I understand why some don't teach

[Ted Cox]

Good thread and some good posts. I taught music for 22 years, 17 of those years at Universities. I'm now in my 9th year of teaching yoga, so I'm coming at this from a different perspective entirely. If you are a professional or amateur musician, chances are you're going to teach. I know I never took a course in "how to teach", I was fortunate to have great teachers to model, until I eventually found my own voice. Having taught at the University level for so long, I came to the conclusion that most of the kids attending college shouldn't; they should wait until they're about 25 years old, give or take. Our society says that when we graduate from H.S. we then must go to college, not really knowing what it is we want to do with our lives. Now, this isn't true for every young adult, it's a general statement. We play a musical instrument in the high school band, it's fun, we have friends and we belong to something. It's only logical that we take it to the next level in college.

Too many people are in the wrong profession. If you have ever asked yourself, "is this it, is this my life, is this all there is?" then chances are you're in the wrong line of work. Okay, here's your first yoga word, "Dharma". It means purpose, truth and many other meanings, but you get the idea. Finding your purpose in life is not an easy thing to do. "Why am I here?" I play tuba in an orchestra and make money doing it, but that's not my dharma, playing tuba is not who I am, it's something I do. My dharma is to serve, and the best way I found to fulfill my dharma is to teach yoga. I know, it's kind of weird, but it's what I do and love. Don't confuse the word "yoga" with just the physical. I teach a lot of yoga philosophy and over the years, I've had a profound affect on many lives. Have you ever had a music student come in and tell you that what you said in class affected their lives so profoundly that they found the strength to ask for a divorce so they could get out of an abusive relationship? I have the great pleasure of helping people live better lives.

When I taught music, I saw a lot of teachers putting themselves first and their students second. They used their students to make themselves look good. This is desire, not dharma. We're essentially operating from either or. An example of desire would be, "what's in it for me?" Dharma would be, "what can I do to help?" There are basically three kinds of students in yoga, but also in music. The first is the athlete; they just want to do the physical yoga, work hard, probably show off, etc. These are the kids who aren't very interested in anything else. The second type is the scientist/engineer. These students want to know how to do the poses, or in music, I would say this is the theory of music. The last type is the poet/mystic. These students are interested in the philosophy and history. In music this would fall under history. Ideally we have to be all three, not only in yoga but also in music.

A great example of Dharma comes from Abraham Lincoln. If you haven't seen the movie, Go! Gene sounds amazing! Anyway, Lincoln fulfilled his dharma by freeing the slaves and saving the union. Talk about purpose. Finding your purpose in life and living it fully, no matter what anyone says about it will bring you happiness. We are all here for a reason and it's our jobs to find out what that reason is. If you're teaching just for the money, chances are you aren't very happy about it and it's not your dharma. If you're a student and you can't quite get it all together, take some time off and save your parents some hard earned money. If you're a teacher or a student of music, what else turns you on? Is your whole life and identity tied up in music? If music were taken away, who would you be? Okay, I'm done rambling on about dharma. These were just some Friday thoughts to share.
Ted

[ken k]

Also kids nowadays are used to having sports practices everyday. Even at the little league level. They generally do not practice their sport on their own outside of the team practice setting, unless perhaps they are a pitcher or some other type of athlete that requires a specific technique like a golfer perhaps, etc. So kids are not accustomed to working on their own. They are usually held by the hand and guided through routines at daily practices. So now we are asking the kid to actually do some work on his own...well, as most of you have experienced they have no idea how to do it, or no motivation to do it. I used to think it was a music thing until I talked to some coaches. Surprisingly, they experience much of the same thing with their players.

k

[peter birch]

Teaching is about character, I understand that some do not have the "right stuff " as it were, and are not cut out for it or called to do it, however good they are
Teaching is about seeing the student as being more important than the teacher, I understand that some want to show off, and demonstrate their gifts rather than develop those gifts in others
Teaching is a journey with a student, I understand that some are more interested in results and get frustrated when they do not come quickly
Teaching is hard, and I understand why some can't or won't do it

Learning is about character. I understand that some do not have the "right stuff " as it were, and are not cut out for it or called to do it, however good they are.
Learning is about seeing the teacher as being more experienced than the student. I understand that some want to show off, and demonstrate their gifts rather than develop those gifts in themselves.
Learning is a journey with a teacher. I understand that some are more interested in results and get frustrated when they do not come quickly.
Learning is hard, and I understand why some can't or won't do it.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it is perfectly acceptable and entirely reasonable that some very good people do not teach, and for very good reasons, Some have had bad experiences with students or the educational system that have put them off in a very profound way, and those people have my sympathy, but there are some who need to have the courage to admit that the reason they don't teach lies within themselves, and not the students.

