Do you wish to quit teaching but you can't????

[nyonyo]

I used to teach piano for fun, but after I arrived in the USA, I had to teach to survive.
I was ready to quit after I was done with my first class. It was at a Yamaha Music School in Southern California. Yamaha Education System is a very fine method, but, unfortunately, the schools are owned by private owner. The owner of that music school is a WITCH. Since I really needed monies, I had no choice and must work for that owner for 6 years. Every single day during that six years, I wish to be liberated. I was basically like a male prostitute that could not leave the madame! During breaks, we shared our feeling, we wanted to leave as soon as we could afford leaving that school.

Fortunately, after I finished my graduate study, I got a job right away. A parent from that school helped me to get a position in a very prestigous company. Starting from that point, I taught piano just for additional income (not the main source of income). Teaching became fun again.

[dan101]

I've never felt like quitting. Piano teaching is, for me, extremely rewarding as I am giving back knowledge to someone who hopefully is in need of it. However, it really does help to be financially paid a fair price. I'm glad you're in a better working environment presently.

[Bob]

It can definitely stink.  Co-workers, supervisor, bratty kids... yes.  And you can be trapped by circumstances.  All of that can suck any joy out of teaching and can seep into your personal life.

[chocolatedog]

It can definitely stink.  Co-workers, supervisor, bratty kids... yes.  And you can be trapped by circumstances.  All of that can suck any joy out of teaching and can seep into your personal life.

Yup - I know about the being trapped bit - I've been wanting to give up the school teaching for a while, but want a good reason to stop - it's good money - more than I charge privately, and I also have more pupils during a day at school than I could comfortably fit into an evening......so I'm reluctant to drop it even though I know I should in many ways. It's getting more and more stressful getting there (more and more cars on the road, having to get up earlier to compensate etc, and I've been doing it for the best part of 20 years, and I'm not getting any younger......... (only in mind!!  ) It takes the best part of an hour to get there, and I'd just love not to have to do it any more. Problem is, the stress is beginning to show in my teaching generally - I've always prided myself on being almost too patient with my pupils, and recently I've found myself getting more and more impatient.......which I hate myself for......    Probably time to stop then......... (the school job, not the private teaching)

[Bob]

20 years?  You're not going to stick it out until retirement?    

[chocolatedog]

 

[lostinidlewonder]

I hate working for other people full stop, I'd probably be fired because of my smart mouth, I don't like to take crap from people or suck up to them. And I could live in a box so long I had access to a piano, so I never feel pressured to make money to live. Most people have the idea to make money to get this and that, everything you need will come to you, then you choose to take it, I never chase the material world and yet I have so much.

It is most important that you be yourself in whatever work you do. I have made it a promise never to hold back my opinions with students or colleagues. When they don't do their practice I always talk about it and say how much of a waste of time it is to study with a teacher if you don't practice. I am very assertive, I will say whatever I think, this might be hard to do to a boss who determines if you work or not, I couldn't stand that. Especially one who is like a witch as you say I've sure given idiot heads of music school (and their minion teachers) a piece of my mind.  How they try to make their name stronger through the talent of students, then you simply crush their students in competition and laugh in their face, its a lot of fun

[nyonyo]

I hate working for other people full stop, I'd probably be fired because of my smart mouth, I don't like to take crap from people or suck up to them. And I could live in a box so long I had access to a piano, so I never feel pressured to make money to live. Most people have the idea to make money to get this and that, everything you need will come to you, then you choose to take it, I never chase the material world and yet I have so much.

It is most important that you be yourself in whatever work you do. I have made it a promise never to hold back my opinions with students or colleagues. When they don't do their practice I always talk about it and say how much of a waste of time it is to study with a teacher if you don't practice. I am very assertive, I will say whatever I think, this might be hard to do to a boss who determines if you work or not, I couldn't stand that. Especially one who is like a witch as you say I've sure given idiot heads of music school (and their minion teachers) a piece of my mind.  How they try to make their name stronger through the talent of students, then you simply crush their students in competition and laugh in their face, its a lot of fun

It felt the day I could live without working for that WITCH...

[danny elfboy]

I hate working for other people full stop, I'd probably be fired because of my smart mouth, I don't like to take crap from people or suck up to them. And I could live in a box so long I had access to a piano, so I never feel pressured to make money to live. Most people have the idea to make money to get this and that, everything you need will come to you, then you choose to take it, I never chase the material world and yet I have so much.

