A Career As A Music Educator

It is a strange and beautiful feeling to have a calling, to know with your entire being that you were put on this Earth to do one thing. To me, I didn’t chose to be a music educator- it was the only profession I could do. Not because I am devoid of any other traits necessary for other professions, or that I believe I am a musical prodigy. I could have been a baker, or a florist, or a police officer, but the only thing that I wanted to do was teach music. John Neal, a wonderful mentor and an extraordinary person whom I greatly respect, often says “music is the language of emotion and emotion is the language of the divine (Neal).”, I share his belief that to teach music is to teach others how to tap into the most authentic and divine parts of …show more content…
I believe it is a crucial component of teaching (and life) to be reasonably flexible, compassionate and understanding toward each student and acknowledge that they all come from different experiences. A teacher who ignores this reality doing themselves and their students a tremendous disservice. Attitude is probably the most important aspect of being an educator, John Neal has often told me “it isn’t the technical stuff you’ll mess up on. You won’t teach kids wrong notes or rhythms, it’s the connections that will be the hardest part of teaching (Neal).” and attitude is an essential part of the teacher/student connections. Alfred Townsend in his book An Introduction to Music Teaching: Artistry and Attitude details the “A, B, Cs of Attitude” and asks that the reader pick ones they feel are most important traits to have as an educator. I feel that a well-rounded successful educator is a balance of genuinely caring, being humorous as well as being professional, passionate and prepared. I believe they must be adept at knowing when listening to their students is more important than speaking, they must be trustworthy (that is to say that they provide a safe environment for their students to make mistakes without being judged as well as being someone a student can confide in- to a reasonable degree) and finally a successful teacher must be daring, they must be willing to take chances and provide challenge for their students so that they can grow as both musicians and