Music Education is not a degree you'd ever choose for free time. If a Music Education major ever thinks they have free time, they're wrong. Just my experience. =P
Anyway, this topic kind of bothers me. Choosing education in a field has absolutely nothing to do with not being good enough at it. Especially in the music field, very talented individuals choose education because they realize it's a more stable platform than performing. The performance world is a not a fun one. Also... Education is flipping important and with the state of education in my country (and the way teachers are paid and perceived) people who choose to teach but don't care will not last. It is a very important job that receives so little respect.
This topic just kind of furthers that notion, to be honest. "Why not just be a doctor or an engineer", you ask. As if doctors and engineers are the only important jobs worthy of respect in the job world. We certainly need them, but... Guess what? We could not have effective doctors without effective educators.
That aside we all have strengths and weaknesses. I can't be a doctor, because I'm too squeamish. I get extremely uncomfortable in medical conversations, actually having to do it just isn't possible for me. Engineering is not my strength either. I'm not a mathematical person. Going down that path would be hell for me. It's not a fit for me.
If a Music Education major has free time, then they SHOULD be practicing. And if they're practicing, they're not practicing enough or the right way
Me, too, actually! My dream would be to teach classes about the history of woodwind and brass instruments and also show them. Alas, I know that's not really practical, so I'm going for teaching Music History in general. However, I've been personally studying the history of woodwind instruments for over a decade now. And I tend to write my essays about instruments. lol
OMG DID I JUST MEET SOMEONE ELSE ON THE FORUMS THAT IS INTO ORGANOLOGY?! MY LIFE IS COMPLETEEEEE
I'm a big brass guy myself, but I've been collecting instruments for about a year now
I classify all of my instruments out of a personal excel file under the hornbostel-sachs system, I'm really into strange instruments! I'm hoping to get a hydraulophone by the time I have a house (and I just bought a flute too!)
I'd like to point out a couple of things. Usually it's the most common answer to hear 'I wanna be a so-so kind of teacher when I grow up/graduate high school/college' from kids to teenagers to young adults. I'm not stating people literally take the job of becoming a teacher. This is just a common answer I hear. Heck, when I was eleven, I thought I would be a English professor teaching college students. I don't remember why I thought I would be one at the time, but it's still something I hear from time to time. And that's why I wanted to ask about it because, it's interesting to know what drives someone to want to be a teacher. And it's a popular answer.
Atop of that, I'm not saying we don't need teachers to become doctors, engineers, air force pilots, and ect. We do need teachers. Good teachers in fact.
It is nice to see how passionate all of you are about becoming a teacher or being one. The op was meant with good intentions and wasn't meant to offend anyone. All of your answers thus far have been interesting because, I like seeing other peoples perspective and reasoning behind it all. Including what type of teacher you are/wanna be.
In relation to the topic you brought up, maleficentfan123, I'd like to know what you'd want done to fix the public school education system? (This is just me asking. Anyone else can hop onto this question too. :3)
Furthermore, I'm highly aware of the crisis in the US public education system because, I do live in the states. I'm more than aware about school districts having a shortage of decent teachers, considering a lot of them right now aren't doing their jobs, having affairs with students, or have criminal records being overlooked in the poorer districts right now. And I know a good amount of students do care about getting an education to become better people and make a difference.
(Hopefully this can stay a healthy discussion. xD)
What teachers really need is more pay and more respect in their respective fields. While a math or science teacher is never questioned about the qualifications needed to have a degree or whether or not their subject is even important, a music education major in a new job can be asked by
other teachers if they even need a
degree to get a job as a music teacher. That right there is why the American education system receives so little respect from their colleagues.
I've said this in my lectures, and I'll say it here: the world's hardest question for a Music Educator is answering why their work is necessary to the students. Sure, you can say it builds character, relationships, gives kids an outlet to be expressive, or preserves the art form throughout the generations, but politicians don't give a single diddly about us and want tangible evidence. The only tangible evidence we have is improved cognitive function and the music industry itself being a thing, and even then it doesn't stop school districts from constantly cutting programs and firing music and art teachers first. People don't give a diddly if music is your passion; they don't see passion as a necessary part of the education system, and will do anything that they can to quash your program as long as it'll help them cut corners and cut the fat off. That's why it's so hard for music educators to defend their job; it's important to them, but it's not tangible, and they can't explain why it'd be important to anyone else without simply trying to appeal to emotion. There's nothing tangible or helpful clearly behind it, therefore it must be useless under the American education system.
Also, as Maleficent said, pay teachers more! Seriously, it's hard work! They do a lot of shit and practically fund their classroom supplies out of their wallets, at least compensate them for that part!