VALUING WAYS OF KNOWING: Accepting and Passing Forward

By Caryn Cooper

As I reflect on my arts learning experiences as a child, I instantly think about my favorite teachers. I think about what it was about these teachers that I enjoyed and the lessons they taught me that I still hold onto today. I also think about the teachers that were not my favorite. I consider what it was about those teachers I found challenging, what lessons I learned from those encounters, and the teaching strategies they used.  

As I think about it more and more, I have come to realize that my experiences with all my arts instructors have had some kind of influence on the way I teach my students.

Receiving Previous Ways of Knowing 

When I think about the teachers that I enjoyed working with, one that comes to mind is my former high school band teacher. As part of the marching band in 10th-12th grade, I played the flute. When we as a band received a new piece of music, he would play the recorded version of the song as a model so that we can hear what the song should sound like. Next, we would point out things to note about the sheet music such as the time signature, the key, and tempo. From there, we broke down each section and practiced until both he and us felt that we mastered the section. I appreciated the time that he took to break everything down and was patient as we practiced each section before moving on. 

On the other side, when I think about the arts instructors that I found it challenging to work with, one that comes to mind is my former violin teacher. I took violin lessons briefly for 2 months when I was 12 years old. And honestly, I am surprised I made it that long. I found it difficult to adjust my fingers to play different notes. If my fingers were not in the correct position, she often would raise her voice, tell me that’s wrong and do it right. However, she did not show me how to position my fingers to get the correct note. She would often also move my fingers and jam them into the strings to the point that I got cuts or blisters on my fingers. I often felt that it was hard to learn a song, because I was not able to get through an entire song without my teacher raising her voice to complain that I was doing something wrong. After a while, I decided that I did not enjoy playing the violin and ultimately chose to discontinue playing.

These were their ways of knowing that they taught me. 

Passing Forward My Way of Knowing 

As I reflect more on those two very different arts learning experiences, I have come to realize that both have influenced my approach to teaching. I teach the way that I would want someone to teach to me. I incorporated the use of having a model and patience from my band teacher. I did not raise my voice to encourage correction. Instead, I chose to just review the area I would like to have done differently. I also added in time for individual work. In my past, I used to practice as a group, but didn’t have much time to practice on my own. That is something that I would have valued, but did not receive much of myself. 

This is how I choose to pass on my way of knowing. 

Valuing My Way of Knowing 

Taking into consideration that I have combined what worked well for me as a student and adjusted what did not work, that has become part of my teaching practice and philosophy. If I am teaching dance, I play the music of the song we will be dancing to first. Next, I teach and break down the choreography section by section. I allow for my students to go over the choreography a few times as a group, but also some additional time for them to review individually. I don’t raise my voice if my students get a step or section wrong. I also don’t point out that a section is incorrect, but rather review that section I would like to have done differently and encourage them with a story for an extra added layer. 

This is my way of knowing. I value who has influenced me and what lessons I learned from my previous experiences to create my teaching practice. I do understand that my way of knowing and teaching may not be for everyone, but I choose to bring it to the table because it may be the way that one person who wants to give up, needs.