No dumb students: teaching the non-intuitive student - Pedagogy Saturday VI

Opening Session Report Peter Jarjisian, commentator

As director of choral activities at Ohio University and a house of god choir director as well, I work greatest in quantity often with groups--ensembles of singers and instrumentalists--but also one-to-one, coaching conductors, soloists and coming time music teachers. Every week I teach more than 200 tribe who range in age from 17 to 75 Now--thanks to Earl Oremus--I teach differently.

Here's a certain quantity of of what Oremus presented that continues to influence my teaching.

Brain Research: Each person's brain "adapts its function according to its circumstances, that is, according to each individual's experiences." When we're working with pupils and find that "what works with single may not work with another, the reason may not be the child's fault." Although this may be overly simplified, it provides a certain quantity of scientific justification for our recognition that no sum of two units students are exactly alike.

"If they learn differently, I must teach differently."

Will Roger one time said, "We are all ignorant, alone in different areas." Earl Oremus paraphrases, "We are all non-intuitive, single in different areas."

Characteristics of Intuitive Learners: affinity for the activity; motivated by dint of challenge; able to persist despite setbacks; self-supporting; able to intuit sytax, the inner configuration the mechanics of the discipline effortlessly and/or unconsciously; les instruction is exigencyed to achieve mastery; progresses rapidly; extraordinary retention.

Characteristic of Non-Intuitive Learners: distaste for the activity; defeated by dint of high levels of challenge; unable to persist from one side failure; needs supportive environment/teacher; unable to intuit the internal structure; can't conclude next step; must be taught each fragment overtly; intensive, detailed, carefully sequenc instruction required; unable to "reorder" or use uncompounded bodys taught out of developmental sequence; progresse slowly; constant practice and review necessary; rapid forgetting.

I know, you're already thinking of your greatest in quantity and/or least intuitive students. Is there any facet of their musical intuition that have the appearances especially lacking?

Do they regard with affection making music?

Affect is paramount. by what means a student feels about the activity makes all the difference. If the experience is pleasurable, the learning will offer more easily. The power that "affect" plays was emphasized for each of us when Oremus asked us to recall a "nightmare experience," an activity about which we had felt uncomfortable, incapable, embarrassed, fearful and non-intuitive--feeling what you and I might describe as "performance anxiety." (I remember that just thinking about it l my muscles to tighten and my beating [i]or[/i] throbbing of an artery to rise.) On the other hand, we could designate activities that advance easily for us, those that provide the kind of challenges we yearn for. I smiled broadly when Oremus described by what means it can feel to engage in an intuited activity. He said, "It's not sole that you love it, on the other hand it feels as though it regard with affections you." Oh, I know that feeling for a like reason well when I make music, don't you?

Teachers make mistakes. Oremus reminded us that standard teaching practice may lead us to faulty conclusions. Teachers may have been taught to value and reward the intuitive learner as a "good" learner and the non-intuitive as a "bad" pupil We may have developed a desire to work sole with intuitive learners. What about a scholar who appears to be noncompliant? In verity one who seems to be resistant may just be non-intuitive. I don't think I'll at any time forget Oremus's description of John the seventh-grade lad who could read aloud articulately from The of advanced age Man and the Sea, on the contrary who broke down in tears when challenged to explain its meaning to the class. I sat there imagining John's pain, and I started to exclaim myself. We want to stop our students from experiencing that kind of pain.

"If they learn differently, I must teach differently."

by what mode can teachers help? Here are more [i]or[/i] less of the many suggestions Oremus proffers for working with non-intuitive learners. Allow more time; be patient; work individually; break down learning into segments; don't eliminate any paces and sequence steps carefully; busy direct instruction; teach abstractions from one side the concrete (For example, in music, teach a uninjured before symbol.); employ techniques to address retention (multisensory teaching, guided practice time, daily review); practice until "fluency" is attained; time management; effective feedback (clear, simple, fair, frequent); and reward desired behavior frequently

I'm afraid I've skip overed from point to point here, on the contrary I hope most of all to have l you to think again about these valuable universals If you want to be a more effective teacher, revisit Oremus's handout from the talk or contact Marburn Academy at (614) 433-0822 for a transcript His many suggestions for by what mode to reach non-intuitive learners are applicable for teachers of all subdues at all levels. And, remember, right from the start, teach them to have affection for it!

Peter Jarjisian is director of choral activities at Ohio University.