 For
student advice on talking with teachers about teaching philosophies, see our
Interview Checklist.
|
What Is a Teaching Philosophy?
The best teachers will tailor their teaching to the strengths, weaknesses
and interests of the individual student. They will choose, combine or invent
materials and approaches that work best for that student. However, most
teachers can be said to have some basic philosophies, or foundations, behind
their teaching, separate from any piano methods or materials that they may use.
For example, some teachers believe that ear training and playing by ear are
preferable to an emphasis on sight-reading music. Since some students play
well by ear and may have interests in improvisation (jazz), this might make
sense for those students. Other teachers believe that constantly challenging
the student with progressively more difficult material and concepts is the
best approach, while others concentrate more on making lessons "fun". I have
heard many times from teachers who use the "Suzuki method" that Suzuki is as
much a philosophy as a teaching method.
A teacher
who believes strongly in sight-reading ability probably will choose to use
certain methods and not use others. A teacher who teaches jazz piano
probably will have a different underlying philosophy, i.e. one more attuned
to ear training and improvisation, and use different method materials, than
one who teaches classical piano. A
teacher who teaches only advanced students will likely have a different
approach and different values than one who teaches only young children.
However, I would submit that, while you would probably get somewhat
different answers, all these teachers could, and probably would, tell you
what aspects they think are most important about piano learning. The sum of
these aspects for each teacher can be referred to as a teaching philosophy.
Teaching Philosophies and Methods
All piano teaching methods embody, to at least a degree, a certain small
set of underlying principles or, put another way, a philosophy of teaching. A teaching philosophy is not identical to a "method", even though a
method might be mostly or fully consistent with a teaching philosophy. Most
teachers can tell you what the "strengths" of a method are. It's a small
step from there to deducing the philosophy underlying the method. This is an
important matter for those teachers who use method materials, since they
will want to use materials whose philosophies are consistent with their own.
Teachers who might like to learn more about the basic principles behind some
common methods might want to view our Piano Teaching
Methods page.
Even though teachers might use parts of different methods with different
students, most teachers use the parts that are consistent with what
they feel to be important and effective (i.e. consistent with their
teaching philosophy). If you believe that sight-reading is
important, you'll choose books and approaches that strengthen sight-reading.
Just because you decide to use different books and approaches with different
students, precisely because you know what you're doing, doesn't mean that
you've changed your overall view of what aspects of piano training are most
important.
What Might a Useful Teaching Philosophy Include?
Many piano teacher web sites and brochures have statements of philosophy. Unfortunately, some of
the statements are more of the "touchy-feely" sort ("I believe in bringing the
joy of music to everyone"), rather than clear expositions of what the
foundations of their way of thinking about lessons are. It is hard to
imagine how such broad statements could be of much actual use in directing
day-to-day teaching, even though
they might express the way the teacher feels about music. For example, if
one's philosophy of teaching is something like, "Being the best one can be
is critical to success. I want to produce the best pianist possible from
each student", such a philosophy might be entirely true and laudable. But,
it would be almost impossible to determine, except in the most approximate
of ways, whether you are achieving that goal.
A valuable teaching philosophy will be more than lofty words. It will
be specific and have a connected goal that the teacher and student can
measure their achievements against. A more useful formulation might be
something like:
"Sight-reading of music is critical to playing the piano. My beginning
students will learn to read and play written music proficiently." Such a
philosophy and the consequential goal are determinable and achievable. With
a small number of such definite philosophies and goals, one will have a
pretty good basis for building teaching approaches customized for each
student. A well-considered teaching philosophy will also help in
interviewing students, in that you can then determine if the student's goals
and interests are compatible with your own views and priorities.
Teaching Philosophies and Mission Statements
Teachers who have a business background may see some similarities between
a well-formed teaching philosophy and a business "mission statement".
Each serves similar purposes. Just as a mission statement says what the
business views as important and provides some overall goals, the teaching
philosophy helps the teacher both in deciding what really counts and
devising means for bringing it about. Businesses write down their mission
statements and revise or revisit them regularly. The mission statement
serves as a background and aid for making weighty decisions about
acquisitions, expansions, employee relations and other important issues. A teacher might be wise to consider
doing the same thing with her teaching philosophy. There is no better way to
understand one's teaching philosophy than to exercise the discipline of writing down
the top few assumptions and goals which drive one's own teaching. Even if
you don't write down your teaching philosophy, it's worthwhile to spend some
time thinking it through. The time will be repaid in better, more efficient
teaching. Mapping Success
It's hard to know where you're going without a map. Think of your
teaching philosophy as the map that you will use to get where you want to
go. You might be able to get where you want to go without the map, if you
spend enough time exploring dead-ends and wrong turns. Knowing where you
want to go and how to get there will make the trip faster and more
enjoyable, for you and your students. |
The Teaching Studio |
Piano Teaching Methods
| Piano Education Home 