Secondary school. You might remember it as being the best years of your life, but they didn’t come without their challenges. Lates, no homework, detention, uniform standards. I’m sure we can all relate in saying that we have experienced at least one of these challenges when we were in school. Now that I’m on the opposite side of the education system I have a new perspective on the challenges that teachers encounter on a daily basis. As a student it was easy to argue back and not understand why teachers were ‘strict’ or ‘always on our back’ but now I understand that they want to get the best out of their students to develop their skills and prepare them for opportunities and challenges they may face when they’ve left school. Teaching requires care and professionalism and is more than just a career, it is a way of life. As Schon states, “we conduct society’s principal business through professionals specially trained to carry out that business, [like] educating our children.” (1)
Teaching is no easy job, but teaching GCSE? That’s a challenge I was very unprepared for. The GCSE curriculum covers 3 units, performance, set works, and composition. The experience I have from my degree has allowed me to have a good understanding of the performance and composing elements of their studies, however, analysing set works is something I haven’t done myself since GCSE. This was a very daunting element of my placement, and it was the first time I felt nervous about teaching a class as I didn’t have the recent practice and knowledge of studying and analysing the work myself. I asked my mentor for help, and I was immediately thrown into the studies of a GCSE student… again! I was given all the set work material and the playlist of the music which I studied and analysed to prepare myself for upcoming lessons. If I wasn’t already a student again, I definitely was now. It was good that this experience happened in the environment of my placement where my mentor was able to guide me on how to prepare myself for future classes. It was unfortunate that not having recent knowledge of set work analysis meant I was unable to teach the curriculum in my placement. It was late into the year before I began studying the set work pieces myself so for most of the year I couldn’t teach these classes. I’ve learnt that preparing and researching before teaching a class is a useful tool to have. It means I am well prepared to answer questions and teach the work in extreme detail. To further my knowledge in this area, I could have also went onto the CCEA syllabus and found past papers and studied over them to test my knowledge and understanding in each set work, so I am fully equipped for teaching the work in a lesson. For any lessons that I would teach in the future I would make sure to research the syllabus and make myself familiar with the material to ensure I was well prepared for the lesson. This experience was an eye opener for the prep work that is expected from teachers before a lesson even takes place. Setting time aside each week to lesson plan and learn the material sets up a very successful class for students.
Going back to my old secondary school was definitely a challenge I didn’t expect. I remember sitting in the same seats of the girls I’m now teaching, and it left me wondering where my place now is in the classroom. I still felt like a student but was expected to be a teacher. I felt very apprehensive knowing when to apply my knowledge to lessons and making sure I was assisting the teacher and not over stepping any boundaries. To ensure I was of good service to the teacher I had a conversation with her asking what was expected of me as her teaching assistant. We went over each key stage curriculum and what was expected of me in each area of key stage 3 (year 8-10), GCSE (year 11-12) and A Level (AS and A2). This was a good way to establish boundaries and know what elements of each year I could teach. Some of the modules I have studied throughout the 3 years of my degree are related to some of the units in the secondary school syllabus including performance, composition, and music theory. These are the topics I was able to apply to my teaching practice due to my current study in these areas. It was good to be able to determine my strengths and what I can do to help each year group. My mentor and I collectively decided that I explain and demonstrate practical elements of the units in key stage 3 and assist in performance and composition areas in GCSE and A Level. This meant I could use the skills learnt from my degree to get the best out of the students when teaching them. I could then also observe my mentors teaching style in the written and set work elements of the modules, take notes and understand what teaching styles work for different class bands. However, only teaching the skills I had learnt from university meant I wasn’t developing in other areas hands on in class which would have benefited me more as a student teacher. I could have studied in my own time in the areas I struggled with to know the units in depth and apply my knowledge to the lessons. In future I would have a conversation with my mentor asking for advice or tips in certain subject areas to learn from them and ask to lead a lesson in that area once I had observed it.
A challenge I somewhat expected to encounter was students not participating in class, which was difficult to manage when it happened. Some students, especially in key stage 3, get nervous about the performing elements of their music class and get overwhelmed and do not want to participate. As a student myself I understand how daunting it can be performing in front of others, especially when you aren’t used to it or don’t really like the music you’re playing, but as a teacher I know it is to increase the student’s confidence and playing abilities. One student was asked to perform a blues piece as a part of her Christmas exam in front of her class and she got very overwhelmed and upset. This can be a difficult situation because everyone must participate in exams as you cannot make differences between students based on feeling nervous. Is it a challenge dealing with this in front of an entire class, and I remembered reading once that “…decisions should be competent and thought through” (2) to ensure the situation was dealt with professionally. I excused the girl from class to go and take a moment to relax and get a drink of water. When she came back and was feeling better, I explained to her that this is a part of her exam, and she has to participate. I told her she had no need to be nervous because we want her to do the best she can to achieve a high mark. I gathered that she was feeling stressed because of playing in front of her classmates so I allowed her to complete the exam in a separate room with 2 other classmates rather than the entire class. This was a great teaching moment for me as I was able to understand the student’s feelings and come to a solution based on her needs while still ensuring the exam was completed.
Despite its challenges my time in placement has developed my skills in problem solving and my teaching abilities. I met the learning objectives of every class I taught and got good feedback from my mentor after each class, telling me what I done well and how to improve for future lessons. I really enjoyed my time teaching the girls and, despite the challenges, I created good relationships with the students in my classes. I built trust and was patient when supporting them in lessons. I’d do it all again even though it was difficult at times, but I think this is what develops a person and what makes them a great teacher!
Bibliography
- Schön, DA 1994, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, Taylor & Francis Group, Oxford. Available from: ProQuest eBook Central. [8 March 2024].
- How to Improve your Critical Thinking & Reflective Skills 2013, Pearson Education UK, Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [9 March 2024].
- Gibbs Reflective Cycle. Jasper, M. (2013) Beginning reflective practice. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA. Medical Library. [8 March 2024]