Page 78 - How to Shine on Stage

bal interaction with the teacher, and that under a competent teacher, the
student correctly answers the teacher’s independent questions. The first
stated characteristic of a competent teacher, namely connecting learn-
ing objectives with the interests and needs of the students, was found to
have a significant positive correlation with student achievement. In re-
cent years, however, the importance of the core qualities or personal vir-
tues of teachers has become even more emphasized than the importance
of their competence (Habe, 2017).
76 Kohut (1992) states that teaching is an art. A good teacher boosts

the student’s interest in learning and strives to improve the student’s un-
derstanding of explanations. In continuation we list some of the charac-
teristics of a good teacher.
How to Shine on Stage munication between the teacher and the student unfolds on two lev-
1. Good communication skills, both personal and professional. Com-

els: the first level concerns the communication regarding skills and
musical concepts, the second is personal. The highest level of com-
munication comprises understanding, compassion, and the teacher’s
utmost affection for the pupil.
2. The teacher sets a positive personal example: a student learns a lot
from what they are told by the teacher, but even more from what
they see. If the teacher gains the student’s trust and respect, the stu-
dent will even try to imitate the teacher in speech, dress, behaviour,
and perhaps even values. They imitate the teacher by unconscious
osmosis. This is particularly noticeable in younger students.
3. A good teacher is a superior model of a music performer. The first
and most important step in learning to perform music is to produce
a good musical image. So, if we want the student to have a superi-
or musical image, the presentation model, the teacher, also needs
to be superior. A teacher cannot be an adequate model for perfor-
mance if the teacher is not themselves an accomplished musician
and performer.
4. The student is taught to self-regulate: here the teacher has an ex-
tremely important task of teaching the student strategies for home
practice, the latter being the most extensive part of learning an
instrument.
5. A good teacher is the principal motivator: in the first stage of learn-
ing an instrument, the teacher’s ability to encourage the child to
practise regularly at home is crucial, as home practice is the first re-
quirement for musical progress. They often use verbal praise as a
tool of motivation, they write the praise in the child’s practice note-