Teachng Environment and Overall Impression of a Teacher

[m1469]

Hello  .  Just thinking about teaching from the perspective of being a student...

"Teaching environment" has been mentioned before as an important component in aiding with the learning process for students.

Ultimately, I know that for every individual student there are individual needs and so forth.  Perhaps very dedicated teachers alter the learning environment in some way for each student to fit the student's individual needs.

What got me thinking about this is some of my feelings as a student.  I feel more nervous and excited to play for one of my teachers than I do for the other.  With the one I feel more nervous with, I know that he will hear every detail of what I do, as well as have the insight to peer inside of my soul when I play.  With my other one, I am not sure she will hear all of the work that I may put into the pieces, or maybe she does, but either way it is not clear enough to me to make me want to prepare as avidly as I would for my other teacher.  With her, I do not really feel too nervous.

What I realized is that perhaps there are benefits of both.  An environment where the student is nervous, and an environment where the student is not.  Though, I am not sure which one is more conducive to growth overall.  When I am nervous to play for my teacher because I know he will hear my preparation, I push myself harder in every way; personally, musically, pianistically.  It is a bigger risk for me so it requires more from me as an individual.  The other environment does not, though one could say it is a fairly "safe" environment to take risks in.

So I began to think on this as to how I should wish to form my environments for my students as well as the general impression I want for them to have of me as the teacher and as a person.  Do I want them to be somewhat intimidated by me so as to push them into growing ?  Do I want to be soft and nurturing ?  I suppose it may change here and there depending on the moment.  But overall, I think they should have a certain general impression of their teacher which helps them prepare their work to their best abilities during their practice week, and this general impression would inevitably effect the learning environment.

I feel that maybe I am supposed to be overall a little scary to them, as well as somebody who can be caring.  Would people mind sharing with me what you think about this as well as your personal goals in creating an impression for your students ?

m1469 Fox

[shasta]

Hi m1469. I have had 2 professors in my formal training:

1.  Grandfather-ly age, very formal, very strict, very tense, stuffy professor. It was very creepy and unnerving to be around him, both at the piano and running into him at the grocery store. He had spooky eyes. He would sit there and eat the most wonderful desserts and drink the most aromatic coffee as I played. He had no qualms about screaming, slamming his fists on the piano, telling me I'm going to ruin his reputation, and kicking me out of his studio and making me sit outside following pieces that did not go so well.  Very stressful. Typical lesson: Czerny, Hanon, blech Schubert, blech Haydn.

2. Young woman, just-got-her-PhD piano prodigy.  Intense, driven, hysterically funny, the biggest gossip/fashionista on the planet, also a math prodigy, an absolute riot to be around and a riot to perform for/with.  She and I became dear friends very quickly. When she performed the Rach3 with our symphony, I think I cheered the loudest. Typical lesson: Etudes by Scriabin and Chopin; 4-hands works; challenging me to perform XYZ piece while laying on my back on the bench with hands crossed overhead (a la Mozart in "Amadeus"); challenging me to play XYZ piece in the style of Pergolesi, then Mozart, then Schubert, then Copland; challenging me to identify composers of music (without having seen who composed it) based simply on how the music looks on the score...  priceless.

As you can see, the latter style was a very engaging and active process. I was a thinker, not a typist.  I learned immensely.  My output increased, my turnover rate of pieces increased, and my appreciation for teaching (through her love of teaching) increased.

[m1469]

Thank you Shasta, this is quite helpful for me actually.

I would love to hear from others as well... the perspectives of students are great !  Teachers' perspectives are also very welcome.

m1469

[ted]

I have never taught professionally and it has been thirty-five years since I was a pupil. I can share my feelings toward my lessons if it helps because they were mostly positive without being stupidly adulatory.

Thoughts in no particular order, both good and otherwise:

First and most importantly I always had complete confidence that he was able to DO things himself on the spot in front of me and not just talk about them. He could play classical, he could play jazz, he composed, he improvised, the list of his friends read like a who's who of early twentieth century music, he had worked professionally in Europe and the States.

Intimidating is definitely not the right word at all. I rather thought of him as an enormous, nurturing, encyclopaedic safety net; he could pick me up if I fell, so to speak. At no time did I ever feel frightened or in any way negative. I used to run the mile or so to his house eagerly anticipating playing him my ideas for the week and leave equally breathless, to try out his thoughts on the piano at home.

He always used one idea as a springboard for another. There was never any stasis, particularly in creative work. I was never permitted to feel I had reached the end of anything.

