<< D spent 15 minutes of the 30 talking before a note
was sung. >>
talking about what? the weather or, voice or, the teacher's
expectations? i think it makes a difference.
<< As the student sang, D proceeded to berate her telling her
that her technique was all wrong and that her previous teacher had done
considerable damage to her. >>
sounds like a rather dramatic proclamation or, it could be true.
<< At her next lesson, the student was nearly
brought to tears by D's attitude and remarks. She went to the head of
the music department, told her what had happened and requested a
transfer to another teacher. >>
what was the head of the music dept.'s reaction? sympathetic?
suspicious? indifferent?
<< This transfer was approved but D then told
her that she could only transfer if D released her from her studio, she
then proceeded to tell this young women that she was obviously not
willing to work and apply herself to her studies. >>
is that standard procedure? did D release the student?
<< The student has returned to B for lessons and emotional support. >>
obviously, there is potentially a very different version of the story.
before getting involved with the 'politics' of another teacher's situation
with a student, i think you need to find some way, if you can, to get another
viewpoint. it is likely that the sole source for this story is the student.
if the student is at fault in any way, it is unlikely she would present the
most objective version of the events. and, if her version of the story is
heavily biased in her favor, she may be slanting it quite innocently.
it could be anything. D might be right. or, D might be usama bin
laden in disguise. the student may not have been prepared for a non 'warm &
fuzzy' environment of stricter standards that appears hostile to her. it
might even be a misunderstanding. and, it could be that both sides
contributed to the snowballing effect of bad timing.
my only experience with anything similar was with a student who had a
problem with her chorus teacher. without going into the details, at first,
i sympathized with the student. but, as time went on, the student started
acting strangely. eventually, i saw some of that teacher's productions and
found the quality to be very high and saw her to be a very enthusiastic and
supportive yet demanding teacher. the next year, i had other students who
had this teacher for chorus and they raved about her. i asked one of them,
generally, about the teacher, wondering if she had ever seen the teacher
doing 'this' or 'that' and the student responded "oh, i know who you're
talking about!" i played dumb and dropped the subject. ever since, i have
minded my own business.
mike
|
|  |
