I had quite a trying time the last couple of weeks. This time the cause was something normally found and of high occurrence, especially in Indonesia, which is people who don’t understand what they’re doing, but are still doing things they’re not supposed to do.
When I started teaching again 2 years ago, I was amazed and abhorred by the fact that none of the children I taught have the proper basic skills to continue their lessons. Everyone was struggling with notes, and when I tried to make them count or listen, it would throw them off their chairs. I was pulling my hair out for about a year trying to fix things, resulting in a severe burn-out. At the point where I was about to give up teaching for good, a trainer came and told me that if I really can’t imagine myself not teaching, then I better make it fun.
So I did, and I felt much better now, although the fact remains that there are so many teachers out there who have no clue, and they will eventually produce students who are just as clueless as they are. My worst case was when I got a kid who just finish grade 4 ABRSM exam but never played Bach in her entire life except the one she played for the exam. Not even the famous Minuet in G. And with her shaky fingers, I wonder how she ever managed to pass!
I’ve been discussing this many times (and for hours) with my bestfriend over the phone, and with some other teacher-friends who have the same view, that the quality of music teaching at this period of time is seriously deterioriating. One friend even gave me this not-so-lovely picture: there are hundreds of people out there who have been learning piano since they were toddlers and they thought that it is time to gain profit from their previous investments, and so they decided to teach, solo. Not at a music school, but at their or their pupils' homes. Sounds normal, but here are the scary things: no one know their capabilites, they don't receive further trainings, and they don't have any comparison with other teachers, so no one will ever know how and what they’re teaching. It's like a latent, underground movement. I know that some of them may be good, but from the fact sheet it is obvious that these people are dangerous at times and must be captured before they’re spreading uncurable disease.
Now when this thing happens at the place where I work, I assumed the task of making a fuss in order to draw my colleague’s attention that we really have to understand. I don't think we can't afford not to take this seriously, because, there's no way you're going to tell some kids to eat veggies unless you've eaten that yourself and know damn sure that it's what made you grow. And if you understand this completely, you will do whatever it takes to make them eat.
So we had several teachers’ meetings, starting from 2 weeks ago, to discuss this problem, with no apparent result except that I can draw conclusion on 4 types of teachers who contribute greatly to the chaotic order in music-teaching industry: (1) those who understand but don’t bother to make other people understand; (2) those who don’t understand but are too shy or too scared or even too proud to be called stupid to ask and learn and seek and listen, (3) those who just don’t and won’t understand even though they had bigger-brain implant but claim that they do so they will not ask and learn and seek and listen, and (4) those who don’t understand but don’t know that they don’t understand so they will teach until the earth is blown away by a giant meteor and God creates new lives on a new planet.
Such is the situation.
I got home tonight after another meeting (hopefully the last), talked on the phone with my bestfriend and leashed out all my frustations. Then I watched a documentary about Al Gore and his save-the-earth campaign, where he said, “if you do the right thing, you’ll move forward.”
Upon hearing this, I made peace with myself.
(Imported old blog, originally written on January 18, 2009)
When I started teaching again 2 years ago, I was amazed and abhorred by the fact that none of the children I taught have the proper basic skills to continue their lessons. Everyone was struggling with notes, and when I tried to make them count or listen, it would throw them off their chairs. I was pulling my hair out for about a year trying to fix things, resulting in a severe burn-out. At the point where I was about to give up teaching for good, a trainer came and told me that if I really can’t imagine myself not teaching, then I better make it fun.
So I did, and I felt much better now, although the fact remains that there are so many teachers out there who have no clue, and they will eventually produce students who are just as clueless as they are. My worst case was when I got a kid who just finish grade 4 ABRSM exam but never played Bach in her entire life except the one she played for the exam. Not even the famous Minuet in G. And with her shaky fingers, I wonder how she ever managed to pass!
I’ve been discussing this many times (and for hours) with my bestfriend over the phone, and with some other teacher-friends who have the same view, that the quality of music teaching at this period of time is seriously deterioriating. One friend even gave me this not-so-lovely picture: there are hundreds of people out there who have been learning piano since they were toddlers and they thought that it is time to gain profit from their previous investments, and so they decided to teach, solo. Not at a music school, but at their or their pupils' homes. Sounds normal, but here are the scary things: no one know their capabilites, they don't receive further trainings, and they don't have any comparison with other teachers, so no one will ever know how and what they’re teaching. It's like a latent, underground movement. I know that some of them may be good, but from the fact sheet it is obvious that these people are dangerous at times and must be captured before they’re spreading uncurable disease.
Now when this thing happens at the place where I work, I assumed the task of making a fuss in order to draw my colleague’s attention that we really have to understand. I don't think we can't afford not to take this seriously, because, there's no way you're going to tell some kids to eat veggies unless you've eaten that yourself and know damn sure that it's what made you grow. And if you understand this completely, you will do whatever it takes to make them eat.
So we had several teachers’ meetings, starting from 2 weeks ago, to discuss this problem, with no apparent result except that I can draw conclusion on 4 types of teachers who contribute greatly to the chaotic order in music-teaching industry: (1) those who understand but don’t bother to make other people understand; (2) those who don’t understand but are too shy or too scared or even too proud to be called stupid to ask and learn and seek and listen, (3) those who just don’t and won’t understand even though they had bigger-brain implant but claim that they do so they will not ask and learn and seek and listen, and (4) those who don’t understand but don’t know that they don’t understand so they will teach until the earth is blown away by a giant meteor and God creates new lives on a new planet.
Such is the situation.
I got home tonight after another meeting (hopefully the last), talked on the phone with my bestfriend and leashed out all my frustations. Then I watched a documentary about Al Gore and his save-the-earth campaign, where he said, “if you do the right thing, you’ll move forward.”
Upon hearing this, I made peace with myself.
(Imported old blog, originally written on January 18, 2009)
