Teaching, but Not Telling!

So when I think back, I realize I had the good fortune of studying with a teacher who never told me how to do things.

This gave me the room I needed to figure things out.

At least, that's what I told myself.

You see, I needed to believe I was doing it all on my own.

Because of that, I guess you could say it was not the easiest student to teach.

But when I look back at those lessons now, I think that what my teacher gave me was exactly the information I needed to help me find the next step.

The next step they wanted me to take.

I remember bringing a piece to a lesson and after I finished playing, my teacher said how good it was going to be.

Well, then they pointed out a boing to consider changing in one of the opening phrases.

I stopped them cold and explained that I had researched the piece beyond thoroughly.

Having looked at first editions and microfilms of the originals, I knew exactly what my teacher looked at me with raised eyebrows and slowly said, I see. And then asked what I planned for that next phrase.

I answered, feeling proud that my teacher had understood and was letting me run the show.

Then they made a bow-stroke suggestion that might help me further realize my idea.

But after a few more suggestions like that, I realized that they had me doing exactly what they had wanted me to do from the beginning.

I couldn't believe it. But I had been had.

So while teaching I could not help but laugh remembering that moment.

It made me consider doing the same thing with my French students.

But I knew my level of French was not strong enough to pull off that kind of trickery.

So that ended that.

Still I had to find a way to communicate what I had to offer. Because like my teacher, I did not think it was a good idea to just give them the information on a silver platter.

Well I remember one lesson in particular. I had just assigned the student a new piece and they immediately asked if I could play it for them. I was surprised, so I asked why.

They said it would help them understand how it goes.

I nodded and said, well in that case you should go to a record store and buy a few recordings.

You see this is well before YouTube.

They frowned and said they could not afford that.

So I said, then head over to the Centre Pompidou.

There is an amazing listening library there. You can find all kinds of recordings, so you will certainly find multiple interpretations of this piece.

My response gave the student pause.

They stared silently at me for what felt like a few minutes, then said, OK, so I see.

I'm going to do all the work and you're not going to do anything.

I smiled and said, you got it.

They walked out of my studio shaking their head with an, is he serious look? But I was totally pleased. I was proud not to have given in.

Because of what I did, they would have to figure it out for themselves.

But even though I did what I believed to be right, that moment brought something to the surface that I had not yet fully understood.

You see, back then in France, teachers held authority in a way that ran deep.

This meant that what I was trying to do, which from my perspective was about giving students the space they needed to make a discovery, was completely foreign to what they were accustomed to.

That said, once in response to something I said, a student replied, j 'ai le droit, or I have the right.

I admit I was a bit taken aback, not just because of the words themselves, but because on the one hand, they expected to be told what to do, yet on the other hand, they were not afraid to push back if they felt their freedom was being limited.

I was genuinely confused. And given that my French language skills were still developing, I became careful with the way I spoke in lessons.

I worked hard to choose words that would avoid any cultural missteps that might derail their understanding of what I was trying to teach.

But the more I worked with these students, the clearer my role became.

I had to learn how to frame the ideas I wanted to share, always in French, of course, in a way that would lead them to discover things for themselves.

And when they did make those discoveries, I had to remind myself to simply smile, look pleased, and pretend that I had nothing to do with it.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

Thank you for your comment, question or request!

Comment/Question deleted successfully.

Post a comment, question or special request:

Comments or questions must be between 3 and 10,000 characters long.

You may: Login  or  

Otherwise, fill out the form below to post your comment:

Add your name below:


Add your email below: (to receive replies, will not be displayed or shared)


For verification purposes, please enter the word MUSIC in the field below

---