Teaching Philosophies and the Element of Curiosity
The “teaching philosophy.” Ask ten teachers to write one, and you’ll get as many unique perspectives. Some are concise to an, almost, clinical degree. Others wax poetic and philosophical about the nature of the pupil and mentor relationship, the influence of various learning theorists, and how anecdotal experiences have shaped a set of pedagogical virtues. Regardless of your penchant for prose, the one thing that many meaningful teaching philosophies have in common is a focus on the student’s personal journey, rather than the achievement of a set of arbitrary goals. In more succinct terms, a student-centered growth mindset.
The subject of the teaching philosophy comes up often in undergraduate and graduate courses in Piano Pedagogy. Any student who has taken these courses has, at some point, had to write one. It’s no coincidence that this topic also frequently comes up during interviews for teaching positions in music studios, and even when interviewing for faculty positions.
As teachers gain experience and develop their pedagogical style, it’s inevitable that elements of their teaching philosophy will evolve – I’ve certainly noticed as much in my own teaching. However, while some of the tangential elements of my teaching philosophy have evolved over time, my core beliefs have essentially remained unchanged:
The goal of teaching is to create a self-sufficient learner.
Curiosity is the foundation for the learning experience.
The goal of creating a self-sufficient and well-rounded musician lies at the heart of my teaching philosophy. Whether we like it or not, we will eventually have our last lesson with every student that enters our studio – though they forever remain our students in our hearts. Sometimes we have a student for just a few months. In the most fortunate of circumstances, we have the privilege to work with a student for many years and witness the fruits of their dedication, effort, and – with younger students – their burgeoning maturity. Our duty during those intervening weeks, months, and years is to do what we can to instill a love for music and to equip them with the necessary tools to be able to continue studying music independently.
In order to develop a student into a self-sufficient learner, a teacher has to address both the practical and artistic aspects of musicmaking. On the practical side, we have the raw mechanical elements necessary to learning music; things like developing sufficient reading ability and technical facility, and effective practice techniques. The artistic side, on the other hand, addresses elements like interpretation and understanding of style. While these two categories seem disparate, I believe them to be linked. To borrow from Heinrich Neuhaus’ evaluation of legendary pianist’s Sviatoslav Richter’s prodigious abilities, the greatest technique comes from striving towards the greatest musical ideas. In essence, allowing the artistry of the student to dictate the practical approach. The spirit of this statement is often, erroneously, taken as license to assign difficult repertoire before a student is ready in the hopes that their desire to learn the music will breed the skills necessary to play the piece. To be clear, I take thoughtful repertoire assignment very seriously and only advocate for assigning pieces that students will find appropriately challenging.
I firmly believe that the greatest artistic results are connected to a practical and effective process of preparation. In other words, if the work process is effective, then the final artistic product will be satisfying. By contrast, when we work poorly, the result is often unsatisfying. Consequently, it’s incredibly important that we help students develop adequate music literacy and technical facility, and teach them effective practice techniques. However, you can present a student with all of the tools necessary to learn music and practice effectively – you can teach them everything you can about style and interpretation, but none of this will have any lasting effect without instilling a burning sense of curiosity in your student.
As a teenager I was naturally very curious about a great many things and spent countless hours combing through Wikipedia articles. I was incredibly fortunate to have a teacher willing to indulge my curiosity and to engage in discussions which, in retrospect, she probably found tiresome. However, her willingness to allow my curiosity to guide my learning developed a deeply satisfying love for music that went beyond just the piano and the music written for it. Throughout my education, and even into my doctoral studies, I have been lucky to have mentors who continued to fan the flames of that curiosity, further deepening my love and appreciation for music and all of its historical and theoretical aspects.
It’s this curiosity that drives a student to engage with music on an intellectual level and explore the historical and theoretical context of the notes on the page, and form a connection with a piece that results in a deeply personal and nuanced interpretation. In turn, this curiosity creates a musical goal that can guide the practical application of the tools necessary to make their interpretation a reality.
Because I believe curiosity to be so important in the learning process, much of my teaching involves finding out what a student is interested in, and encouraging exploration and experimentation, especially with different historical styles. As an example, I love asking students to play pieces from one historical period in a different style – what happens if we play a Bach Prelude and Fugue the same way we might play something written in the Romantic style of the 19th Century? Assuming a student has sufficient experience, this accomplishes a few things: It reveals their understanding of the Romantic style, and it illustrates the role of texture and how it influences decisions with respect to dynamics and pedaling. Most importantly, it gives the student an opportunity to “break the rules,” thus allowing them to explore the boundaries of specific styles. Who knows, they might even like how Bach sounds when played in the style of Chopin or Brahms! As long as they are capable of playing pieces in a stylistically “appropriate” way, who cares if they pedal over chord changes in Bach when playing for their own enjoyment? This may seem like a careless attitude but most pre-college students will not go on to study music professionally. Consequently, it is vastly more important to me that they find ways to enjoy music that are meaningful to them and students only achieve this through experimentation – and experimentation is fueled by curiosity.
Without curiosity as a driving force, the learning process can grow stagnant very quickly, and this is especially true with younger students who are just beginning their musical journey. Instilling that sense of curiosity early on in a student’s musical education is essential for them to develop into a self-sufficient learner. Once they leave our studio, there is no guarantee that they will ever come back to the piano – however, if you’ve instilled in them a desire to learn new things, then that curiosity will manifest itself in a desire to continue learning music and will be supported by all of the practical tools they’ve learned in order to satisfy that curiosity.
Whether you’re a brand-new teacher about to take on your first student or an experienced one taking on your hundredth, it’s worthwhile to spend some time thinking about and refining your teaching philosophy. For veteran teachers, it’s also important to evaluate whether or not – and to what extent – your teaching philosophy aligns with what you actually put into pedagogical practice.
Are you a piano teacher trying to figure out your own teaching philosophy? What are some of the core pedagogical beliefs? Let me know in the comments below!
