The facets of teaching are too many for an encyclopedia to list, but here are some tips from one teacher’s studio. This is a follow-up to Ms. Nauraine’s February article, “How to Be a Good Student.”
Good students come to good teachers. Most singers don’t start out aspiring to be great voice teachers, but often singers end up teaching under various circumstances. Why not do the best at it that we can? If we invest the right amount of time, effort, and thought, teaching can be wonderfully fulfilling to us and our students. It’s much more than just a time-killing, money-making stopover on the way to the Met.
NATS is a good place to start to figure out some of the ethical and pedagogical standards we can aspire to. They’ve thought these out over a long period of time and with a lot of input. We’ve reprinted them here. If you aren’t a current member of NATS, consider joining. Take a look at the website NATS.org, and see what’s going on in your area of the country.
Here are some more guidelines for being a good teacher:
The “Do’s”
* Be as encouraging, supportive and positive as your conscience and the talent of the student allow you to be. Try to attend some performances, and no matter how the performance went, find something to be complimentary about afterwards.
* Good grooming and dressing nicely lets students know this business is a professional one. Encourage them to present themselves likewise.
* Keep a sense of humor in teaching. It will help relax the atmosphere. If you make a mistake about something, own up. The students will respect you more for it.
* Be respectful of your students’ aspirations, but be honest. If your student thinks she’s going to have a big career and she can’t sing an advertising jingle, it’s time to be frank, no matter how painful it is. Honesty can cost you money and friends, but it doesn’t have to. Gently suggest that there might be other ways of pursuing the joy of singing. Tell her how hard it is to have a career and what’s involved. Unless she’s totally deluded, she’ll get the picture.
* Be on time. If you’re running late, make up the time that day. Don’t say you’ll catch it up later. That’s not likely to happen, and it makes the student feel as if she’s getting shorted for someone elseÕs benefit.
* Have your students pay on time; it’s good business. You can find other ways of working out a financial arrangement than by having somebody owing you three hundred dollars at the end of the month.
* Try to take enrichment or continuing education courses when you can. It keeps you fresh, gives you new ideas or reinforces the ones you have. It helps you grow, and it can help your students grow.
* Try to find outlets for your students to perform or compete in. NATS has several opportunities. If there aren’t any nearby, start something up. Singing in retirement homes, churches, for service clubs or just for one another on a regular basis gives the students a chance to try out their wings and achieve a sense of accomplishment. It also tells you where you need to focus, concentrate and encourage.
* Only take and keep students you can help. Otherwise, you are wasting time, money and effort, and frustrating both parties. If you have a student you don’t like, give her the names of some other teachers. You can’t do good work with a student you don’t at least have some respect for.
* If you have to cancel at the last minute, apologize profusely, and consider giving a free lesson. It makes the student feel as if she has an equal partnership in the process of her career.
The “Dont’s”
*Don’t try to be “all things to all people.” You have a limited amount of knowledge. Do what you do best, and send the student on to someone else to coach Russian, for example, if you don’t speak it.
* Don’t claim to have skills you don’t possess. They’ll eventually find out and have less respect for you in the end. *Try not to play favorites. It’s natural to have some students that you feel closer to or enjoy teaching more, but try to give all your students equal respect. You want your students to encourage one another, not have to compete within the context of the studio. It just creates ill-will, making it harder for you to do your job.
* Don’t force an idea. It’s egotistical and belittling. If you’re having difficulty coming up with a new concept to help your student over a hump, ask a colleague to sit in or give you some help. Doctors, lawyers, professionals of every stripe do it. Why shouldn’t we?
* Don’t turn voice lessons into analysis. The voice definitely has psychological components, but unless you’re trained in psychoanalysis as well as voice, it’s not your line of work. It’s manipulative, unprofessional, inappropriate, and dangerous to the mental health of your students. Stick to what you know. *Don’t raise your voice to your students. If you feel you have to, look at your skills, not theirs. If they don’t get what you tell them, if they don’t want to do what you tell them, if they can’t produce sound the way you envision it by doing what you suggest, look first to gain new teaching skills. Don’t sacrifice them on the altar of your ego. Get a new idea or get another student.
* Don’t touch a student until you ask permission. And with the exception of demonstrating breathing and a few other things, keep your hands to yourself. Touching in a sexual manner should absolutely never happen. For any reason. Period. Hitting or striking a student falls under the heading of criminal assault.
* Don’t sleep with your students, no matter how seductive or how lonely either of you may be. Get a life. It’s an abuse of a position of power. If the student is over a certain age, say 21, it’s terribly unprofessional but at least it’s a matter between adults-however tarnished your reputation will become. You could lose an academic job (or you certainly should) or get sued. In many states, sleeping with someone under 16 can get you jailed.
* Don’t make fun of or talk about students behind their backs, especially in front of other students. It creates animosity, jealousy and insecurity in the studio. If you speak ill of one student to another, why wouldn’t they think you speak badly of them to someone else? Save it for a spouse of fellow teacher. It’s playground tactics.
* Let students move on without guilt. They go to college, they go to grad school, they go into programs, they go do something else. Your job is temporary. Get used to it. If you don’t want people to leave you, buy a cemetery. Students aren’t our children forever. Even parents have to say addio. See it as a point of graduation. Send them off with an encouraging card or letter telling them how knowing them has enriched your life. You’ve dedicated yourself to their success; now that they go on to the next stepping stone, don’t make them feel as if they’ve betrayed you by doing so. Give your little duckling a push. A swan may just come back in a few years. And they’ll send you other ducklings to teach.
Recently I got one of those inspirational e-mails from a friend. I loved it. Maybe you’ve seen it. It goes like this:
Name five of the wealthiest people in the world. Name five of the last Miss America winners. Name five Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winners. Name five Academy Award winners. Name the last ten World Series winners. Can’t do it? The point is that no one remembers the headliners of yesterday. These aren’t second rate achievers, but the best in their fields. Still, the applause dies, awards tarnish, and accolades and certificates are buried with their owners. We all have short memories, and so does the rest of the world.
Now, for the second part. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Bet that was easier. The lesson here is that the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, money or awards. They are the ones who touch our hearts. Teachers are incredibly powerful. How we choose to use that power is up to us