[Lew]

People have said the many of the same things being said here about students since there have been students. In any program there is always a small number who are there because they are really motivated to learn and put in the work required to do so. There is some number who half a$$ it and just try to get through whatever program it is, and the rest who shouldn't be there and will never complete the course of study, whatever it is. The proportion in each category may have changed somewhat over the years, but I don't think that change in numbers is as dramatic as some think it is.

I work at a private university, so very little of the money being wasted by students who shouldn't be there is government money, but much of it is undoubtedly their parent's money. There does seem to be more of a push to have students complete a 4 year college degree when many of them would probably be better off doing an apprenticeship or learning a trade some other way, but at least at our school I don't find a large percentage in that category. I do find that the 15-30% of each class who are really motivated, do all their work, and participate in all classes and activities make the job worthwhile. As others have said in so many words, learning is a two way street. An instructor cannot do anything if a student isn't willing to put in the effort. After spending way too much time trying to bring those students around and get them involved early in my teaching career, I have reconciled the fact that if they don't get there there's nothing I can do about it.

[Roger Lewis]

I take teaching very seriously as it is a great responsibility - you don't want to give the student incorrect information that sets them back in their playing and kills their motivation. BUT - I expect the student to take it as seriously from his/her side of the deal. I always tell them: "You stop practicing - I stop teaching".

Every now and then I will let a student know this:
I am giving you the most valuable thing I have: an hour of my LIFE. It's an hour that I will never be able to live over any other way than with you. Make it worth while to give you this time as I will not let you steal my life, one hour at a time.

Just my $0.02.

Roger

[Steve Marcus]

I take teaching very seriously as it is a great responsibility...

...and obviously enjoys teaching. This man has offered many people his quality advice whether or not they were directly in the market for one of the instruments that he represents.

Good for you for chiming in on this topic, Roger.

[Doug Elliott]

I taught low brass for a few years at a local college, until I had a student who did absolutely nothing and I gave him an F for the semester. I wasn't asked back the next year.

So I have a question for all those who are complaining about the students:
Are you / have you been willing to give those students a failing grade?

Is the real problem with:
A. the students who won't do the work
B. the teachers who give them a passing grade anyway
C. the administrations who want to please everybody and won't let you fail them

[Rick Denney]

I'm with Doug, too. I bet the percentage of students who are motivated and diligent isn't much lower than it ever was. But what has changed is that those who won't be those things end up in college instead of working on the family farm, and those who end up in college face too few consequences for being unmotivated and lazy.

Rick "noting that this is less of a problem in fields that are not begging for or bribing students to pursue" Denney

[pjv]

In all honesty, a person doesn't really learn how to play from a teacher. They can, however, learn how to practice. It seems to me that this is what all the lessons I ever received were really all about.

If a student has to take lessons, then they must do their homework or flunk.
If a student wants to take lessons, then they need to either practice, stop taking lessons, or be refused by the teacher.

It all comes down to respect towards the teacher and the students own self respect.

-Pat

[tubaguy9]

"Practicing only is like taking the stairs. Only taking lessons is like riding the escalator. Combine them, and its like walking up the escalator"

[modelerdc]

I used to teach lessons for a large prosperous school district with a prestigous band program. I had 50 private students a week. About 10% of them you would teach for free (if you didn't need the money) becuase they wanted to learn, enjoyed playing and practicing and came in well prepared. The majority took lessons becuase it was expected and did enough work to keep their band director happy. At busy times of the year this worked out ok, but at slack times It was tough to keep them moving forward. And about 10% really didn't want to do any work-most of these dropped from the program eventually.

The 10% who enjoyed learning really deserve to have music a part of their lives. The majority probably will not continue to play as adults but will remember their school days fondly and will be better educated as consumers of music. The 10% who didn't want to do any work at all will be loathe to admit the failure was on their part, and will be critical of music education as adults.

[Michael Bush]

Rick "noting that this is less of a problem in fields that are not begging for or bribing students to pursue" Denney

This. And it's also true in schools and programs where you have a plurality of older students, who are there because they want to be, not because of someone else's expectations, and who are paying the bill themselves.

[Michael Bush]

I went to a high school that had a “nobody's a failure” policy.

Ugh. I purely hate it when people use that kind of manipulative rhetoric to justify stupidity. The assessment that a body of work does not meet the standard for passing a class is not the same as saying the students who did the work are failures as human beings.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Arnold Jacobs would say in his master classes that much of what he did was motivation. A teacher cannot expect to be a sage on a stage and have an audience thirsting for their knowledge. Teaching is as much of an art as playing, if not more so.

Are you seriously asking us to believe that people went to study with Arnold Jacobs that weren't willing to bust their asses doing whatever he said to do?

I just don't believe it.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Just telling you what he said. Besides, not many people demand the respect he did. Most of us still have to motivate students to get a response!

Fair enough. And it's certainly true that for most teachers, motivation is an important aspect of what they do.

But the guy sitting in the CSO chair? Having to motivate? Wow.