Music

Even though I am training to be a media teacher, I have been supporting music/radio lessons. Today I was asked to support some learners on the BTEC Music course. As it was my first time with this class, I went in with no assumptions and tried to get stuck in but found that the learners did to respond to me like my other classes did. By the end of the class I was a little confused but intrigued by the learners.

They were so diverse and I am not just talking about learning styles. The dynamics of the class and personalities are like no class I have ever been to…

The class has: 3 girls, 1 Asian guy, 1 Turkish guy and about 9 black guys.

I know I will get judged for highlighting their ethnicity, race and gender but I found that this is a crucial part of teaching. It helps us understand learners’ needs and gives us background knowledge of the area/community and college. I was told at the end of the class about the following students: 

> 1 learner has problems outside of college, which has affected their attendance and home life.

> 2 learners have learning difficulties, which means they have to be spoken to very slowly. Instructions have to be repeated because they often forget what is said to them by the time the sentence is finished. A light bulb flickered in my head when I was told this… No wonder they looked at me cluelessly! I  was explaining how they can structure their assignment so its easier to write and they looked at me like I was speaking another language and then turned to their screens like I had frightened them. They assured me they knew what they were doing but I felt like they wanted to get rid of me. Noticing this, I decided to leave them to get along with their work then check up on them a little later. 

> Most if not all learners have very poor attendance

> 1 learner has a personality that can only be described as “out of the box”. For the lack of a better word and to avoid sounding judgemental, I will attempt to describe it further. This learner is by far the most intriguing student I have ever met in my life. The learner: 

a)     Has a completely blank facial expression, which means no one can identity their emotions

b)     Has a lot of confidence

c)      Has possible learning difficulties 

d)     Does not communicate with other learners in a conventional manner

This is a very small selection of things I have highlighted. There are more but to avoid sounding judgemental, I think it is better I keep them to myself.

I decided to carry on attending this class because I think I can learn a lot about the diverse ways I can meet learners’ needs. This will open my eyes to students who need support in specific areas of their learning and will improve my communication. This will also help with my reflecting from the students’ lens. (Brookfield: 1995)