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My Personal
Statement
My personal beliefs are that knowledge is the
foundation of teaching, and that learning process is a continuous endeavour. The most challenging things in life are often the
most rewarding. And being a teacher is no exception. I am committed therefore
to further my experience and professional learning through your comprehensive programme of study addressing the ever-changing conditions and
emerging issues within the context of education. This is a necessary and very
challenging step toward expanding my professional competence in teaching.
Teaching is the quintessence of my life. I decided to
become a teacher the same day that I decided to become a musician. These two
vocations have always been inextricable for me. In order to reach my career
goal I attended the Baia-Mare’s Pedagogic
High School (Romania, Europe),
from which I graduated earning a high-school diploma in Music-instrumental
(violin).
For one year, I
was given the opportunity to teach as a substitute violin teacher in the same
high school that I graduated. I fully used this time to gain more experience
necessary for teaching. Besides the every day teaching, I constantly taught
private lessons on my primary instrument - violin; I volunteered to tutor
students, observed and assisted elder teachers.
Willing to become
a professional musician and music educator, I decided to attend Cluj-Napoca’s “Faculty of Music “(Romania, Europe), from
which I graduated in 1985, obtaining a Bachelor of Music/Bachelor of Education with Honours degree, which led to
the certification as a music instrumental/vocal teacher in Romania.
I started my teaching career in September 1985 as a
violin teacher at Zalau’s Elementary School, Romania,
where I worked until 1990. The modern, active and participative strategies used
in my teaching developed instrumental performing skills that enabled my
students, not only to successfully pass their annual examinations, but also to
participate in national violin performing contests, and be rewarded with
valuable prizes. In my desire to advocate music, enhance student achievement
and involve high school students in the artistic field, I established the
“Amadeus” choral ensemble at the local “Mathematics-Physics” High School in
1987. Directed and conducted by myself,
the above mentioned ensemble was led in regular and special performances for
school programs, community activities and concerts. We also participated in
festivals, concert tours organized by myself. These endeavours were so
successful that we even won national choral contests.
As a result of my constant commitment to enhancing my
teaching skills, as well as my passion to personally contribute to the
development and improvement of music education, I regularly participated in
staff meetings, music teacher training workshops and educational or music
national conferences/symposia with papers such as: “Strategies to enhance
students’ violin technique and performing skills”, “Ways to improve musical
education in art schools”, “Semiotic analysis applied to musical discourse”,
and “Semiotic analyses applied to medieval conducting gesture”.
In 1990, I
started to work at Baia-Mare’s High School of Music.
In addition to teaching violin technique and performing skills to high school
students, I instructed and coached students of the semi-symphonic orchestra
(strings, winds, percussions) in their individual parts, in fundamentals of
musicianship and ensemble performance. Also, as a member of the School’s
Admission Board, I evaluated students’ interests, aptitudes, and temperament
and individual characteristics in order to determine a suitable instrument for
the beginner. I continued to prepare my students for bi-annual examinations,
recitals, concerts, festivals, and maintained consistent award-winning
performances at contests with them.
Teaching music to high school students was one of my
most challenging and rewarding experiences. I worked with the most talented and
highly motivated students, and I learned to constantly refine my teaching
methods and strategies to match each individual’s personality, learning
capacity, needs and level. Considering ongoing professional development an
essential part of being a teacher and willing to learn more about academic and
vocational engagement, and how to encourage creative problem solving among my
students, in the summer of 1993, 1995 and 1996, I attended the G. Dima Academy of Music Continuing Teacher Education
programs. The courses I attended, based on latest innovations in music
education, upgraded my teaching skills; therefore, starting with September
1996, I decided to focus on training students for the entrance examination at
the Academy of Music, by preparing them in: Violin,
Score and Sight Reading, Theory of Music, Music Analyses, Sol-fa, Dictation,
Ear and Rhythmic Training. All students, whose preparation I undertook,
successfully passed their examinations.
Committed to passing on my knowledge and experience
in violin performing and teaching to my students, and also to becoming a great
role model who inspires them, I wrote and published my paper “Violin practice
training: an essential part of violin training” in 1997. Between 1990 and 2000,
my every year’s activity work and results were rated with “Excellent”. In 1997,
for all my contribution to musical education, I was granted the highest
didactic degree in secondary music education – Category I Violin Teacher. In
the Romanian education system, there are three promotion stages: permanent
teaching position, Category II and Category I.
In October 2000, I moved with my family to Toronto, Canada.
In November, I started to teach Violin, Theory and History of Music to students
at “Robert’s Centre of Performing Arts”, through individual and group lessons,
so that students would successfully pass the Royal Conservatory of Music examinations.
As a result of my students’ achievements at the RCM exams, in 2002 I became an
affiliate teacher of this prestigious institution (Teacher number 50379).
Working according the RCM syllabi brought new dimensions to my teaching, in the
development of my students’ creativity, discipline and goal setting.
From September 2001 to the present, I have been
working as a permanent part-time music teacher at Cornerstone
Preparatory School, Toronto. My teaching assignments include
teaching Music Appreciation to Nursery, JK and SK, Music and Music Theory to
grades 1-6, Music Theory and Music History to grades 7-12, and Strings to
grades 5-12. As a Strings teacher, in addition to coaching students in their
individual parts and fundamentals of musicianship, I instruct them in Score
Reading and teach them team playing in order to build social skills and
ensemble discipline. The beginner, intermediate and advanced groups play an
orchestral repertoire of diverse styles, with players rotating within sections
to guarantee equal playing opportunities. All groups are led in regular and
special performances for school program and concerts.
I have to recognize that I am extremely grateful for
the opportunity I was given to teach Music for grades 1-12 in Cornerstone Preparatory
School. I have learned to manage a multi-level
classroom, and I acquired new teaching skills/techniques. In addition to
planning my daily classroom work based on teaching outlines prepared for course
of study to meet curriculum requirements, I have learned to plan and adapt my
lessons so that to include a variety of teaching strategies aimed at meeting
the diversity of social, emotional, academic/learning needs, as well as to
involve all students at all levels. I have learned not only to be more resourceful
and creative in my teaching methods and strategies, but also to find ways to
improve the physical learning environment that influences my students’
learning. I have also learned to construct a classroom environment that is
non-competitive. Too much competition in the classroom serves to alienate some
children from the others; instead, I have tried to promote cooperation and
group activities rather than contests. I re-considered my methods of
evaluation, by linking them to methods of performance, students’ learning
styles and cognitive ability and their class participation. Every year I
enhanced and creatively re-adapted my annual and monthly overviews in order to
meet the students’ learning needs and parents’/school’s expectations. I worked
alongside other teachers to be as inclusive and open as possible. This involved
identifying and overcoming my own biases, and I feel that it has enriched me as
a human being. In my desire to learn more about the above teaching matters, in
April 2002 and 2003 I attended at ACSI’s Professional
Development Seminars. The 2003 one, based on Early Childhood Education brought
new dimensions into my teaching. I have learned to better stimulate, direct and
control outgoing physically active children.
I am very grateful for all the variety of experiences
and opportunities, and for the countless rewards my teaching career has offered
me thus far. I consider teaching the noblest and most inspiring profession. It
is invigorating, challenging and unique as each child I teach.