Klarinet Archive - Posting 000430.txt from 1998/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: lesson motivation
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 10:06:00 -0400

Ed Lacy wrote:
> >One of the fundamental problems is that almost no music teacher initially
> >gets into the profession because they started with the idea that they had
> >a love of teaching. Almost without exception our original motivation is
> >our love of music. Some of us eventually come to love teaching as much or
> >almost as much as we love music, and some others never do.

Iguana s wrote:
> Hmm, I'd like to hear from some of the other Music Ed majors and people
> in music education on this one. I'm a music ed major because I want to
> teach music. Even if I had the ability to be a performance major, I
> would rather teach. That's really bad news for the students, if the
> teachers don't really want to teach. How can a teacher motivate
> students if he/she isn't even motivated to teach? Are there really
> almost no music educators who initially got into the profession because
> of a love a teaching?

Ed speaks from a lifetime of experience watching students come through the
ranks. He is right in a sense......many students don't really know if
they want to teach, but they love music so much that they know it is what
they will do. Over a period of four years in college, they take all the
courses and gradually become excited over the prospect of teaching in the
public schools....I think this is what Ed meant.

On the flip side, when students come in to our school and absolutely know
they do NOT want to teach public school, they are the wrong candidates for
the music ed. curriculum. It is tough enough getting the ones who DO want
to teach to recognize the value in aural skills, paced rehearsals,
detailed lesson plans, good keyboard skills, etc etc without having to try
to convince those who have no interest to begin with.

For those of use who have music education degrees and have taught in the
public schools, it is so important that we are selective with who we put
in the schools.

Roger Garrett
IWU