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Personal Development

 

What do you do for your own professional growth? Are you constantly learning, improving, exploring new teaching ideas and materials? Are you in a state of GROWTH?


Conversely, are you stagnant and burn out from your piano teaching? Do you look forward to the end of your teaching day where you can chill in front of the TV and watch Korean dramas? Is the last time you had lessons with a piano teacher the last time you picked up a piece of new repertoire? Are you using the same method books that your teachers taught you from? Are you too tired from teaching to go to the piano and find time to practise? 
There are a few ways that we piano teachers can continually work to hone in our teaching skills. Let me share with you a few ideas. Perhaps you can write to me about your own ideas too? 


1. Join a Piano Teachers Forum


Piano Pedagogy Teachers Group 
This is a facebook group that I created so that piano teachers in Singapore can have an online community to belong to.  There are also a lot of other great forums especially in Facebook where piano teachers all over the world can bounce ideas off one another.  The great thing is that some piano teachers are also composers such as Wendy Stevens and Anne Crosby to name some. In this digital age, sharing is the best way to learn and grow. 


2. Attend a Piano Teachers’ Workshop


I am happy to announce that Forte Music Training will be presenting 2 workshops in the month of October as part of the ‘Music Industry Vetarans Sharing Series’. Do look out for announcements and workshop details later on in the month.


Alfred’s Publishing and ABRSM Singapore also conducts workshops. I believe that this year’s topics are centered on ARSM diploma topics.
3. Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=piano+tv
This is a youtube channel by a piano teacher. She puts out interesting vlogs each week. 
https://www.youtube.com/user/czrinasuenTiffany Poon is also a young upcoming pianist that puts out regular vlogs. I find the vlogs about her piano practises and concerts rehearsals interesting.


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpjpmd1x8gtL7BYwIypqhEw
And there is my own youtube channel where I do all things related to piano and piano teaching. I try to make this relevant to teachers especially teaching in the Asia region.


Watching youtube videos is cheap and it keeps us motivated to stay abreast with piano performances. By watching other people play, we can also motivate ourselves to play better and learn new repertoire. We also learn that there is more than one way of playing a piece of music. 


4. Reading


I love to read. I get my teaching ideas not just from education books but from all literary genres. Some of my favourites are: motivational books, technology, marketing, business, investment. By growing as a person, I have so much more to offer to my students. I become a more interesting person who can be conversant in a wide array of topics. And it is so important that to build rapport with our students and parents, we must first speak in a lingo that bridges. 


Hence, I strongly urge teachers to always look for ways to stay ahead of the piano teaching career. When you have much to offer in your teaching, students will flock to you. Stay happy teaching!


Dorothy Chia is a piano teacher in Singapore with over 27 years of piano teaching experience. She is the owner of Forte Music Training.

Her professional mission is to bring piano teaching to new levels and by that she tries to engage the teaching community through her vlogs, blogs and workshops.

 

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