I would consider myself a veteran teacher having now been teaching students professionally for well over half of my life. One thing that I’ve been thinking about at the end of this semester is the simple fact that you cannot save them all and that there is no magic wand that will solve all the problems.
When I was a less experienced teacher I always assumed that if a student didn’t understand the concept or couldn’t do what I asked then it was my fault. I needed another way to explain, another exercise to assign, or another session of putting on “ye olde thinking cap” to come up with something different to help the student solve the problem. This is exhausting and unrealistic. We, as teachers, are not responsible for the health and wellbeing of the entire universe. This is not to say that we shouldn’t care deeply about our students. We should, but we should not accept responsibility for things that are not ours. We provide the knowledge, guidance, and recommendations to the best of our ability, and it’s up to the student to act on that information.
Things that are in the realm of our responsibility as teachers:
1) Showing up on time ready to go both mentally and emotionally.
2) Holding space for each student; what do they actually need that day? We need to be able to read the room and sometimes gently direct them back to flute stuff.
3) Observing and listening to gain information about what is going well and what needs work.
4) Prioritizing this information into a plan of action.
5) Evaluating the effectiveness of the previous lesson’s action plan.
6) Effective, efficient, and clear communication with our student (and also with parents of younger ones).
7) Modeling sound, movement, phrasing, and musicality.
Things that are not our responsibility as the teachers:
1) We cannot make them practice—period.
2) We cannot make them practice with intention.
3) We cannot force them to care.
4) We cannot make them do anything.
(Very similar to having a toddler—you cannot make them eat, and you cannot make them sleep!)
Sometimes, things aren’t going well and I need to investigate. Why is my student unsuccessful at solving a problem or improving in a certain skill set? Have I dropped the ball on something that is part of my responsibility?
Option 1: Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of repetition over time. The student just
hasn’t done enough repetitions of the new skill. Maybe they are practicing appropriately and it just is taking longer. Maybe they need to try a different practice technique. Learning speed is not the same as skill acquisition. Sometimes, the student isn’t practicing appropriately. In that case, of course, the new skill isn’t developing on schedule! News flash: we cannot make our students practice. They have to do the work. We cannot do it for them. If they are unwilling then progress will be slow or non-existent.
Option 2: The student might not have the physical capability to do what you’re asking. I’ve had lots of students who have to adapt to braces and some are much better at the adaptation that others. Some struggle the whole time the braces are on and only improve after the braces situation has resolved and teeth are straight. I’ve had a fair number of students with extreme hypermobility in various joints in their hands and this is very challenging for them. I’ve had students with severe arthritis in their thumbs and hands and there’s no real fix for that. It’s a “work around” kind of situation. Everybody can improve, but we don’t all have equal physical talents. We need to pick goals and repertoire appropriately when there is a physical limitation.
Option 3: They are obstinately refusing to do or even try what I’m asking. This is exceedingly rare, but it does happen. They are used to doing things a certain way and are not willing to even entertain that there could be an entirely different approach. A subset of this group is the “help-rejecting complainers.” They are unhappy about how certain flute-related things are going; for example, consistently cracking on high notes, struggling with big intervals, or sluggish articulation. They know the exercises/techniques/actions they need to take to solve the problem, but they’d rather reject all of that help and just complain.
Option 4: The student has decided that what you have to offer isn’t worth the effort. I see this at the end of the semester when a college student dumps in eight weeks of late assignments on the last day of the semester when the syllabus clearly states: “Late assignments and journals will be accepted for one week after the due date for up to 50% credit. After one week, no late work will be accepted.” This is poor planning on their part and a failure to communicate. I have stopped feeling bad for students who don’t end up with the semester grade that they want. If it’s important to them, they do the work. It’s their choice, not mine. I have done my job, and they haven’t done theirs.
In all of these situations, the student’s success or lack thereof, is not a reflection on you, the teacher. Your communication should be clear and consistent and students need to know what is expected of them. Now that I am older and wiser, I am much more willing to serve up a “slice of truth pie” with a smile on my face and leave it up to the student. An example of this might be the student struggling with high E or F# cracking consistently. We do lots of harmonic exercises, and I spend lots of time clearly stating what’s happening (or not) with air speed, direction, embouchure. After doing this during the lesson, the high notes are better. Next week we encounter the same problem. So I might say, “Well, you’re not changing the angle of the air. You’re just tightening up the corners and overblowing, which is contributing to the lack of consistency. The exercises I’ve given you are all designed to work on this skill. You have all the tools you need to solve this problem.”
We, as teachers, can really get ourselves into situations where we’re constantly trying to compensate for work our students are not doing. This is where we have to remind ourselves about what is our responsibility and what isn’t. Natural consequences are significant learning experiences for many students: “I failed the class because I didn’t turn in my stuff on time,” or, “I didn’t advance in the audition because I was winging it on one of the excerpts.” As we’re at the end (or almost to the end, depending on where you live and teach) of the school year, take some time to rest. Recharge your batteries, read a book, go for a walk, do extra playing with your dog, spend time with your kids. We should not feel at all guilty for taking time for ourselves. Our own self-care is our responsibility.