Hello everyone, my name is Lilac and I am a secondary school Music teacher in Toronto, Ontario. I graduated from Queen’s with my Music and Education degrees, and have been working towards my PME since 2022. PME801 is my eighth course in the program and the end is in sight! Of all the courses offered in the program, I have been the most excited for this one in particular. I am looking forward to learning with you all.
Some of the ways I cultivate my own creativity is by continuing to learn and perform music. When I first became an educator, I found the balance between being a performer, composer, and educator challenging. While there is still never enough time to do it all, I have gotten better at finding opportunities to be creative within my own teaching. My classes are currently preparing a musical performance for graduation at the end of June. My vocal class will be performing a few selections and I will accompany them on piano. For another smaller rock band ensemble, I have taken it upon myself to learn the bass guitar part. By learning and performing with my students, they feel more encouraged to perform in front of an audience. Everyone goes through the planning, rehearsal, and performance process together. A sense of trust and belonging must be formed in order for creativity amongst a group to be successful.
These days, I hope to cultivate the creativity of my students. My classes know that I am enrolled in graduate school and that I have an upcoming evaluation which will officially certify me into the New Teacher Induction Program in Ontario. I have discovered that by being open about my learning and modelling my creativity endeavors, students feel more inspired to take creative risks.
To be creative, and to learn these necessary skills, (communication, team-building, and innovation), that Robinson (2016), says are not being taught in schools who have to abide by more standardized policies, poses several challenges to my students. Some students are surprised by how “different” Music may be from more “traditional” subjects. They are not used to providing creative insight or managing self-directed learning. Others struggle with taking creative risks in their learning, mostly because they have little to no experience on how to do so. Ensuring that my students work towards attaining these skill sets that they can apply even beyond the classroom, is exactly why cultivating creativity is important in education. In turn, they motivate me to stay creative and everyone ends up learning from one another.
References
Robinson, K. (2016, May 18). Why creativity is important in education. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee5A5NSbMN4 (2:58)
Toronto, May 2023
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