My colleagues and I are currently taking our Music Teaching Diploma course with the International School of Musicians, UK.
In a recent lecture, we explored a variety of Education Learning Theories and reflected on which of the approaches best describes how we teach.
At one point I was asked, “How do you like to teach?” and I shared how my goal is for my students to leave their lesson on a high, with a sense of joyful fulfilment. Especially, if it had been a particularly intensive lesson.
Do I always achieve this? Not at all. And this is because learning new material can be painful, and, especially with music, frustrating.
So how do we make learning less painful?
The short answer is, we can’t. But we can make make the pain more palatable.
Every student, of whatever discipline, will occassionally hit a brick wall, where it’s all too much and they don’t feel like doing it anymore.
Lovingly and patiently supporting them through that pit can make all the difference. Notice, I said supporting them “through” the pit. Because go through it they must. The pit is inevitable. But it does not have to be the final destination.
James Nottingham developed and popularised the concept of “The Learning Pit” and he describes it beautifully here. He explains why it’s important for children to experience being “out of their comfort zone” and to eventually overcome that feeling by being supported through the discomfort, rather than by being rescued from it.
As parents and educators, we are often tempted to build a bridge across the pit in order to prevent the children from falling in. We don’t want them to fell frustrated, despondent and angry.
However, we are actually doing them a disservice if we prevent them from experiencing the pit. It is in the pit that they become fully grounded. The pit is where they develop confidence in their abilities and their sense of self-worth. A child who is always being rescued will never learn just how much potential and greatness resides within them.
When children first start lessons with us, they come in bright eyed, bushy tailed, and excited to learn, as is depicted in the illustration above. They move quickly through the early stage material and feel super proud and accomplished.
Then they begin to descend into the pit, as the learning gets more challenging. Their initial enthusiasm begins to wane, and getting them to attend their lessons or do their homework becomes a drag.
Don’t be discouraged if, or rather, when, this happens to your child. Provided we give them the right support (deipicted by the ladder in the graphic), we can help them make their own way out.
All stakeholders – parents, children and teachers alike – must remember that when we learn new things, our performance dips and we get worse for a season, before we get better. Don’t panic when your child’s performance dips. It may be a sign they are in a pit. Give them the room and tools with which to figure it out. Be supportive, but not overbearring. In time, they will make it out.
In the coming weeks and months, I fully expect to descend into a few pits of my own. I am also looking forward to growing my collection of tools or ladders that we can deploy in support of our learners whenever they find themselves in one.
The next cohort for the Music Teacher Diploma and the Montessori Music Educator course will commence in 2025. Follow this link to learn more and to sign up.