Meg Gray is associate professor of piano and class piano at Lincoln University of Missouri. She also maintains an independent piano studio in central Missouri, and is active in the Music Teachers National Association. Dr. Gray holds graduate degrees in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where she studied with E. L. Lancaster, Jane Magrath, Edward Gates, and Digby Bell.
Meg Gray
Department of Music
Lincoln University
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573.681.5290
graym@lincolnu.edu
Why should students teach?
One of the issues in piano teaching today is the lack of qualified younger teachers. In many towns across the country, piano students find themselves on waiting lists, and piano teachers find themselves overworking. As the years pass, teachers choose to retire or their life priorities change. There aren't enough new teachers to fill the gap. A solution to this problem is to encourage interested, willing, and qualified high school-aged piano students to try teaching beginning students.
High school pianists may feel intimidated by the thought of teaching piano. They may not consider themselves advanced enough to be good teachers. Or, they may feel that they do not know how to teach. With proper supervision and encouragement, high school students can do a fine job with beginning piano students. And by beginning to teach, they will gain both as musicians and as human beings.
There are musical advantages to training high school pianists to teach. Teachers have to introduce basic concepts such as counting and reading. It is not possible for a teacher to present a concept clearly when they do not fully understand it. Ideas such as subdividing the beat or reading intervallically become crystal clear when they have to be presented and demonstrated to a young pupil. Reviewing the basics of reading and counting can strengthen a teachers' own skills in the fundamentals, and may actually fix problem areas in their own playing.
Unless they are accompanists, high school-aged pianists may not be reading new music frequently. As a student piano teacher, they will greatly increase the amount of new music that they read. They should be encouraged to play through several piano methods and to have input in selecting the proper methods for their beginning piano students. They will have to play through a lot of lower level repertoire when selecting recital or motivational music for their students. And they should be encouraged to play lots of teacher-student duets from their beginner's piano method. This will motivate the beginner and help them to develop a sense of steady pulse. It may also motivate the high school student teacher, increase their reading fluency, and improve their sense of beat!
Sometimes teachers may feel that comments to high school students about their repertoire and performance habits go in one ear and right out the other. A student teacher may find themselves using some of the following phrases with their beginners: “play with more tone please,” “make sure you practice every day,” or “are you reading and following your complete assignment?” When they can see for themselves the importance of these suggestions and others like them, high school students will be more likely to pay attention to the quality of their own playing.
There are non-musical benefits to encouraging student teachers. Successful piano teachers are organized, disciplined, and assertive. In guiding the high school student teacher, the importance of these traits must be emphasized. As the student teacher learns to schedule lessons, work with parents, and deal with the occasional discipline problem, they will develop or strengthen these qualities out of necessity.
Most high school students are thinking about their future career choices. Internships with businesses are a common way for students to gain real life experience in potential job fields. Students that are seriously interested in music as a career can benefit immensely from an introduction to teaching.
A reality in the field of music is that most musicians end up teaching in some form during at least part of their career. Having a teaching experience at this age can help high school pianists decide whether teaching is for them or not.
Another non-musical benefit for student teachers is financial gain. While they should not be charging the same rates as experienced, certified teachers, they need to earn a fair price for their services. Teaching piano may compensate high school students enough to keep them from having to work at their local fast food restaurant…thereby freeing them up to do more of their own practicing!
Who should student teachers teach?
One aspect of teaching that student teachers must consider is learning to maintain a professional relationship between teacher and student. They type of professional distance maintained differs from one teacher to another depending on teaching and personality styles, but it is a quality that should be present in some form for most effective teaching.
To assist student teachers in building a professional relationship with their students, two things must be considered: the relative ages of teacher and student, and the relative ability levels of teacher and student. Average-aged beginning piano students are probably the best choice for beginning student teachers.
It would seem at first glance that pre-school students would be an excellent choice for the student teacher. However, specialized training in dealing with the emotional, physical and mental characteristics of 3-4 year olds is needed for the successful early childhood music teacher.
Adult beginners are at a comfortable level of musical ability for student teachers. However, student teachers may feel uncomfortable teaching someone older and perhaps wiser than themselves. And, because of the special circumstances of teaching adults - their differing physical, emotional and social needs - pedagogical training in teaching adults is necessary.
Student teachers will need assistance and training in dealing with the non-teaching aspects of their situation. Parents of both the student teacher and their prospective beginning students should be aware and supportive of the situation. Both the teacher and beginning student should commit to a semester if not a year of instruction; interrupted and short term study is not productive for either person. The student teacher should prepare and present a studio policy, and should stick to that policy. The beginning students should be pre-screened by the mentor teacher. Beginners with learning, behavioral, or emotional challenges should be taught by experienced teachers rather than student teachers.
How should student teachers teach?
Excellent teachers are eager, educated, confident, and willing to continue to learn. These qualities can best be developed in a new teacher by observation, supervision, and training. Student teachers should be mentored by experienced teachers, and experienced teachers should be compensated for the experience.
Training can take many forms. One possible way to train future teachers is to hold a pedagogy seminar or camp - during the summer, over several weekends, or in a bi-weekly or monthly meeting. Student teachers should be introduced to the basic reading and counting approaches, and to whatever piano method or methods that the mentor feels are appropriate. It can be very helpful for this training to take place in a group. In a group setting, student teachers have opportunities to practice peer teaching, and to discuss various aspects of teaching and learning.
Student teachers should observe good teaching as much as possible. Although they have been in piano lessons for years themselves, they probably haven't thought about how to structure and pace a lesson. They should focus on observing beginning students so they can learn how to deal with concerns for this age group and level. Have student teachers observe and take notes for specific tasks such as developing a steady beat. Follow up on their observations with discussion of the effectiveness of the teaching.
A third important component of effective teacher training is supervision. When student teachers are just beginning to teach, a high amount of structure is both comforting and effective. Providing lesson plans and having the student teachers practice peer teaching are ways to ensure their success. As student teachers become more experienced, they can develop their own lesson plans. Keeping a copy of the lesson plans in a notebook is an effective way for them to plan ahead and for the mentor to keep tabs on what is happening.
Student teachers should video their teaching so that they can review it with their mentor. Reviewing video is time consuming; however, one way to keep this task from being overwhelming is to have the student teacher record a specific part of the lesson several weeks in a row. This way, they can see the progression of their teaching from week to week in an efficient manner.
Student teachers should encourage their beginning students to participate in the activities of their mentor's studio, such as recitals and festivals, and credit should be given to the student teacher for their beginners' participation. This way, other piano students can see how rewarding it is to teach, and the mentoring program can grow.
In many independent piano studios across the nation, we have an untapped resource in our intermediate and advanced level high school piano students. They are intelligent and energetic. Training high school students to teach can assist them in their own musical study, provide them with a source of income, and help them make decisions about their careers. Taking advantage of this valuable resource can help alleviate the teacher shortages that are found in many communities.
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