Burwell Reading Response First of all, after the reading I realized that I, myself, am a guilty member of the group that has come to set music education as a second option for my career. I had not developed this sense from the beginning but as the reading mentions, the current common model for studio classes usually are run instructors with highly qualified performance backgrounds, and although my original passion lies in the education field, I have been convinced that only through certain success in a professional performance career can I also be more qualified in the education field. Which leads to what surprised me in the article, that many studio instructors feel intimidated to reveal their teaching method, because I had always thought the extensive performance experience was to validate one’s teaching, but I realize now that the gap between performance and education is vast. Of course, logically and intellectually I understand that there are so many different paths I can take and go into teaching simply as a teacher rather than a performer but frustratingly, the elevated performance status still lingers with me emotionally because that is what I had observed throughout my life learning music. Also due to my extensive experience in studio lessons, I had firmly believed in the practice but I also had a subconscious belief that the teaching really depended whether the teacher was inherently good or not. This was idea was both confirmed and challenged in the reading because obviously there are natural better or worse teachers but the studio environment also affects so much of what happens because the environment affects not only the student who is “dominated” by the teacher, but also the teacher who needs to lead a passive student. The lack of understanding for learning and education is an evident handicap in education as a whole, and although there is ongoing research, it still remains to be a huge mystery for us. There are millions of questions that can unfold when examining the teaching and learning process because people are so different, similarly criticism of celebration of the studio model is also influenced by so many factors. I really appreciate the article dissecting the method in its usual practice but I also have so man more questions about how the current model could be improved? And should a teacher customize teaching for specific student on a large scale? How would it be done?
Bibliography Burwell, K., Carey G., & Bennet, D. (2019). Isolation in studio music teaching: The Secret garden. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education.