2008/10/14 Respectful and Ethical Minds

If I haven't said it in previous postings, the world of technology gives us a seemingly endless string of possibilities. One of the magnificent things about the internet is the far reaching arm that it supplies us with. We are able, from the comfort of our desk chair or kitchen table, to stretch out our hands and scoop up things we could never have imagined possible. We can explore worlds visually and aurally like never before. And even better, we can take our students with us! When our students walk through our classroom doors they have no idea where we will lead them. Our journey may begin in a small town in America but we can venture farther in one 45 minute class period. I find myself almost like a child at Christmas when I start researching a new topic or following that thread that leads me off the beaten path to some unknown idea. I can hardly contain myself that I go off down the school hallway looking for someone else on an off period that I can share my discovery with. This is what I want my students to have. This is how I want them to feel.


Teaching music is a natural avenue to help children develop their respectful and ethical minds. We can not go very far in our lesson without encountering something from another culture or time in history. Just recently a class was reading an article about the music of Iran. Considering things as they are, it was a well timed article. The article specifically addressed folk, pop and classical music of Iran. Barely touching on the subject, we listened to examples, which of course made us giggle at it's differences. But this listening then led us to discuss why we giggle. It led us to talk about the elements of the music of Iran as compared to American music. We can take this conversation further and discuss the cultural differences. Our upcoming field trip project would be ideal for this activity. The country of Iran is so very foreign to them in many ways. They have so little understanding of what it is like to be a child in Iran. Perhaps in understanding the differences they will make their world a better place. And in developing their respectful and ethical minds is this not what we hope for?
So much of the music we sing in my class comes from other countries. How easy it would be to take those virtual field trips. Learn the cultures. Explore the differences and similarities. Create our own digital stories. And perhaps find and share them with other students from different places here and abroad.

Again, the possibilities are endless.