Klarinet Archive - Posting 000783.txt from 1998/07

From: "Robin Black" <BLACKR@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] responsibilities of a band director
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 20:45:44 -0400

>>>>So yes, Dr. Lacy, the statement that you protested >to so strongly is =
VERY
valid where some (hopefully >few) band directors are concerned.

<<<<Which is why statements like the one Karen made push the buttons of =
those of
us who try to do a conscientious job - blanket statements about any group
that are only true in a minority of actual cases will nearly always insult
and upset those about whom the statements aren't true. For this reason, =
they
are generally better avoided. The case you describe, if it is accurate,
represents a single instance. One should never paint an entire group with
the same brush used to draw a single bad example.

Karl Krelove>>>

Unfortunately, my experience as I described it is very accurate. I'd =
grown up idolizing every teacher I ever had, and it took me years of =
hindsight and my own subsequent experience as a teacher before I realized =
just how bad a teacher he was (and I've done a 20-year slow burn over it). =
To this day, I don't believe it was a case of incompetence on his =
part--he was unquestionably a bright man. Instead, I think he must have =
really hated his job (among other things--he gave the impression of being =
a very bitter person), which is unfortunate for both him and the scores of =
students who were at his mercy. I've often wished, as I watched students =
who were majoring in education (I also worked as an advisor to secondary =
ed students when I was teaching English), that they ought to be required =
to pass some kind of test of the heart--to show that they have a passion =
for what they do and really care about the students they teach. Until =
something radical is done to improve the compensation and environment for =
teachers (of all subjects), I'm afraid we have to suffer the bad with the =
good.

I'm just glad I stuck with it till high school, where my experience with =
the band director there was SO much better. My private teacher helped a =
great deal, too, and looking back, I'm sure she offered the free lessons =
because she sensed something was wrong with the situation at school. She =
attended the same church my family did, and would frequently stop me after =
services and ask me how band was going. It was when I hinted that I was =
thinking about quitting that she offered to tutor me, and it made all the =
difference in the world.

Oh, and as far as his lost bet with the band--he didn't keep his word, =
telling us he'd only been joking, that he never dreamed we'd actually come =
through with the superior rating.

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