The Meaning of Education???

A university student who has recently happily completed her ABRSM Grade 8 examinations was very excited to start on new repertoire to work towards her DipABRSM in two years. However, a week into her new start, she came to her piano lesson, saying to the effect that her university friends questioned the value of her practicing and attempting to progress towards her DipABRSM, stating that she will be graduating from NUS with a BA in a year, and thus they see not much of a point to investing so much time, effort, and money into getting a DipABRSM. The word used was that it is a "waste". I was simply absolutely shocked! Perhaps not having had the bulk of my education since young via the Singapore education system, I am not quite attuned to the meaning of education here. Moreover, this is not the only incident whereby the meaning of education in Singapore has surprised me and left me very puzzled.

Basically, in the incident mentioned above, education is equated specifically only to monetary value/opportunity/gain. My reply to the university student was that she has to make choices for herself, in that it is not compulsory at all to do DipABRSM. It is fair that different people have different goals, and some do obtain a Diploma for the sake of certification, which might have positive monetary consequences. For others, it is an opportunity that not everyone has in life to discover music and discover oneself/happiness through music, for the sake of knowledge/music, curiosity and to live a full, varied, enriching life that just does not focus solely on money or the obtaining of money.

I went on to say further that the value of any good education in any field is priceless. The value of a good education is not only to be a huge storage for a vast amount of information in the field that one chooses, or only to be an expert in a particular field (two-dimensional human being), but very importantly, a good education will bring out universal useful/positive life skills and hone critical/analytical thinking skills, which are universally applicable and transferable to whatever one may choose to pursue in life (three-dimensional human being). Life is a colorful, interesting journey, filled with potential discoveries. I believe that education is suppose to help the student understand/see the colors and potential. Sometimes in life, one might not end up specializing in what one studied, but with a good education, one should be empowered with positive life-skills to deal with the choices one has made in life.

I have piano students and parents that tell me that piano education is positive factor in their lives. Piano performance requires, thus cultivates patience, discipline, systematic/logical working-through of pieces, focus for long periods of time, calmness, confidence, among many other positive traits. Certainly, it takes commitment and treating piano lessons/practice seriously in order to bring out these positive traits in any individual. For example, an advanced adult student who has been with me for about two years now, keeps telling me that piano has helped her tremendously with her nervousness and anxiety, which affected her job, and basically her life. However, she is currently in her dream job with good prospects, coupled with greater confidence and much happiness. She has also long since graduated from ABRSM Grade 8, and is concurrently pursuing DipABRSM with her full-time job, which is not related to music. I am deeply very happy to see her very much transformed from since I met her two years ago. This brings me yet to another point.

I believe that the role of a teacher is not only to teach about the subject, but also to educate/mold the student as an individual, unique human being. For example, I currently have a student who has been stressed out about the upcoming "O" Levels for months. As a teacher, I truly care for my students, and I want the students to do well in whatever they pursue. This student has been regularly coming for piano lessons, even with his exams coming round the corner.

Firstly, it's great that he and his parents understand that life does not stop because of examinations. I cannot imagine a poor child doing nothing everyday, but sleep, eat, go to school, mug for months on end with the examination as the goal, with occasional time to play and explore. I seriously question its educational effectiveness and the psychological impact it has on a child.

Now going back to the main issue...During his piano lessons, I sometimes spend part of the lesson discussing with him about his "O" Level Examinations/goals in life, giving him advice about the psychology of taking exams in general so as to perform better in the future, and to help him understand that yes, he has to study hard for his examinations, but one is not an absolute failure if one is not the brightest in every single subject in school, which seems to be the general perception/trend here. Different people are experts at different things in life. Everyone is unique. For example, if a child is not great at mathematics/science, but excellent in the humanities, the child should be considered as intelligent as one who is not great at humanities, but excellent in mathematics/science. (However, I am often told that the "science stream" is a privilege and only open to those considered capable, not necessarily to those who are simply interested/willing to seriously learn. If the child is excellent in and loves the humanities, and mediocre in mathematics/science, but "privileged" enough to enter the "science stream", then what happens?) If the child is excellent in all subjects, success in life or living a fulfilling life is not necessarily guaranteed either. Life is always filled with exam-like situations and discouraging moments, and one must have the courage to do what thinks is correct and very importantly persevere towards one's goals/beliefs. There will always be someone out there brighter/smarter than you, but what does it matter?

Some who has read this far might start to think that spending part of piano lesson talking about anything other than piano/music during piano lesson is a total waste of time! I strongly disagree, going back to the meaning of education and what it means to educate. I feel that the student feels more encouraged and more positive about his future and intelligence, after our discussions. He leaves with a lighter heart and a greater fighting spirit to do outdo himself in whatever he endeavors. I truly believe in this student's intelligence. It is evident in his attitude towards life & people and personality, something that an exam cannot evaluate. Certainly, he is not a straight A student, but he tries his best, and has strengths in many subjects. He always treats piano lessons seriously, tries his best at piano, and is talented at it as well. As a teacher, I care for the student as a whole, and I have tried to give what I believe to be truly meant by an education, in addition to musical knowledge.

Certainly it takes a lot of trust and effort between the student, student's parents and teacher to develop a student-teacher relationship as evidenced above. It takes years. However, I believe that the relationship and education that result are priceless.

During examination periods, I certainly would like the student to learn, but not be stressed out by their piano lessons. Also, because the above student and his parents are not after certification solely for the sake of certification, it is great that I have the opportunity to introduce, discuss, and listen to numerous piano pieces with the student during lessons, so that he better understands/comprehends the huge exciting, varied piano repertoire out there, waiting to be explored, as well as the various pianists & their styles. This activity is certainly not required by ABRSM examinations and it is a minute percentage of the aural component in ABRSM examinations, but I believe it to be a necessarily component of a music/piano education. It is what I call the "see the world tour" in piano music. ;)

Having said all these, I have also met parents who think that piano teachers can fix any child lacking in discipline during piano lessons. I believe this view to be erroneous. I believe that only the parents can truly instill discipline & respect for teachers in the child. Logically, if the child does not listen to his/her parents, it is highly unlikely that the child will listen to the teacher. If the child chooses not to do his/her homework or practice due to lack of discipline or respect for the teachers, piano teachers cannot, and should not, be expected to perform miracles either during the usual once-a-week lessons. However, the teacher can definitely successfully support the parents and work together with the parents in educating the child, by reinforcing the concept of discipline in a child during piano lessons.

Okay I better stop myself from writing a thesis about piano education........I have too much to say, but I think that's enough for now. ;)