Teaching Philosophy
I believe that everyone has a unique learning style - not all musicians will be aural learners. Many students are visual learners that need to see information on the page, or kinesthetic learners who only absorb information after physically applying and doing it. Because there are many different learning styles it is important for me, the teacher, to adapt to each student. Through flexibility and creativity on my part, every lesson is tailored to the student and no two lessons will be the same.
The most important thing about teaching, for me, is fostering an environment of creativity and comfort within the flute studio. Sometimes a flute student needs space to develop her own unique approach to pedagogical problems, rather than always being given an answer. This encourages the student to reflect upon the issue at hand and develop a practice solution that will work efficiently for him/herself. For me it is always interesting to see the solutions that students come up with and the progress that can be made after simply pointing out an issue and asking the student to work on it. Of course, it is also my job as the teacher to have a solution and practice technique for the student to try, but I believe that also asking my students to try find one of their own keeps them intellectually engaged in their practice. |