Susanna Garcia is the Coordinator of Keyboard at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she teaches piano, piano pedagogy and lectures in the interdisciplinary humanities program. Dr. Garcia has presented workshops and papers on a variety of topics for the College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association, National Association for Humanities Education, Louisiana Music Teachers Association, Texas Music Teachers Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and a host of other state music teacher groups. Her work has appeared in such publications as 19th Century Music and Interdisciplinary Humanities. In 1998, Garcia, along with pianist William Chapman Nyaho, released the first complete recording of Aaron Copland's two-piano works. This recording appears on Centaur Records. Dr. Garcia holds the Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the Bachelor of Music from Texas A&M at Corpus Christi, Texas. She is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she has taught since 1990. Dr. Garcia holds the Ruth Stodghill Girard Endowed Professorship in Music and this year, was named a University of Louisiana Distinguished Professor.
Susanna Garcia
School of Music
University of Southwestern Louisiana
Lafayette, LA 70504
337.482.5205
spg6611@louisiana.edu
As teachers, we often find ourselves amazed by a student's strengths. Just as often, though, we may be baffled by their shortcomings. Our favorite strategies work wonders with some but fail miserably with others, and may leave us at a loss regarding a course of action. We may even conclude that a particular student can't learn certain skills. On many occasions, I have heard teachers make remarks such as: "My student makes up songs all the time but can't read a note of music," or, "My student can sight read anything but can't memorize at all." On some level, these conclusions admit to a failure of both teaching and learning. Acceptance of the notion that a student can succeed at some facets of music making but not at others may inadvertently deny that student total music literacy. More problematic may be the fact that only certain types of students are successful in our studios. These are the ones who happen to respond to the manner in which we present information or behave in the lesson as we would have. With other types of learners, we may feel frustrated by our lack of success.
These difficult experiences are not unique to piano teachers but shared by all who teach. Through learning styles research, teachers are finding ways to turn these failures into successes. Many educators believe that a better understanding of how students obtain, process and internalize information will result in more effective and efficient teaching. This management of information by a student is referred to as the student's learning style. There are many theories of learning style, mostly familiar to educators, but largely unknown to music teachers. Such theories have considered analytical vs. global learning styles, personality types, multiple intelligences, and learning modalities. This article focuses on modality theory and provides help for teachers who wish to identify a student's learning style and adapt their teaching to better match the student's needs.1
What are learning styles or modalities?
What does research say about learning styles?
How does a teacher evaluate learning styles?
Teaching to a student's learning style
Ten tips for teaching through learning styles
1Learning styles or modalities in this article are those set forth by educational theorists W.B. Barbe and Raymond Swassing and further developed by Marie Carbo and Kenneth and Rita Dunn.
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