Posted by Rick Denney on September 21, 2001 at 16:49:01:
In Reply to: Re: I need advise. posted by Dave on September 21, 2001 at 14:21:39:
When you described your ideal teacher, I though you made a good description. But the student has to meet him halfway, or even more than that.
By the time students gets to college, it's time for them to understand it's their responsibility to modify how they receive information to make sure that they do receive it. This does not require anger or spite--merely an open mind and a willingness to work hard and communicate his needs. Nor does a professor have to be arrogant to avoid being a babysitter. My professor friend keeps office hours, during which he consults with students freely. Only a handful of his best undergraduate students will come to him during those periods, but there are others who will complain because he sets too high a standard and enforces it too ruthlessly. The help is available if they would ask, but they want it delivered to them without asking. That's what my friend calls "coddling."
It's really an issue of respect. Sure, the professors must respect the students, and nobody advocates being cruel. But students must respect the professors, too, and they must also respect their responsibilities as students.
The problem is that we often think of college as an entitlement, when it is in fact a choice, like working. I've seen students show disrespect to their professors (often behind their backs) in ways that would get them fired from any job, were they caught. But college students are old enough to vote, and old enough to complain about not being able to legally drink, so they are old enough to know that life doesn't come to them, they have to do the moving themselves.
But that isn't the problem presented by the original poster. He complained that the pressure being applied by the professor was causing him to perform at a lower level in lessons than in the practice room or at ensemble rehearsal. Dealing with that pressure is something he'll have to learn to be a professional musician--there's no way around it. He is working hard, but he has trouble revealing that hard work to the teacher. That isn't the same as being abused by a cruel teacher.
Rick "who thinks college students have it easy" Denney