Download The Benefits of a Group Teaching Approach

The Benefits of a
Group Teaching Approach
Peter Friesen, M.M.
Some benefits of group teaching
Organizational/financial benefits
Social interaction
Motivation
Critical listening
Reduced performance anxiety
Fun!
Organizational/Financial
Benefits
Organizational/financial benefits
Increased Hourly Wage!
Or…
Organizational/Financial Benefits
Flexibility to offer lessons to
low-income families
Organizational/financial benefits
 Slow students generally learn faster
through group teaching than through
private
 Can build in a mechanism to weed out students
who are not practicing/progressing quickly
Organizational/financial benefits
 Less time spent repetitively teaching
elementary theory/technical ideas

Explaining the same theory assignment to 4 private
students = 40 minutes

Explaining the same theory assignment to a class of
4 students = 10 minutes
Organizational drawbacks
 Lesson times
 More difficult to find 2-4 students of similar
age/level who can meet on same day/time
 Make-up lessons
 Must be dealt with strictly in studio policy;
more difficult to organize
 Lesson planning
 Actually needs to happen! But is this really
a bad thing…?
Social Interaction
Social Interaction
 Enables students to learn in a
familiar classroom setting
 Smaller groups help to engage many
shy students
Social Interaction
 Enables teacher to organize learning
games for theory, rhythm practice,
reading, etc.
 Advanced students can help “teach”
slower students
Social Interaction
 Cooperative Learning
 Teams students together to work toward
a common goal
 Avoids negative competition
 Promotes exchange of ideas, teamwork
Social Interaction
 Cooperative Learning Examples:
 Four students individually analyze a piece, compare
results with each other, agree on final analysis
 Four students each learn one part of a four-part
piano ensemble; after performance, they share what
difficulties they encountered, what practice
techniques they used to overcome difficulties
 Two groups of two students work together to find
logical fingerings for a technical exercise, then share
findings with each other
Social Interaction
Cooperative Learning encourages
problem solving, rewards students for
thinking critically about music.
Motivation
Motivation
 Students are motivated to practice
simply so they do not fall behind
“standard” of their peers
 Reward “model” students with heaps of
praise
 Helps eliminate “nagging” of belowaverage practicers
Motivation
 If self-regulating is not occurring
among students, there are options to
help motivate students
 Weekly practice chart in studio with
stars/stickers
 Reward “good” practicers with extra
pieces, fun duets
 Withhold in-class performance from
students who are negligently unprepared
Critical Listening
Critical Listening
 Weekly in-class performance
 Extremely regular – not reserved for
semesterly studio classes or studio
recitals
 Ask questions before and after any
performance
 Always have directed listening goals
Critical Listening
When introducing a new musical
concept (e.g. crescendo, legato),
demonstrate the idea for the
students, then have each try it one by
one, asking after each attempt
whether the students hear the
desired musical concept in action.
Performance Anxiety
Performance Anxiety
Regular performances and
demonstrations reduce the stress of
recital time
Performance Anxiety
 Group classes provide the opportunity to
increase positive performance experiences
and minimize negative experiences
 Offer regular low-pressure performances
 Avoid letting anxious students perform in class if
they are unprepared – set them up for a positive
experience
 Positively reinforce well-prepared students and
solid performances by anxious students
Fun!
Fun!
This aspect is very important for
students who are not intrinsically
motivated
Group activity options – practicing
rhythm, note-naming, movement,
etc.
Fun!
 Fun is a motivator
 Performances become fun
 Social interaction is fun
 Positive reinforcement is usually even
more effective in front of one’s peers
Making Group Teaching Happen
Making Group Teaching Happen
Don’t make it an option – make it
mandatory for a set period of time
Making Group Teaching Happen
Plan a year or two in advance,
charging a monthly “technology fee”
to put toward purchasing (taxdeductible) lab pianos and equipment
Making Group Teaching Happen
 Different group formats




Pairs
Groups of 3-4
Larger groups
Weekly group classes + private lessons
Making Group Teaching Happen
 Be prepared for more work!
 Lesson Planning
 Group coordination
 Parental communication
 Benefits outweigh difficulties