[For this essay, I was asked to discuss the importance of professional development for teachers and what it means to me personally.]
I
am a cautionary tale. I transitioned from a semi-professional singer
to a private voice teacher and full-time professional singer nine
years ago. When I started teaching, I wanted to learn everything
there was about how to teach voice and so, I attended seminars and
read everything I could. Teaching my new students became an education
in itself as I learned how to handle the various challenges they
presented me. As time passed, my studio filled up and I became too
busy with work to worry about furthering my own education. This past
year, I realized I was in a teaching rut. My studio is still full and
I consider myself a successful teacher, but I was bored. I had not
added any new tools to my “teacher toolkit” in a long time and my
students no longer taught me like they once did. I lost the spark
that I had when I struck out on my own nine years ago and I wanted to
find it again.
I
came to teaching voice almost accidentally. My mother, an
accomplished singer, started me on music at an early age – singing
with her and taking piano lessons from a highly respected teacher in
town. In high school, my chorus teacher mentored me and helped me
compete in (and win) various vocal competitions. Despite my mother's
early encouragement, my parents decided that they would not pay for a
music degree so I attended a technical school where I received my
Bachelor's Degree. During my time in college, I still sang and found
myself being mentored by another choral director who ultimately
connected me with my vocal coach. Almost 10 years later, my coach
declared that she had no more to teach me. If I wanted to learn more,
I would either need to go elsewhere or start teaching. My daughter
was an infant so going to graduate school for music was not an
option. I wanted to leave my high-tech job because of the long work
hours, so I took this as an opportunity to start my own voice studio.
Only when I began teaching did I realize how much my coach had done
to teach me how to teach
voice. To this day, many of the routines I do during the course of a
lesson are rooted in what she taught me.
Teaching music extends beyond notes
and rhythms. In may ways, it is “authentic intellectual work”
that Newmann discussed in his Authentic Pedagogy article
because when taught properly, a music student is not only learning
the fundamental “how-to” for making music, but also bigger
picture concepts that tie into history, music appreciation, and human
physiology and emotion. Even if a student does not pursue music as a
career, he or she is left with an understanding of music that allows
deeper enjoyment of the art.
Being able to tap into the many
different facets of music education requires continual teacher
development. No one source – not even an advanced university degree
in music – can completely prepare the teacher for a lifetime of
teaching. Music styles evolve, research into how the human brain
processes music broadens the field, and the needs of music students
continually shift based on their own personal goals – just three
items on a list of many moving parts in the field! Continual teacher
development is required to keep up.
As in many other fields, music offers
many opportunities to continue learning formally and informally.
Organizations such as the National Association of Teachers of Singing
(NATS) serves as a professional learning community by offering
regional and national conferences, online resources and classes, and
localized networking opportunities. They also offer a fantastic
journal full of white papers, articles, and reviews of teaching
materials. I joined NATS as soon as I was eligible to join, but
until recently, I have not fully utilized their resources.
This past summer, I evaluated my
current situation as a teacher and determined that I needed a change
in order to continue in the profession. I love many aspects of my
work, but I need to grow and learn so I can better teach my students
and stay engaged. I am already utilizing the NATS resources more
fully, and I am in the process of laying the groundwork necessary to
toward my PhD in Vocal Pedagogy. A Vocal Pedagogy degree will give
me many more tools in my teacher's toolkit, and will also allow me to
expand from just teaching voice students to training voice teachers
and/or work in the therapeutic realm of vocal health. These prospects
excite me and I look forward to discovering where this path may lead.
In the short term, using Evans'
terminology in her teacher development article, I am focusing mainly
on my “functional development” by working on an online vocal
pedagogy certificate and an online music theory and composition
certificate from two different respected music schools. This will
fill in some gaps in my learning and will give me the credibility I
need when I apply for my graduate degree. In the meantime, I am
doing what I can for my “attitudinal development” through classes
such as the Foundations for Learning series. My short term goal is
to find resources that I can use immediately while building toward
the long term goal of an advanced degree.
I learned a valuable lesson this
summer: I need to check in with myself more regularly and evaluate
where I am – a practice that is regularly discussed in this very
course! My cautionary tale is ending as I am learning to feed the
teacher inside of me so that she may grow and flourish.
Sources:
Evans,
L., “What is Teacher Development?”, Oxford
Review of Education,
Vol. 28, No. 1, 2002
Newmann,
F., “Authentic Intellectual Work: What and Why?”, Authentic
Pedagogy,
Vol. 8, No. 1, Fall 2000
Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., et
al, “What is a professional learning community? A Summary”