The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 158 Teaching

Episode Date: February 10, 2023

In this episode I talk about the very important role of teacher and the ways we can efficiently guide and support our students on their chosen path.   DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT FROM THIS EPISODE HERE   Do you have specific questions for me or my guests you would like answered on the podcast? Share them with me HERE!   Join me for FREE on February 17th for the Deep Practice Model Teacher Training Workshop when you join Practicing for Peak Performance!  (Replays will be available)   Practicing for Peak Performance: Your Step-by-step Roadmap to Optimal Performance! Get you self-paced program HERE and transform how you perform TODAY!   Mind Over Finger Visit MindOverFinger.com for resources on mindful practice and information on how to work with me. Sign up for my newsletter to receive your free guide to a highly productive mindful practice and to get the transcripts of the Mind Over Finger Podcast episodes delivered to your inbox. Join the Join the Mind Over Finger Community  for access to my live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians. www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindoverfinger https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/   THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme:  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson. A HUGE thank you to my fantastic producer, Bella Kelly, who makes this podcast as pleasant to listen to as possible for you!

You're listening to The Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 158. Welcome to The Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, optimal performance, and building a purposeful life and fulfilling career. I'm your host, violinist and certified performance and life coach for musicians, Dr. René-Paul Gauthier. Hello, everyone. I hope you're doing fantastic as you're listening to this episode. These days, I'm immersed in the preparation for my Deep Practice Model Teacher Training Workshop that's taking place on February 17th. For this workshop, I meet with all of my clients and those

of you who have bought my online course, Practicing for Peak Performance, and we cover in detail how to help students practice, how to nurture our students, how to teach in the way that fits their needs, and we also talk about how to teach them all of the systems and methods I share in my program, Practicing for Peak Performance. We cover the deep practice model, which is my system to learn and memorize music faster and better, and all of the conditioning exercises for peak performance. All of this. It's a lot of fun.

And if you would like to join, it's totally accessible to you for free when you join Practicing for Peak Performance. You can do that by going to my website at mindoverfinger.com. It's all there. And when you get Practicing for Peak Performance, you get access to this pedagogy training for free. So as I was looking over my notes a few weeks ago, it made me think a lot about pedagogy and my philosophy about pedagogy. I shared a few posts online and the response was so great. I got so many fantastic DMs from you guys and comments and emails. I love it. Keep them coming. I originally had different content planned for the next couple of weeks, but I thought, why not have a couple episodes about teaching and pedagogy, and in particular, this very special, precious relationship between teacher and student. So I've changed my plans, and let's talk about this. This relationship, teacher-student, is very symbiotic, and there's a lot of room for miracles to happen, as well as for a lot of damage to be inflicted. That's why it's important for

both parties to understand their responsibilities in the relationship. Today, I'll talk about my current views, my take on things in my teaching philosophy, which is, of course, really similar to my coaching philosophy. But I don't want to muddy the water here. So I'll stick to my teaching approach for this episode. And next week, I will talk about ways we can show up as students to make the most out of our lessons and out of our learning experience. Okay, here we go. It's important for me to provide my students with solid notions about violin playing and music in general, of course. And I also want to instill in them the desire to apply and deepen that knowledge outside of the studio and to bring their authentic self into the music making experience. To do this, it's crucial

to have a healthy bond with a student. A professor once told me that music was a big thing. A very, very big thing, he said. Indeed, it is. Music is a very broad and complex subject. It involves great amounts of theoretical knowledge, technical skills, and problem-solving abilities. But as you know, it's much more than that. It demands sensibility. It has transformative power. It moves humans. It's an amazing journey that demands a lot out of a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. When we embark on it and as we navigate it, we're looking for guidance and the relationship between a teacher and the student is a deeply personal and powerful one that must involve great trust. Teaching a musical instrument is both an honor and a great

