Did you know, the type of entity you choose for your child’s music education is a major stepping stone towards building a foundation of music in his/her life? In other words, in this article we are going to compare the benefits of enrolling your child in an accomplished music school versus giving them private music coaching. Just like any other organization every music school or a large scale music institute strives to achieve high standards with regards to the music education of every pupil. They want to build their reputation for being the best in class. And in order to achieve and attain this kind of reputation the school employs a fleet of highly skilled and knowledgeable music faculty and a tried and tested top grade curriculum along with an ideal learning environment that has suitable setting required for learning music for students of all ages.
Knowledge transfer amongst the music teachers in music schools
Teachers working for a music school usually tend to develop a healthy competition and quite often get together to exchange notes with regards to teaching techniques and optimum methods. This type of knowledge transfer/exchange usually takes place in formal meetings or a casual coffee break. Ideas and opinions are exchanged eventually leading to a healthy peer learning and teaching environment. This kind of healthy teaching environment is conducive towards the progress of children as teachers strive to be better by brainstorming and adapting to new and progressive teaching methods. Additionally, teachers are required to monitor the progress of each and every student on periodic basis and also update the parents about their child’s progress. Not just that but the teacher’s performance is also evaluated and monitored by the school authorities which automatically enables them to update and upgrade their level of teaching on a regular basis.
Typical scenario in private music coaching
Sometimes parents choose to enroll their kids in private music coaching as they think that their kids will receive personalized attention in the classes. However unlike a music school, in a private music class, the teacher usually doesn’t have any peers to share and exchange knowledge and ideas. This means that the teacher only gains exposure and upgrade themselves if they are attending any seminars or meetings organized by any external organization where they are able to meet their peers to socialize and network. If you think about it this is a long shot with fewer meet-up occasions for any private music teacher to upgrade and update themselves and stay current. Irrespective of the field, every teaching faculty and school needs to constantly upgrade themselves in order to adapt to the modern teaching trends to provide and create the most optimum learning environment for their students. Additionally the teachers may not have a fixed and structured music learning schedule which could lead to unsystematic teaching eventually leading to children losing interest in learning music. Private music lessons have its own set of drawbacks: usually in a private setting the teachers are unable to send their students for recitals or performances. Music is social and has roots of being a communal form of entertainment and activity, which is why a lot of times students might lose interest in the activity after a while, as they miss the peer learning environment. As stated in our previous blogs, music presents vast benefits for children. However to reap these benefits there needs to be consistency in the learning. Music lessons need to be taken seriously and shouldn’t be considered optional. This can be achieved if the children have a dedicated music room and sessions in their school or they are enrolled in a music school, as music schools usually provide the best learning environment to children. Especially the music teachers who need be at an expert level to hand-hold children through every step of their music learning journey.
Furtados School of Music – One of its kind music school
A superior quality music school like Furtados School of Music (FSM) presents lots of opportunities for their students by creating a favorable learning environment for them. FSM conducts periodic recitals for students where students get an opportunity to showcase their performance and even the parents are able to see the progress of their children. They also have annual student-teacher performance session known as “Cadence” which provides another excellent performance opportunity for students. FSM has a fleet of top grade music teachers who are experts in their respective musical instruments. These teachers are vetted through an extensive monitoring process and then selected to work with FSM. The teachers possess some strong qualities such as knowledge, experience, patience and love for teaching the art of music. Additionally FSM has tie ups with highly acclaimed music institutes such as Berklee school of music, Trinity College London and NMIMS. Their music curriculum is in sync with the level of Trinity and Berklee and so are their exams.
In Conclusion
Until the kids reach the age of 12, they are dependent on their parents to make the important decisions for them. Parents are the most influential people in the lives of their kids. After the age of 12, children have more people and resources that they can look upto. So it becomes the responsibility of every parent to be aware and make informed decisions where their child’s overall growth, development and education is concerned. That is why, when we talk about music education from a futuristic perspective, every parent needs to educate themselves well in advance about the institute where they need to begin the music education of their children. Private music sessions or a highly accomplished music school? I think the answer is right here. As a parent you just need to make that decision and get started. Shouldn’t you then work differently with your kids and guide them? What should you do to maintain their interest in music learning during these turbulent teenage years? We will see next.