Teaching the Individual
Something I have learned about teaching over the years is that, every time you get pretty comfortable teaching and feel like you have a pretty good grasp on the art, you all of a sudden get a new student who completely throws you for a loop.
What worked for your students in the past just does not work for this one! They learn at a different pace. They see things differently. They need things explained a completely different way. They have totally different goals.
And when you get the hang of teaching them, you get someone new who is completely unique and different from the last student!
And so it goes.
Anyone else notice this pattern? I actually enjoy it, because it keeps me on my toes. When I come up with new and exciting ways to teach different personality types and different ages, I get really excited. My confidence grows, my attitude changes and I really feel like I can influence my students for the better.
So how do we do this? How can we be flexible and adaptable in our teaching, yet still adhere to high standards in our studios? How can we help each student, no matter their background, personality type, and musical goals, have a positive experience with music lessons?
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Great post and so true! This same problem created a dilemma when we began creating our Kore Series at http://www.discoverlearnandplay.com. We built in quizzes, then decided to add ear training examples, made great fingering charts, then realized some people want to 'see' how things are done…so we're recording videos. The challenges in our real life teaching at The Dallas School of Music all carried over when we designed the curriculum. It keeps us all on our toes!