responsibility. I have seen so much pain out there in students and in my coaching clients that was inflicted by teachers. Usually not on purpose, of course. Nobody wants to inflict pain on purpose, usually. But there are still some approaches to teaching that are rooted in old traditions that, in my opinion, don't pass the test of time. I had my share of that, but I'm very lucky because I also got to experience really beautiful and healthy relationships with several of my teachers. And the more I learned and teach and grow from experience, the more I see the evidence that creating a nurturing and supportive experience for the people who come to us for learning impacts the learning experience positively. Also, science backs this up. Research in the field

of Education has consistently shown that student-centered, interactive teaching methods where students are actively involved in the learning process, where they feel supported, and where they have formed a healthy connection with their teacher are way more effective in promoting the long-term retention of information and acquisition of skills. Now, that does not mean in any way that we can't hold the bar high and that we cannot have really high expectations for our students. I definitely do. But it's all in the approach. Whether positive or negative, the relationship with our teacher shapes who we are. So we have to be mindful of that when we're teaching. The person in front of us puts a lot of trust in us, and we have to take great care of

them. I think all teachers, or maybe all humans for that matter, should take the Hippocratic Oath. First, do no harm. Then, I think we must let go of our personal agenda and our attachment to a specific and rigid method. As Paul Ellison puts it in our conversation on this podcast in episode 125, we have to teach the human in front of us. It's necessary to get to know the human in front of us and offer support that matches their needs. This is what many call the student-centered approach to learning. We want to get to know our students and tailor our teaching to their learning style. So spend some time finding out what approach and strategies best fit your students and create a real rapport with them. When we do this, we have a much better chance at igniting in them a real enthusiasm for the practice of their instrument.

There are many things we can do to facilitate that. Here are some suggestions. Have informational conversations with your students and get to know their interests, hobbies, and backgrounds. Assess their prior knowledge, their skills, and their educational experience. Observe them during lessons and notice their learning styles. What do they respond best to? Is it when you play something, when you show them something, or when you explain something? I find that to be super important and it's a great source of learning for myself as well. It's so rewarding when we feel like we're figuring out exactly what makes a student click.

Also, communicate regularly with them. Ask questions and check in with them about their needs, their concerns, and how they feel about their progress. Finally, create a safe and inclusive environment where they feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings with you. This is not only going to make the learning experience that much more powerful for them. I think it's going to be a great source of inspiration for you. Now, let's talk about expectations for a minute. I believe in having very high expectations while being supportive. Those things are not mutually exclusive.

In fact, I think that setting high expectations for students and holding them to it is a great gift for them. As I said earlier, it's all in the approach. Communication is key here because it's very important that our expectations match our students' goals. As I said earlier, we want to remove our own personal agenda from that mix. So ask your students, what do they want? What are they after? What's the vision here? Then with your knowledge and experience, you can help them figure out the steps to reach those goals, guide them along the way, and help them stay on track.

While doing that, it's really important to provide honest, ongoing feedback. Students need to understand their strengths and the areas they need to improve. And here again, it's all in the approach. What is the best way for you to deliver the information your student needs? What is the most productive, most respectful way you can do this? This is a good place to bring up one of my favorite practice room superpowers from episode 142, patience. You've heard me say this before. I believe that patience is the fastest road to success. There are no shortcuts to mastery and the process must be followed. Consistency and

true understanding will always trump cramming and thoughtless memorization. Self-discipline and dedication ensure that the information is absorbed and understood fully. And it's very important to emphasize this concept to students. So how can we also bring this concept of patience in our teaching? It's going to look different in every situation, in every lesson. It might look like explaining a concept again in a different way, trying a different approach for a specific technique that is not quite coming together just yet, changing course of action completely halfway through the semester or providing additional support to the student so that they can stay on course. I think once again, it goes to removing our own personal agenda from the process

