Dylan Albright
Teacher interview assignment
For this assignment I interviewed my high school band director. I chose to interview him
because he is a graduate of Penn State, and I felt speaking with someone that has found success after
taking almost the exact same path as I am would be beneficial. I found his answers to the interview to
be quite interesting. When I asked him what his favorite aspect of teaching was, he replied with two
answers: “When you get a group to produce quality music (accurate and expressive)” and “When a
young or struggling student has an ‘a-ha’ moment and does something successfully”. I can say I look
forward to this happening when I am an educator as well. Yes as a teacher you get a salary, but the real
reward is when a student makes beautiful music and is successful. I felt that even as a member of an
ensemble, when something clicks within the group it is a powerful moment. He answered almost
immediately after I asked him what he would have done differently while he school with one brief
statement, “More time in practice room, less time in breezeway”. I hope I do not fall victim to this in my
time here. When asked to comment on what I could do to better prepare myself for my professional
career, he stressed the importance of going beyond the lectures and classroom material. “Play in a
variety of ensembles and find extra opportunities to tutor or teach. Even if you don’t plan on teaching
kindergarten, do it, methods are theoretical and don’t always apply to the classroom.” He was very
adamant that although theory and ed psych have their place, nothing in a book or on paper can
completely prepare you for the real thing. No two students are exactly the same and what they don’t
teach are some of the most important things. Getting as much experience where you are the student
and not the teacher is imperative. The final question I asked him was “How specifically did Penn State
prepare you to be a music teacher”. Since I am attending Penn State too I felt this had to be asked. He
said that Penn State has so many quality ensembles that better you as a performer and also the
opportunity to teach youth and gain experience. Interviewing my former teacher was a valuable
experience. He gave good insight into the profession that I never really thought about before. Given this
opportunity again, I would choose to interview a teacher with more experience (this is my director’s 7th
year, which is experienced, but not as much as my recently retired choir director of 30+ years). If
anything this made me excited to be a music educator because I heard about the rewards and know I
want to experience them for myself.