Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Wearing my Comp. Teacher's hat
Please, please do NOT tar everyone -- every composition teacher -- with erroneous absolutes !
(1) David Toub writes: "...the nature, I think, of what being a composition teacher seems to entail: molding students into your own way of thinking." Very not so, today.
If this was ever true ( which has not been my experience: CUNY, Columbia, Jolivet ) it's in no way pertinent to methodology of any Composition teacher I've encountered.
All my students know that my signal function is to enable them to become *better able, more nuanced, and more knowledgeable* creators following the artistic directions their music already suggests. There is never the directive to 'do it my way' ...my own music is mine, theirs is theirs.
(2) The Past: Your past is not my past, and so it goes.
Evan Johnson writes: " ... aside from a massive statistics-compiling effort, I think perhaps everyone simply needs to stop trading in absolutes." AMEN here.
~ Those of us who had anything to do with the 'women in music' issue (research, publications, advocacy, etc.) know that anecdotal evidence -- even in massive piles -- requires facts/figures to give it persuasive strength.
(3) One more comment on 'the Past is past': Those who carry grudges or 'victimhood' experience from the past forward into the present day "to the extent that it cripples current functioning" damage only themselves!
Being an artist requires one to be both sensitive and TOUGH. Teachers come and go. If you have any ambition that your music be excellent, be durable - the only critical voice that ever really matters is in fact your Own.
J L Zaimont (recently retired after 36 years in higher ed.)
posted by Judith Lang Zaimont
11:35 AM
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