He praised me little, if at all. At his funeral, ten years later, I actually found he had been saying, to all and sundry, how good I was, which discovery was both puzzling and acutely embarrassing. 

He didn't care much for propriety or formality. We had a few drunken lessons (him, not me). These were good because he forgot the time and they would extend into the night.

If he didn't praise, neither did he ever destructively criticise. If I did something wrong he would just say, "I think it might be better to do such and such.." and a demonstration would show what he meant quick and busy - more effective than a hundred "don'ts" and  "mustn'ts".

He placed a very high value on the pupil's enjoyment of a wide field of music and would direct repertoire to this end. His eclecticism helped greatly. I would, say, learn a Chopin or Liszt study along with a Baroque piece, a Waller solo, something by Brubeck and a pile of improvisation and composition tasks.

He was completely honest and forthcoming about my raw abilities. At the first lesson he said such things as, "I hope you don't want to be a concert pianist – you need to be one out of the bag for that" and "Your ear's lousy but I can help you a bit with it" and "I think you have real music in you. I’m going to take you an entirely different way. I can help you get the music out. It'll take a long time - a very long time - but you are one of those who will get it eventually, I can promise you that."

And I did. Later rather than sooner I’m afraid but the point is that all cards were on the table and he was correct. No false hopes, no disillusionment, but a very positive course to steer. A pupil can respect that right away.

He was also honest about his own few musical limitations. He was dreadful at classical ragtime despite being a professional jazz pianist. All the notes were there but the life was not. “You have one over me there, Ted”, he would say. Again, respect comes easily when a teacher can say things like that.

He had many pupils, of which one or two have become professors and concert pianists and a few have become professionals in other genres. I became nothing in particular – just someone who improvises, composes and creates flat out and enjoys every minute of it.

Which brings me, in retrospect, to his most remarkable ability -  that of recognizing, tolerating and developing unorthodoxy and originality in pupils and discerning those cases where it should be left alone.  That was and, I am sure still is, a very rare thing in a teacher.

[m1469]

Ted,

Yes, this is very helpful. 

Intimidating is definitely not the right word at all. I rather thought of him as an enormous, nurturing, encyclopaedic safety net; he could pick me up if I fell, so to speak. At no time did I ever feel frightened or in any way negative. I used to run the mile or so to his house eagerly anticipating playing him my ideas for the week and leave equally breathless, to try out his thoughts on the piano at home.

This, of course, leaves a savory flavor with me.   Overall actually, I am quite thoughtful about what you describe in your entire post.  It just seems as though there was so much substance to these lessons, the kind that unfolds througout your entire life.  This is very important to me.  I am quite touched really, by what you describe.

The only part that makes me burn a little bit is this here:

He was completely honest and forthcoming about my raw abilities. At the first lesson he said such things as, "I hope you don't want to be a concert pianist – you need to be one out of the bag for that"

Besides the fact that I don't really understand why somebody would say this, other than to perhaps make someone try even harder, I am curious as to the effect of these words in your life ?  Is there any ?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, they are indeed helpful for me.

m1469

[ted]

The second question is easy to answer. His statement was of no particular significance to me at all then and has never been since. What was of significance and what completely overwhelmed me during these initial lessons was his improvisation. Until then, in my early teens, I had never encountered this sort of creative ecstasy at close range before. Musical society in New Zealand forty-five years ago was directed along very clearly defined paths, both for amateurs and for professionals, and to a large extent regrettably still is. I didn’t seem to fit in anywhere but as I had taught myself many difficult pieces and had expressed a desire to learn again there I was.

As to the first question, I think he sensed the effect of his playing on me and knew he was perfectly safe in saying what he did. In general I agree that such comments would be at best foolish and at worst hurtful, but he was no ordinary man, no ordinary musician and most certainly no ordinary teacher. He knew what it felt like to be different and knew he was on sure ground.

Also, he was aware that a few years previously I had auditioned with and rejected the country’s top classical piano teacher because he wouldn’t have let me play ragtime. He wanted me to do nothing but examinations, scales and exercises for months – I wasn’t even to be allowed my beloved Chopin ! For a kid of eleven that was bloody ridiculous ! If that was what being a concert pianist involved then thanks but no thanks, and I therefore played no piano for three years.

My teacher was aware of all this, you see, the two prominent men knew each other. So the remark wasn’t too bad really – but I had to fill in this background for you to see it.

Cheers,
Ted.