Teaching offers a great creative challenge. Anyone can be boring and bossy and hand out detentions- but I’ve never done things that way. I work on the premise that a teacher should find a student’s level, and then encourage them to raise the bar. I aim to do this by treating all students with respect, and facilitating their learning by providing interesting and relevant resources. I also work on praising progress, inviting student feedback and generally encouraging the confidence to take risks in performance.
In 2008 I taught over 120 students on a range of instruments. I took twelve soloists and five bands to the Lewis Eady Junior Music Competition. Many received gold and silver awards for their efforts. I received a warm fuzzy feeling- I felt so proud of all of them!
Some students have stayed with me for many years, and it’s been a source of joy for me to see these students travel the world with their school bands, excelling in music exams and performances. It’s extremely rewarding too to see one of my senior students leading his school jazz band and beginning to teach others as well.
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