and thinking about what's best for the student long-term, paying attention to them. And it's possible, more than possible, that we might all have been less than kind and patient at some point or another with a student. That's totally normal. We're human and those are behaviors that have been modeled for us time and time again. No big deal. If we catch ourselves in the act, we can apologize to the student and reset the mood. And if we realize that after the fact, we can set the intention to keep learning as a person and a teacher and to do better next time. And it might and it probably will happen again. Totally normal. Those things happen to all humans and we just catch it and modify our behavior over time. One more thing that is not negligible

is to celebrate our students' successes and acknowledge all of their accomplishments, big and especially small. Make them feel recognized and valued, not just for the things they do, but also for the way they show up and the way they are. Make them feel seen and appreciated for who they are right now. This is going to go a long way to help them stay motivated and engaged in their learning. One more thing I shared in the post a couple weeks ago was the importance of creating opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning. This is also really important. Autonomy and self-direction are critical skills for success in school and in life. Giving them a chance to take the reins will give them a sense of control and boost their

self-confidence. Trusting that they have the ability to make decisions and to solve problems will go a long way in supporting their growth. So what can you do to encourage them to show initiative and responsibility in their musical journey. This can look like so many things. Sky is the limit on how we can do this. You can encourage students to select their own repertoire and work on it a little bit by themselves for a while before they take it to you. Suggest they sign up for a performance or a competition or that they put together a recital or self-produce a concept event. Encourage them to experiment with improvisation or composition or try out different genres. Ask them to troubleshoot issues in the lessons without

giving them the answers. So many things are possible here. And there are so many more things I could say on the topic, and I'll probably revisit it in subsequent episodes. But I think we've covered a lot of ground today. So let's stop here. When it comes to pedagogy, I think the essence is to get very curious and invested in the student standing in front of us, to bring dedication and humility to the task of guiding them to the goals they have set for themselves. And there's not one way to do this. The fun is in figuring out what it will look like for this one specific human with whom we share this learning adventure. John Steinbeck said, teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

How beautiful is that? So this is what I have for you today. And here's my challenge for you this week. If you're a teacher, get curious about the student in front of you. And even if you already know them really well, see if you can learn one more new thing about them. And if you're looking for a place to start, here are a few suggestions. Ask about their interests and hobbies. Assess their prior knowledge, skills, and learn about their educational experience. Observe the student during their lessons and take notes of their learning style. Try playing for them, showing them, and explaining clearly what they should do and notice what they respond to best. Inquire about their needs, their concerns, and how they feel about their progress.

And lastly, ask yourself if you're creating a safe and inclusive environment where they feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings with you. And whether you're a teacher or student, I hope you find valuable insight in this episode, and I really do hope that you will share it with me. Find me on social and comment there. Go to my website at mindoverfinger.com and send me an email. I think this is an important topic and a conversation that we should all be involved in. And if you want to take a deep dive in all of this, don't forget the teacher training workshop on February 17th. We're going to be covering all of those things and so much more. Lots and lots of applicable techniques to help your students practice and perform better. And all of this is

free when you grab Practicing for Peak Performance at mindoverfinger.com. All right, my friends, much love going your way, and à bientôt. Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Mind Over Finger podcast. If this content was helpful for you, please share with everyone you think could benefit from it. Take a screenshot, share on social media and tag me. I'm mind over finger everywhere. So reach out, send me a DM and let me know how this content helped you. Let's keep the conversation going. As always, I have all the information related to this episode in the show notes. You can find them via your podcast app or by visiting mindoverfinger.com, where you can also find more free resources on efficient practice and performance preparation, links to sign up to my free workshops, and information on how to work with me.

Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to receive your free guide to a productive mindful practice, transcripts from the Mind Over Finger podcast episodes delivered to your inbox every week, and more. Also, join the Mind Over Finger Facebook community, my private group, for access to my live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians. So, make sure you're subscribed to the podcast. And if you have specific questions for me or my guests that you would like answered in an episode, share them with me using the link in the show notes or send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook. That's it for today.

again. Thank you, and à bientôt.