Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness in Music

All professionals must routinely go through an evaluation process to progress in their field. Likewise, teachers must assess their own level of effectiveness to develop their skills. This process allows even experienced teachers to underscore their strengths and devise specific strategies to overcome their weaknesses. In the general educational system, systematic evaluations by supervisors or peers occur on a regular basis. Most independent music teachers, however, do not have the opportunity to be regularly observed by other teachers. For many, it becomes very easy to rely on experience, or what has worked well in the past, rather than submitting to examination. The strengths and weaknesses in personalities and teaching styles often become more rigid with time, and it is easy to see one approach as the only "right" way. One method to counteract this tendency is the process of self-evaluation.