Journal Article: "Teacher as Musician versus Teacher as Composer"

The article "Teacher as Musician versus Teacher as Composer" examines an analogy that compares textbook authors to musical composers and teachers to musicians. The author of the article, Margaret R. Meyer, examines the issue of teachers taking on the role of composers in addition to musicians in that they "adapt" portions of the lesson for a number of reasons.

The principle of teaching as described by NCTM stresses the importance of teachers putting a great amount of thought and intention into the learning experiences they create for students. This article discusses this by explaining the need to "adapt" the materials and lessons provided (Meyer, 2009).

Similarly, the principle of teaching as described by NCTM states that teachers must be flexible in their lesson plans. This aspect of teaching is applied in the article in Meyer's explanation that nearly all lessons will need to be at least slightly altered to meet the specific needs of students (Meyer, 2009).

Also included in the NCTM description of the principle of teaching is the importance of reflective practice and continual improvement. This concept is discussed in the article in Meyer's mention of veteran teachers who teach the same inventory of lessons in nearly the exact same way year after year, believing in their tried and true methods (Meyer, 2009). This is an example of teachers who do not use reflective practice.


Meyer, M. R. (2009). Teacher as musician versus teacher as composer. Mathematics teaching in
the middle school 15(2), 70-73.