While watching the documentary “Most Likely to Succeed” I was struck with this idea that keeps popping up throughout education courses. The idea that schooling and education needing a revamp seems to be a common theme. The documentary brings attention to how schools teach students to memorize but not learn. One statistic that shocked me was that, two months after writing a test they had previously done well on most students received an F. The fact that when asked if they would rather ace a test or learn tools applicable to life students answered acing a test astounded me. This culture of regurgitation has become so pervasive that college which used to signify a stable job and success now has become a place where more academia and memorization has become commonplace without any particular goal in mind.

Questions like these make me wonder what can be adapted in the classroom to give students passion and remember what they are being taught. My personal teaching area is music so I am quite interested in adapting the band room into a more inquiry and critical thinking inducing space. I was reading a excerpt from a book “Teaching Instrumental Music in Canadian Schools” by Edwin Wasiak and he poses the question whether schools should move emphasis away from the traditional band ensemble and into more modern pop or electronic music like many nordic European countries have found success with. I found this thought intriguing and made me want to model modern music techniques in my classroom. Find ways to give students creative outlets to explore and follow what passions they desire. By making myself as knowledgeable in as many areas as possible I hope to one day facilitate meaningful conversations with students and be able to give direction in areas they choose to pursue time.