philosophy based theories in music education. She also teaches about feminism and queer theory, and has published widely. In our lecture she voiced one of her theories: Teaching is Impossible. She spoke about how this theory is based on personal experiences and biases, but unlike an opinion, theories have evidence, facts, data, and allegations to base the theory upon. We were asked to read an article before the lecture entitled “Teacher’s Pet”, written by A. W. Strouse. It was about a cat owner that was trying to teach his pet to do his business in the toilet instead of using a litter box. This article is explaining Strouse’s ideas about pedagogy and teaching. Dr. Gould then posed the question: “What is pedagogy?”. She let us know that pedagogy is a fancy word for teaching or an exchange of thoughts. She went on to explaining about the New School and progressive education. She asked us if we thought that education was student driven or teacher driven. We concluded that it is a happy medium that allows for education to be successful. You need the students to be alert and engaged and they must do this on their own, but the teacher must also be prepared and be able to teach the students what he/she can. Dr. Gould finished her lecture by restating her theory that “teaching is impossible” by finishing the article “Teacher’s Pet”. Strouse ended his article by stating that he was not too successful with his cat training but that the cat just diverted back to his natural instincts.
After listening to Dr. Gould’s lecture I have a few questions. What do teachers think about on a daily basis to make sure they can teach to their full potential? What philosophies are they taught that enable them to teach better? Perhaps if the lecture was longer we could have had our questions answered? I completely agree with Gould in that education requires a happy medium. Students need to be attentive in class and teachers must be prepared. You can not have learning without teaching or students.
Our Music Education class had a guest speaker on Wednesday, September 21st. Dr. Gould is a professor at the University of Toronto. She teaches and lectures about philosophy based theories in music education. She also teaches about feminism and queer theory, and has published widely. In our lecture she voiced one of her theories: Teaching is Impossible. She spoke about how this theory is based on personal experiences and biases, but unlike an opinion, theories have evidence, facts, data, and allegations to base the theory upon. We were asked to read an article before the lecture entitled “Teacher’s Pet”, written by A. W. Strouse. It was about a cat owner that was trying to teach his pet to do his business in the toilet instead of using a litter box. This article is explaining Strouse’s ideas about pedagogy and teaching. Dr. Gould then posed the question: “What is pedagogy?”. She let us know that pedagogy is a fancy word for teaching or an exchange of thoughts. She went on to explaining about the New School and progressive education. She asked us if we thought that education was student driven or teacher driven. We concluded that it is a happy medium that allows for education to be successful. You need the students to be alert and engaged and they must do this on their own, but the teacher must also be prepared and be able to teach the students what he/she can. Dr. Gould finished her lecture by restating her theory that “teaching is impossible” by finishing the article “Teacher’s Pet”. Strouse ended his article by stating that he was not too successful with his cat training but that the cat just diverted back to his natural instincts.
After listening to Dr. Gould’s lecture I have a few questions. What do teachers think about on a daily basis to make sure they can teach to their full potential? What philosophies are they taught that enable them to teach better? Perhaps if the lecture was longer we could have had our questions answered? I completely agree with Gould in that education requires a happy medium. Students need to be attentive in class and teachers must be prepared. You can not have learning without teaching or students.
Teachers Pet: Gould assignment
Critical race theory: a critical examination of society and culture, to the intersection of race, law, and power.
Cookie Lyon; Taraji P. Henson; Fox’s Empire: fictional character from the American musical drama Empire. Taraji P. Henson is an American actress and singer
New School; John Dewey; University in Exile: A school founded in New York city in 1919 that was made for students to learn the core social sciences influenced philosophically and historically. Students learn to practice creative democracy, which is the concepts, techniques, and commitments required for the conflicting interests of everyone in the world to live together peacefully.
Frankfurt School: a philosophical school with a Marxist view of society.
Hanna Arendt: German-born Jewish American political theorist. She escaped Europe during the Holocaust and became an American citizen.
Progressive education: finds its roots in present experience. Learn by doing, love hands on learning, problem solving and critical thinking, emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills.
Aristotle: A Greek philosopher and scientist. Went to Plato’s Academy when is was eighteen, and remained there until age thirty-seven, his writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. He also tutored Alexander the Great.
Augustine: an early Christian Theologian and philosopher. His writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy
Critical race theory: a critical examination of society and culture, to the intersection of race, law, and power.
Cookie Lyon; Taraji P. Henson; Fox’s Empire: fictional character from the American musical drama Empire. Taraji P. Henson is an American actress and singer
New School; John Dewey; University in Exile: A school founded in New York city in 1919 that was made for students to learn the core social sciences influenced philosophically and historically. Students learn to practice creative democracy, which is the concepts, techniques, and commitments required for the conflicting interests of everyone in the world to live together peacefully.
Frankfurt School: a philosophical school with a Marxist view of society.
Hanna Arendt: German-born Jewish American political theorist. She escaped Europe during the Holocaust and became an American citizen.
Progressive education: finds its roots in present experience. Learn by doing, love hands on learning, problem solving and critical thinking, emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills.
Aristotle: A Greek philosopher and scientist. Went to Plato’s Academy when is was eighteen, and remained there until age thirty-seven, his writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. He also tutored Alexander the Great.
Augustine: an early Christian Theologian and philosopher. His writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy