WHO WE WERE, WHO WE BECAME, WHAT WE WILL BE Dr. Lisa Martin In the last year, through all the ways the world has changed, our professional identities were disrupted. Music teachers across the world were forced to reinvent themselves, reimagine their programs, and relearn how to connect with their students. Now, as the prospect of a more typical world exists on the horizon of the next school year, it is worthwhile to take inventory of who we were as a profession, who we became during the pandemic, and what we will be moving forward. WHO WE WERE It is natural for us to long for how things used to be. What is normal is familiar, and what is familiar is comfortable. However, it is also important to avoid looking at past practices through rose-colored glasses. While many aspects of music teaching may have been more ideal pre-pandemic, it would be remiss to blanketly state that everything about our past practice was flawless. Indeed, the events of the last year prompt applying a critical lens to how things were done. In reflecting upon past practice, knowing what we know now, what can we uncover about… …how we defined success in the classroom? …which students we served, and which students were we unable to reach? …what music comprised our curriculum, what was omitted, and why? …what values were celebrated in our program? …where we excelled, and where we had room to grow in our personal musicianship and pedagogy? Although reflective practice plays a critical role in our professional development, music teachers well know that there is often little time to meaningfully engage with deep reflection. In preparing for the post-pandemic world, however, it is our responsibility to reflect, learn, and respond
objectively. In asking these and other questions, we can uncover opportunities to address the ways in which what was normal and familiar might not have always espoused best practice. What opportunities for change do we notice, now that there is space between what once was, and what is? WHO WE BECAME In a world where we thrive on the security of what we know, the past year revealed much about what we did not. We experienced feelings of vulnerability, inadequacy, and lack of control. The concept of planning became simultaneously crucial and moot, and as a profession, we were both celebrated and criticized. Living through these dichotomies, we experienced frustration, demonstrated resilience, and rediscovered our own creativity. As such, we must similarly ask ourselves questions about who we became – both in our own classrooms and as a profession at large: • What did we discover about our students’ and our own capacity for resilience? • What teaching tools were effective? • What made us feel vulnerable, and why? • How did our students respond to new strategies in the classroom? • In what ways were students able to demonstrate learning differently? • What sustained us as a profession? There are a range of models for reflective practice in teaching that can help guide the reflection process. Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (1998) captures a six-stage process which, unlike many other reflective models, encourages teachers to consider their feelings about a given teaching experience. In the “feelings” stage, Gibbs suggests teachers ask themselves questions such as “How were you feeling when the event started?” and “What were you thinking about at the time?” Certainly, our feelings over the past year have been complicated, making it all the more important to reflect upon our feelings alongside APRIL/MAY 2021 | 37
