en:didaktik:leitung

Becoming an effective ukulele teacher means investing some time in raising your own level of playing skill.

James Hill, Chalmers Doane1)

Being serious

If the learners experience the music teacher as competent in practical music making and find out that he or she is happy to talk to them in many fields of musical knowledge, they show curiosity and interest.

Christin Tellisch2)

You’ve got to take a serious approach. The person leading the program has to have enough self-confidence that somebody would want to follow them someplace. And if the person doing the program can’t do anything—can’t play, can’t sing, doesn’t have good rhythm, doesn’t have a good instrument and hasn’t learned to play pieces which are convincing—why would anyone join the group? You have to ask that question. And I did ask that question over and over and over again because there were a few people who didn’t play the ukulele who were successful [teachers] and I was very, very interested [in this]. How they could be successful when they didn’t play? And what I discovered was that they were musicians, they just weren’t ukulele players. They understood melody, harmony, and rhythm very well… therefore, [their success] was more about what they permitted to happen in the class and what they wouldn't permit to happen in the class than what they taught.

Chalmers Doane3)

Motivation

The greatest quality of an outstanding teacher is not mastery of their subject. It is the ability to motivate others to realize their own potential. … I have a very clear mental picture of what I want the kids to be able to do. The reason so much gets done and the reason it's so highly-charged in energy is because the entire time we're meeting I'm giving a message to them about how to get closer to what needs to be heard for it to be excellent. And you know what? They feel purpose in it because they, of course, appreciate always the end product. I mean, it's quite a motivator when you're listening to yourself right in the midst of a two-hour session improving, getting better, and actually being able to do something that two hours previous you couldn't do.

Peter Luongo4)

Entertainment

The roles of teacher and entertainer are similar. Both are communicators and each contains elements of the other. An effective teacher must entertain the mind of the student just as every entertainer, who is more than a purveyor of brain-candy, must offer something of substance and value.

Ralph Shaw5)

Sharing attention

It is impossible to give each student in a class the same amount of attention during every lesson. But I make sure I look each one of them in the eye at least once. There is nothing better than catching the eye of another person and sharing a smile while playing a tune! This is a simple thing but goes a long way in establishing student engagement.

Angela Dwyer6)

Discipline

Achieving good musical results usually requires a lot of effort and discipline. Mutually agreed rules and limits, rituals and the concentration on the learning processes are helpful for the fearless implementation of a learning-promoting teaching discipline.

Christin Tellisch7)


1)
Ukukele in the Classroom. Teacher Edition, t. 1. Chrystal Lake Media 2009, xviii
3)
UkuleleYes!, 1.12.2008
4)
UkuleleYes!, 1.6.2008
6)
UkuleleYes!, 2.7.2019