Feeling uncomfortable with some of one's local teaching collegues

[vera]

I wonder how many of you fellow teachers are here on this forum, because you can here freely discuss anything in detail, as we are here in a neutral environment, and we are not in competition with one another. I am a locally well-known and respected teacher and have had many very successful students, but I have very limited contact with local collegues , as I do not feel comfortable with a number of them. Wish it could be otherwise.
I am just curious, if others among you feel the same.

[whynot]

What are you uncomfortable about with the local teachers?  Do they teach poorly, or do they see you as the competition and thus act awkwardly around you?

[vera]

One is uncomfortable, and I am not the only one I'm sure, because there is a lot of competition between the senior teachers and a limited nr of good students to be had. This leads to non-communication and distrust. I just wonder how common this is, and suspect, that it is a general tendency in the world of the arts.
 My point was to mention, that this forum offers neutrality, and hopefully, non-competition and one can discuss things otherwise not so easily possible.And if there is argument, it does not matter here.
This is possibly a sticky topic, but it may nevertheless be interesting to air it.

[whynot]

Yes, I certainly see your point about this being a neutral/non-competitive place to talk to peers.  It's good!

[anja]

In my experience, the competition isn't so much about students but between teachers. For example, I ask questions at workshops, but many teachers don't because they may be afraid about their reputation. But this is not really a major problem.

I enjoy the company of piano teachers to see various styles of running a studio. But nobody gives away much about their exact teaching method. When I started teaching, I thought I was the cat's meow. But I've since learned most people eventually absorb the teaching methods.

Oh, well. That's all for now.

[ptmidwest]

I wonder...is there a local group for the teachers, when you can gather and perhaps discuss one specific aspect of piano teaching, such as early intermediate repertoire, checking out the newest beginner method books, easy ensemble lit.,  or carpooling to a regional workshop?  Sometimes sharing thoughts on these topics opens wide the doors for ease in professional relationships. 

Two hints from our experience here:  provide for a little food & drink, and keep the conversations toward more objective observations, not personal successes.  In other words, cordial and professional at all times.

[lostinidlewonder]

I think when teachers forget that they are teaching music and try to compete with one another using their students as puppets, it is just a great big joke. Music teachers should inspire and guide their students, if they find the only way to do that is to compare and compete they are simply crap teachers or have low self esteem. Maybe they get results but students miss the point as to what music really means to them if they attach meaning with competition and the best exam mark.

It isn't about winning the competition and bettering this person or that, that doesn't happen your whole life only a very small part if any! In life if we worry about being better than this person or that we will never ever achieve what unique purpose we are here for. We will utterly demoralise ourselves saying "Why bother?", there are after all  x people than ourselves. That is why i think competition is stupid, why attach it to music? Just because of the nature of modern day competitiveness?

Music grows differently in every single person, a teacher has the honor to observe this growth and a student has the fortune to have a teacher that guides their growth. This is the simple fact of teaching music, everything else is just superficial.

When it comes to a dramatic situation where teachers actively talk behind backs and compete with one another I think the best meditation is: "What you think and what you know are two different things." Which highlights the weakness that exists in peoples opinion and the weakness of others who take opinion as a truthful knowledge. If you choose not to compete and teachers start gossiping that your students are unfit for competition because their teacher can't teach them well enough, you simply say to the person who mentions the gossip to you the simple fact that what the gossiper THINKS and what they KNOW are two different things. They "think" a lot because they are fools, but that is to fill up the fact that they know very little.

I have had a personal experience of this. One teacher of mine when i was a kid and who i had a bad past with (which i don't blame because i was a difficult kid to teach) said to a lot of people that I couldn't play the piano. Well, there was a competition that year which I entered and 4 of her other students and I ended up winning. You can take time to make your point, don't do things on the timetable or impatients of others, they can wait for what you have in store for them.

[c18cont]

If I may say,

I believe it is the same in most professions, and always will be. If people view their collegues to be competition, they will react, and the thickest skin or truly finest artist or most powerful instigator wins...

Try being a competitive choral director in national contests, or even much worse, a band director in the truly great marching contests, if you want to see dog eat dog action.... I used to chaperone for some summer contests...

John Cont