To Be An Outstanding Teacher . .

To be an outstanding teacher, I believe one needs to have a combination of certain skills, both innate and acquired, as well as a handful of personality attributes that contribute to overall excellence. In music particularly, the individual should have musical excellence deeply engrained through their own musical performances, exposures and activities. Musical skills mature with experience and age and an outstanding teacher must understand the physical, psychological and emotional development of those skills, plus have the understanding to develop and nurture those skills to the strengths of each student.

Outstanding teachers display excellent leadership skills, along with the compassion, confidence and perspective to reach each student and his/her parent or guardian throughout the process. One needs to understand the importance of parental involvement and understanding to bring out the best in each child. Interpersonal skills play a large role in this area as one needs to speak effectively with all parties involved. The ability to view a variety of perspectives helps the teacher move through difficulties as they arise yielding more positive results at a faster and more direct pace.

One should never underestimate the importance of how to relate with a child. Excellent teaching can only happen with a good relationship with one’s students. This requires compassion, confidence, and flexibility, alongside the greatest musical and teaching abilities acquired. In order to do this well, a good teacher needs to remember that children are children first, and need to be handled with the kindness and understanding they need to grow.

Lastly, a good teacher must have personal drive to improve, learn and share with others so that the learning process never becomes stale. Regardless of the discipline, there is never too much to learn in order to become a better teacher. Excellence is never reached; it is a life-long goal with an open ceiling.