What makes a good (instrumental) teacher? Part 1/3
When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always offered 3 options: a surgeon, a policewoman, or a criminal. What does one expect by asking a 5-year-old such a question? Even with 14 or so, when kids in Slovenia are transitioning to high school and making their first steps toward their future profession, they are still determining if that is really what they will do. I played guitar and was told I was good at it, so since I didn’t necessarily want to quit, I went to a music gymnasium. Then I was there, not necessarily super passionate about it at the beginning, but getting more into it towards the end – again, I didn’t feel like I wanted to quit – so I applied for studies. For some of my colleagues, it was always “the thing”; it was always their life; I was just sort of enjoying it, and because it represented an opportunity to go abroad (and again – couldn’t really imagine myself quitting) chose continuing studying music. So, I was in Austria, still wondering if this was what I was supposed to do. And it’s not like I wasn’t enjoying it; I was only wondering if there is more to me and if I can expand my potential in any other direction. Thanks to the encouragement of my university teacher there, I finally started to feel like I maybe belong in the musical world after all. Because this role wasn’t clear to me at the beginning, not feeling like I really belonged has been accompanying me throughout my high school years, and for the first time ever, I now finally did feel like I could be a musician by profession, and perhaps – I could even be an artist. I guess I needed a bit longer than some to realize and start perusing it. And then, I was there, learning a new language and starting to adapt to my new environment.
As soon as I was sort of fluent, I started to work a bit to support myself, as I didn’t want to be a financial burden to my parents – and two years in, I got my first teaching job in Austria. And this is how I started out as a teacher and eventually found my purpose. Part of my discovery was my work with what one could describe as ‘difficult’ children and teenagers. One of my first jobs in Austria was teaching guitar in a free program dedicated to middle school children. The school was a mix of typical children, children with learning disabilities, immigrant backgrounds, family protection services, and kids with actual mental and physical disabilities. Basically, I had no idea what I was getting myself into! And no one really took the time to inform me, so I needed quite a while to find methods and approaches for all those different people. A boy, who grew on me quite a bit after a while, had brain damage from almost suffocating at birth and had a concise term memory. None of my previous teaching experiences and technics prepared me for that. There were girls who, due to their late arrival to the Austrian school system and insufficient language skills, had to visit classes they were too bright for. I got to see all the different sides of immigration and its effect. And then there were two girls that changed my perspective on teaching, most likely forever.
At first, they were a living nightmare. They were rude, wouldn’t listen, and giggled all the time – basically being disrespectful and typical teenagers. No sense of routine, discipline, or present values, no members of any community, and always going against what anyone said. All I could think about was, “where are those girls going? They are on a self-destructive path”. And after a couple of weeks of losing my mind and dreading going into the classroom, knowing they would totally kill my will to live, I once just gave up. I tried my strict attitude, forcing respect and giving them knowledge. But if this doesn’t work…I went within – what can I learn from my previous teachers? How can I reach these girls? And I started thinking…
Part 2 coming up soon!
Stay tuned for a free gift available in my Shop at the end of this 3-part series!
