I am thrilled to be able to share with you our first guest post!
The talented Sarah Bronchetti will soon be taking the world by storm. She is one of the most capable, skilled, ambitious musicians and educators with whom I have had the pleasure of working.
Here is a post that she wrote during our independent study project last semester. Look for her name in lights very soon, she’s destined for great things.
Enjoy!
Linking Feedback and Motivation in Private Voice Instruction
By Sarah Bronchetti
I often think about how my roles as both student and teacher influence my beliefs and practices as a teacher. My experience offers a unique dual-perspective of psychological and pedagogical concepts in music education. I am fascinated and somewhat perplexed by the concept of student motivation and its inextricable link to teacher instruction and feedback.
Students enter your studio or classroom with their own motivations. In the university setting, we commonly see students motivated by pressure to get into a graduate voice program, to win a competition, or perhaps the genuine desire to improve their craft.
In the classroom setting, there are a wider array of motivations, such as the social joy that comes from choir, the need to please parents, or to fulfill a fine arts requirement for graduation. Despite all of the possible motivations students have for entering your educational environment, they do not necessarily matter. What does matter is how the instructor can engage with students to maintain and increase student motivation.
This is much easier said than done, of course. Below are some examples of ways that I have observed or used in the voice studio or in the choral classroom to foster, improve upon, or maintain student motivation.
- Teacher level of physical engagement: As teachers, we have such direct control over our own level of engagement. If you do not have any physical limitations, stand up and walk around during lessons. This demonstrates to the student that you have a high degree of personal investment in what they are doing. You can also show that you are engaged by the maintaining high energy with the tone and inflection of your voice. Students tend to reciprocate the same energy and vigor that you display.
- Open dialogue about goals and targets: Studying voice is frustrating for students because some goals take time to realize. It is discouraging to set a goal that is not achieved in the short-term. As a student, I have achieved my goals by setting smaller checkpoints to keep me motivated. The teacher’s role in this process is important, too. Teachers and students can collaborate together on how to achieve student goals, particularly when setting checkpoints. This holds the student accountable to their own goals, but the teacher can be actively involved in helping the student through the process.
- Encourage your students (and yourself) to maintain positive mental health: Acknowledging the effect of mental health on motivation is crucial. Teachers can support students in many ways, but the most important is to practice empathy and compassion. Students need to know that they are cared about. Students need to know that it is not the end of the world if they need to miss a lesson. Remind your students to take care of themselves. Teachers also need to take care of themselves, because we spend our lives devoted to helping others. It is a huge task, and we cannot expect our teaching to be at its best if our mind is not at its best.