It is most important that you be yourself in whatever work you do. I have made it a promise never to hold back my opinions with students or colleagues. When they don't do their practice I always talk about it and say how much of a waste of time it is to study with a teacher if you don't practice. I am very assertive, I will say whatever I think, this might be hard to do to a boss who determines if you work or not, I couldn't stand that. Especially one who is like a witch as you say I've sure given idiot heads of music school (and their minion teachers) a piece of my mind.  How they try to make their name stronger through the talent of students, then you simply crush their students in competition and laugh in their face, its a lot of fun

Wow lostinidlewonder. What a wonderful attitude. It just suits the nature of music and of being an artist so well. There's too much "dissonance" lately about what people do for a living or hobby and their attitude and life philosophy, as if they never really got a life lesson from what they call their "passion". Such contradiction. I have this (probably naive) idea that real passionate involvement in music must make us more sensitive, compassionate, positive, optimist, true to ourselves and less black&white thinking and emotionally repressed people. Glad to see my idea wasn't that naive or idealist after all.

[nyonyo]

Wow lostinidlewonder. What a wonderful attitude. It just suits the nature of music and of being an artist so well. There's too much "dissonance" lately about what people do for a living or hobby and their attitude and life philosophy, as if they never really got a life lesson from what they call their "passion". Such contradiction. I have this (probably naive) idea that real passionate involvement in music must make us more sensitive, compassionate, positive, optimist, true to ourselves and less black&white thinking and emotionally repressed people. Glad to see my idea wasn't that naive or idealist after all.

As what Darwin said "Not the smartest or the strongest species will survive, but the one that can adept will survive!"

You need to adept till you have chance to not be dependent anymore!

[danny elfboy]

You need to adept till you have chance to not be dependent anymore!

But we're all dependent, none of us would survive a day without the others and even if we believe otherwise each of us depends on someone else who depends on someone else who depends on someone else

[nyonyo]

Nobody in the world like to take crap from anybody or suck up to anybody. But everybody has different reason and purpose. Whatever we do in life there always have impact to our life.

If one wants to fight all the time (by having smart mouth), one will have to ready to receive the cocequencies such as get fired. If one cannot really live without yell back to others, one has full liberty to do whatever one likes.

Eventhough I hated working to that witch, but I knew it was the easy money while I am preparing my next move. As soon as I was ready, I quit. Never quit a job unless you get a new one. It will be so sweet when you quit and you have already had a new job...During those last weeks of your job, you can be as nasty as possible if you choose to. But I do not really suggest that....Who knows you need to go back...Don't burn the bridges!!

[lostinidlewonder]

I find in the business world people act a lot. That is, they are not behaving how they ordinarily feel, instead they act in a way which will improve their material/power gain. This makes me sick and I see it all the time when I involve myself with musical institutions. I will happily have arguments with people and disagree with them even if it infuriates them simply because it is their own fault if they cannot deal with opposite minds to their own.

You can imagine how infuriated a particular uni in Australia was when I piped up and said, I dont know why you all think you are so great, not even one of your piano lecturers/tutors have any international concerting experience, let alone a concerting career here in Australia. Or when I complained about a university competition where the doctorate student of that school played like trash and yet won the competition.

So many people do not like the truth to be revealed, they like to live in this imaginary world of their own. I even see it in some of my students who say, oh music is so lovely, it is a real passion of mine, yet they do not put in the dedicated daily work into their study. I put them in their place pretty fast.

I have found in the business world, now and then you have to hold back your opinions and make people feel important or you get no where. I have to admit I play that game when selling tickets for concerts, you have to be polite, nice and cheerful even if you don't feel like it, but I'll still argue with ticket buyers. One critical observer of my preview concerts said to me "You should not talk so much, the music stands alone you don't have to tell us about it" and I said, "Well if you don't like me talking go home and listen to a CD recording, they do little talking in that." There is no point in saying to these people, "It is part of my concert that I give insight into the composers and story behind the pieces because not everyone knows so much about classical music and you learn to appreciate the music a lot more because of it." These critical minds will not change their opinion, they just like to pull down. I've learnt to tag these negative people pretty fast and give them the full force of my disaproval

[nyonyo]

Wow...you must be a very brave person.

In my life, I told off and embarrassed my boss. I did it because I got a job offer about 15 min before my boss came to my desk. I never regretted...it was so sweet....I may never have the same opportunity again for the rest of my life.

Sorry to say, but it is the worst dream of any employers to have an employee like you.
In the business world, we have to pretend all the time.

[keyofc]

Yes - we do have to pretend sometimes.  When someone asks you how you are doing - do you really tell them that the dog bit you - you have a cold, and it took 4 hours to get home in the drizzling rain and now you're talking to someone that you were trying to avoid?  They are probably going to avoid you next time...

Sometimes pretending things are fine - will change your attitude - and suddenly things aren't really that bad anyway.

Honesty should not be confused with total confession :