SUGGESTIONS TO STUDENTS ON LEAVING
A TRAINING DEPARTMENT
In finishing a course of training along the lines we have been
considering, it is well to take a bird's-eye view of what has been done.
In all communal work the results fall roughly under two heads:
1. The getting of new ideas, and of new ways of presenting old ideas.
2. The development of character, due to the mixing with fellow students
and with those who are directing the work.
So far as the actual work is concerned, stress has been laid on the
following:
1. The necessity of considering music as a language.
2. Various methods for teaching in accordance with this idea.
3. The principle of the inclusion of the work in the regular curriculum
of schools, with class treatment.
In the short space of one year, which is all that can be generally
spared by the student, it is impossible for her to realize the full
bearing of all that has been done. It is only when we see such work in
perspective, after the lapse of a little time, when it has been possible
to work out at leisure some of the practical points involved, that we
can perceive all the ground covered.
Many students have experienced considerable difficulty at first in doing
themselves what they have seen children do, who have been trained along
these lines, i.e. to write down two-, three-, or four-part exercises in
dictation, to transpose at sight, to extemporize without hesitation at
the piano, &c. The feeling of working against time, of examinations to
be passed, of discouragement at apparently slow progress, has possibly
produced a state of mental indigestion, and the only cure for this is
Time, the universal doctor.
The student is now at the point of entering a new sphere of work. The
instrument has been sharpened. How is the application to be directed? A
word of warning is necessary. The young and enthusiastic teacher, fresh
from the inspiration of a year's work with those interested in her
development, is too often apt to be over-rigid in enforcing a new
presentment of ideas.
'This way, or no way!' is her cry.
Now all sound educational work must possess an intrinsic quality of
pliability: it must grow, expand, and be capable of development in a
hundred ways. Small points of method must be adjusted to the particular
class and pupil, and a generous recognition of the useful parts of other
people's 'methods' will be the surest way of obtaining recognition of
our own ideals. Provided a firm attitude be maintained on essentials, it
is often possible to compromise on minor details. Above all, an open
mind must be preserved in the presence of advice, however
inexperienced. Many a young teacher has failed in her first post because
she has given the impression to those in authority that there is one,
and one only, way in which she can do her work--one, and one only,
possible scheme of division of classes and hours for lessons.
An arrangement far short of the ideal must often be accepted, with a
courteous protest, but it will assuredly be modified later by the
authorities when the teacher has won confidence by arousing the interest
and enthusiasm of the pupils, and by showing good results from the
lessons.
Has not every new presentment of every subject in the school curriculum
been greeted with the same chorus of depreciation at first? Why should
music, the latest arrived of the subjects on the regular curriculum,
fare differently?
Remember that the head of a school has often to keep in mind, not only
his or her ideals in education, but the wishes of a governing body and
of the parents.
A short demonstration of work done under imperfect conditions will often
throw a flood of light on the aims of an enthusiastic teacher, who has
been struggling in difficult surroundings. 'I had no idea you were doing
all _this_ with the children' has been the admiring comment of more than
one former unsympathetic critic, and conditions are at once altered in a
generous spirit.
Above all, the young teacher must remember that it is of the first
importance not to lose her enthusiasm for the work. She must keep
herself up to date by being in touch with general musical life outside
her immediate circle. She should belong to a musical society, and take
every opportunity of attending lectures, &c. She should organize musical
clubs and meetings among her pupils, and encourage a healthy attitude of
kindly criticism.
And, finally, she must be always working at something to do with her own
music, for directly she ceases to put herself, from time to time, in the
attitude of the learner, she will cease to be a sympathetic and
stimulating teacher.
It is a good plan to keep a musical diary, in which our own progress and
that of our pupils is recorded, together with notes on current musical
events--concerts attended, and so on. Such a record is most useful for
reference, and for encouragement in dark hours, when it seems impossible
to re-establish a lost sense of proportion.
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AT THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS