Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Teacher wont let me use my new CC horn!!


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Katy on August 14, 2001 at 18:04:11:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Teacher wont let me use my new CC horn!! posted by Gerald J. on August 14, 2001 at 16:00:38:



Just feel the need to rant on this a bit.

I CAN'T STAND PEOPLE LIKE THIS!!!!! As someone else alluded to, we educators should be in this business for one reason only: the education of the STUDENT. I am thoroughly sickened upon hearing of directors who would honestly be too proud to admit their weakness, thus holding a student back as described in the above situation. These "survival artists" refuse to learn about this weak area and remain stagnant for the rest of their careers. Then there are the directors who are in it for personal gain. These "ego-inflaters" get ones (superiors) in contest due to weeding out the "weak" players in their ensemble (crushing the poor last clarinetist's dream of playing in carnegie hall someday). These same characters look forward to the fundraising kickbacks (or as previously mentioned, the retail kickbacks) again, for their personal financial gain.

I am a pianist/flautist and you'd better believe that I still have things to learn as a band director! I grab a weakness and turn it into a learning opportunity (aka. "teachable moment")for both myself and the student (you'd be surprised at how curious all students are about many band-related things!). I mention this because there are so many responsibilities a band director has to juggle on a daily basis. If this particular director (we'll call him tuba-stopper) doesn't want his student to play on a CC, it may be due to lack of teaching knowledge. Again, as Rick pointed out, that isn't for the student to pry into to find out. As so many others have stated, it may be any one of several reasons that the director has for stating this.

I just want to defend a potential (since we really don't know) good director in this situation. Just because this director says something that drastically rubs us the wrong way, one needs to hear the other story before making a judgement. To say that the director should be immediately dismissed is overkill and weakens the argument. Heck, if that is grounds for dismissal, I'm sure I would've been dismissed many times for spouting misinformation or giving a non-desirable suggestion!

Band directors are humans. We get relatively little training for the immense job that we have in front of us. We are expected to be experts in our instrument of choice, but beyond that, we need to be humble and admit that we are NOT going to know everything and we MUST seek more information and answers. It is imperative that we are truthful to our students and admit when we are wrong.

I just hope the general public is a bit more forgiving, or at least hears the full story before spewing the "incompetence" lecture at our faces (or worse yet, behind our backs!).

James, if your director seems like a reasonable, likable person and you are pretty baffled by his rejection, most likely all it will need is some gentle, tactful education by the part of professionals in the area.

Good luck, and my apologies for the rant!
-Katy


Follow Ups: