Learn from Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

Hyunsu Yoon

In practical terms, I believe that it is futile to separate teaching and learning. Traditionally, the role of the instructor is to “teach” while the student “learns”. Although this may make more sense in a large classroom, the context of one-to-one lessons, especially with instrumental instruction presents special challenges in which roles are less distinct. Teaching is not unidirectional, where an instructor passes knowledge down to students. It is bidirectional by which knowledge is shared to build a common understanding through constructive communication and engagement between instructor and student. In many instances, the teacher can and must learn as well as instruct, while the student “teaches” or informs the instructor, and so on. This is what I mean when the roles of teaching and learning become blurred. And this is what makes each teaching experience so exciting for me.

Music can be very intuitive, and there is much more than just the mechanically translation of the notes on a musical sheet into sound. Understanding the historical context, as well as the theory and practical aspects of a piece should help enforce ideas and help build student’s appreciation and confidence of the music. Every student is however unique and as I mentioned above, unlike in a large classroom, there is need to individualize lessons to exploit the unique relationship between the instructor and the student. I believe that each lesson should encourage student’s engagement in all aspects, that is musically, academically, physically, and even emotionally. Moreover, the experience, for example, the process of preparing for a special occasion or performance such as a graduation recital which involves good preparation, dedication, and execution, are all important lessons applicable to other aspects of life.