Emily's Question

Emily's question: Do you think the environment affects one's ability to improvise?

In my opinion, ther environment plays a great role in determining one's ability to improvise. Suppose a teacher is working in a school where planning is of the utmost importance - improvisation might be taboo. In a pre-practicum assignment I studied under last semester, I was told a story about a school in which the principal demanded to see the lesson plans of all teachers. If a teacher did not have a formal lesson-plan write-up for the day, they were documented and later fired if found unprepared again. If one is working in this type of rigid community, how can one expect to feel comfortable improvising?

We discussed in class the role that wealth can play in determining one's need to improvise. If a person is living in an environment that is advanced, either financially or technologically, the need for certain types of improvisation would be slim.

My question is this: Do you agree with the aforementioned principal, and do you think that all teachers should have formal lesson-plan write-ups prepared everyday?

Education and Improvisation

Today in class we discussed the definition of improvisation and the benefits this approach could bring to a classroom. I think improvisation, to a degree, is absolutely necessary. The spontaneity and freedom of being able to improvise moments in the classroom is refreshing for both teacher and student. Focusing mostly on the teacher's use of improvisation in class, I am curious about the way students improvise.

How do students improvise in the classroom? Is it by thinking on the spot about a subject they are not quite prepared to discuss? Or is it by introducing new concepts to a classroom for discussion that correspond to the original topic? In my experience, I think of pop quizzes as moments of improvisation on behalf of the student. In some of my classes, pop quizzes consist of in-class writing assignments about a specific prompt. Since there is not a way to be prepared for a "pop quiz", how do students tackle them? They must improvise to some extent to organize their thoughts and to think and problem-solve quickly. Could this be improvisation? By first glance, we may not consider taking a pop quiz an exercise in improvisation, but to me, this is a clear example of taking a skeletal concept and developing an unplanned response.

My question is this: Can you think of a time in your school experience when you improvised as a student?

Beauty vs. Pleasure

Today in class we discussed the idea that "music education liberates us from vulgarity". More simply, the more educated one becomes, the freer one can be from thinking the vulgar music often played in the popular radio is beautiful. By increasing our knowledge and understanding of music, we can begin to accept popular music as vulgar, while opening up our eyes (and ears) to more aesthetically valuable music.

Although this is likely to be true, can we fairly say that education truly liberates us? I think that the liberation attained through music education can be optional. For example, a person may be highly educated in the subject of music, but still find pleasure in the low-value songs on the radio or of their favorite artist. Although this person can determine the difference between aesthetically valuable music and vulgar music, they cannot necessarily decide that they will no longer find a piece enjoyable just because their education tells them it isn't. Does this idea mean that education offers liberation from vulgarity if one chooses?

My question is this: Have you ever found a song, book, film, etc., enjoyable even if you knew that the quality was minimal and vulgar?