What it takes to be a GREAT (Music) educator

In my opinion there are three things a person needs to be a good and effective (music) educator.

1. Patients-
 I have listed patients first because in my opinion it is one of the most important traits an educator should possess. A good educator should be able to calmly make attempt after attempt at teaching a struggling student with out becoming flustered. A good educator does not give up on a student because they are having a difficult time understanding content. A good educator continually tries to make attempts from several different angles in order for a student to process and possess the knowledge that they require. As it has been said "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.". If you are thinking about becoming an educator and this sounds obscure to you then I can assure you, this IS NOT the field for you.




2. Knowledge-
A good educator must contain a vast amount of knowledge within their content area. They must be able to confidently and accurately teach their subject area with out relaying any false information. A great educator must also quickly realize when they are approaching content with in their subject area that they are unfamiliar with and then immediately study and understand it in order to effectively teach it. As music educators, our area of expertise is spread across a vast array, ranging from general music, chorus, theory, band, jazz band, music technology, ETC. We cover an array of subjects and each one of those subjects takes years upon years to master. As educators we must except the fact that we live in a world where information is constantly being changed and updated. We need to be able to adjust our knowledge accordingly and expand our knowledge when necessary. After all, an educator can never know too much. We must always do our best to be the greatest source of knowledge for our students. Like them, we to must be constantly learning and improving. Much like what Frank Battisti said "Individuals who strive to be the "best", are never satisfied."


3. Passion-
"We cannot motivate someone else; What we can do is inspire them to be motivated, to move themselves."
                                                                                                                                -Peter Loel. Boonshaft

Teaching, much like sales, is all about passion. When a person is passionate about something, specifically a subject area, it intrigues those who are around him/her to learn about that content. Have you ever had a teacher that was truly passionate about their subject? Did it seem as though they were living in that moment as they were explaining the content to you? As if they live and breath that information? Wasn't it difficult to look away when they were reciting the information? You must understand that with teaching there is almost a level of showmanship. As an educator you must be able to present yourself in a way that makes people want to learn. You must be enthusiastic and thirsty for knowledge and understanding. You must speak about your content in a way that makes students want to learn it and at times, have them hang off every word you speak.