Near the end of my first year, my perspective on what I could offer students was beginning to broaden. For example, one time I expressed frustration about how some of my younger students were doing. Someone suggested to me that I think about how the students felt about their own difficulties. My friend was right. If I, who was used to operating at a higher level, was frustrated with their initial difficulties, the students, who were thrilled at the opportunity to play music were probably just as frustrated (if not more!) that the sound they were producing weren't as musical as they would like. We were both equally frustrated, but for very different reasons!
A few years later, Dorothy DeLay, a renowned violin teacher at Juilliard, passed away. In articles about her career and success as a teacher, it was mention that she would remind people who said "I teach music." that no, they taught people how to play music. Keeping the student in mind as a person, rather than "teaching Beethoven" or "teaching Stravinsky," changed how I saw my process and overall success. Truly, a math teacher doesn't teach "long division" or "integration," but s/he teaches students how the process works and how they can replicate it on their own. A history teacher doesn't teach "The Civil War," s/he teaches students the causes, impact, and long term effects of fundamental conflicts within U.S. society in the 19th century.
There's a saying that students won't care what you know until they think that you care. There's truth in this, but the deeper truth is more along the lines that they won't care what you know (and are trying to share with them) until they know that you care about them and their future.
Thinking about these ideas helped me to verbalize what had been brewing in my brain for a few years: that teachers work with students to help them develop their skills to navigate the world. Very few teachers at levels other than college work with students who will begin a vocation in their subject. While having a student decide they share your passion and pursue a career in that field is rewarding, it is more important to remember that we also need to connect with students who aren't going to major in our field. If we aren't going to create a classroom full of scientists, historians, mathematicians, musicians, artists, etc., then why are we teaching? I'm not suggesting at all that we should be teaching down to people, or "dumbing down" what we know in order to reach students, rather we should meet students where they are and help them improve their understanding of the material and their own world in a number of ways, including in a linear, broad, aesthetic, and/or conceptual fashion.
The interactions that teachers have with each other and students are not unidirectional, and they shouldn't be in this country. Other countries have a more direct delivery model, and they envy the dynamism and creative potential that the educational system in the United States offers. We should remember, whether we are in a classroom or not, that we are all people, interdependent, and are at our best when we work together (even in the smallest of interactions!) to accomplish things (from basic to complex) in our daily lives. This philosophy of daily living can put us on the path to great success!
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