Forty One years of piano teaching and the perils of Goal Setting

     I started teaching in 1982. I can still remember the first pop song I taught: "Wake Me Up Before You GoGo." In 2023 the job still has some wonder in it. Perhaps, not as much as when I started, but enough. What have I learned about students that can be shared?

     Realistic goals are difficult to set if you don't know the field. For example, a year ago I began part-time online studies at Athabasca University. Before I signed up, I dreamt about which courses I might take, which area to focus on, how it might benefit my students and my interactions with the world. Then I took the first course, then the second, and I'm now on the third. Reality check. My goals failed to consider the enormous amount of work involved. Furthermore, my previous ideas on the subject matter were, at best, uninformed, at worst, mistaken. Am I sticking with it? You bet. Is it exciting? Yes, because it is the most exciting thing I've done since I earned my ARCT at age 47 and just as difficult. 

​David

PS I've completed an English writing course (A) and an ancient philosophy course (A-). I'm now deeply involved in an ethics course.