So, as most of you know, I came here to Bhutan to teach music at Kilu Bhutan Music School. Being so busy with work, and having so many different experiences to share with you all, I have not yet had the chance to report on how my teaching is coming along. I promise i'll eventually have photos to share with you from the school, of the students and me in action, but for now, I felt compelled to give you a brief update on things.
First, it's important to note that the school and the school board were immensly grateful for all of the donations of resources that I brought with me, which were possible thanks to your generosity. Everything is being put to great use, and I actually find myself very grateful for having invested so much in making sure I came here with enough diverse resources. It has made the teaching much much easier. In terms of instruments for what we can handle, the school doesn't really need any more instruments at this juncture. Many of the students at the school (to my great surprise) have keyboards at home, which their parents or relatives bought for them in India or Bangkok. This also reflects the fact that the majority of our students come from upper class backgrounds and/or international or mixed marriage backgrounds. For the approx. one third of our students who do not have keyboards at home, I was delighted to discover that the Japanese organization that has been sending volunteers and supplies to the school since 2005,supplied the school with Melodicas which the school has begun to loan out to students who do not have keyboard upon my suggestion. In that regard things are good. The challenges remain elsewhere.
Not long after I arrived our enrollment doubled from 35 students to 70. Now, since I am here, we have two full time teachers, and the school quickly reached max. enrollment capacity. Financially, the school relies only on contributions, fundraisers, and student tuition. And there are many students who are on the waiting list, wanting to join and study, but without money to hire new teachers, we cannot accept new students, as both Masayuki (the Japanese teacher) and myself are working with a full schedule.
It has been a great delight to work with all of my students, and I say this wholeheartedly and without reservation. Of course, there are ups and downs, and pedagogically speaking there are always challenges, but on a human level, I find all of my students to be a true delight. They come to study with a real joy, and eagerness to learn., and so many of them are truly inquisitive and interested. My students are from ages 6-17, and there is a tremendous amount of respect and reverence expressed towards me in all age groups (it comes from their culture of respect towards elders and teachers) which has been hard to get used to. I like to keep things informal, but nothing i'll do or say will make them stop saying "yes, sir" and "no, sir", etc.
Also, many of my students are progressing at a great clip so far, but of course, as with children all over the world (I imagine), getting them to practice on a regular basis is a constant challenge. In my individual lessons I have been putting a lot of emphasis right from the beginning in all age groups on having singing/improvisation/composition as essential components in the learning process. It's important for me that my students not only learn how to play the piano, but that they engage in music making right from the get go. My highest priority is to foster creativity and a love of music. So far, I feel things have been going well.
Aside from individual lessons, I teach two group classes a week, my younger students (ages 6-10) and my older students (11-17). This has been a great experience for me thus far. Both in terms of the challenges I find and in terms of how rewarding it has been. I've been learning a lot about teaching, managing a class, as well as about myself, really. In the beginning with the younger kids, I found things to be quite challenging, in terms of getting them to focus, and "attention and discipline" have been issues. But, the interesting thing, is that it was clear to me that any lack of focus and hyperactivity was not as a result of a lack of interest, but rather an energy issue/short attention span (for some), and perhaps a boredom issue for others. So, it forced me to quickly look inward and come up with more interesting lesson plans (I thought my original lessons were interesting, but it's useless to be stubborn or prideful), as well as develop some strategies to calm them down in beginning of classes, and maintain focus during class. So far, so good. Things have evolved quite nicely, and i'm proud of both my own work and the way the kids responded.
The other day I decided to put on some music for the kids while I was writing out a rhythm exercise on the board for us, I went with "Moanin'" from the Art Blakey Messengers, but then when I heard it, on a whim I decided instead of writing an exercise on the board, we could practice some simple "call and response" which "Moanin'" is such a clear example of. Then after the call and response when the band breaks into the swing, I wanted to demonstrate to them how one can feel swing in the body, so suddenly I found myself dancing foolishly, swinging my hips, to everyone's laughter and delight. Before you know it, they all joined, and we practiced moving from the "call and response" clapping to the swing, dancing and had a blast!
The older group has been tremendously rewarding from the start. It's a class of about 10-15 girls, and they are bright, focused, eager to learn and talented. It makes my job so easy. And, it's the kind of class that actually energizes me. And I feel that i've been able to provide some inspiration and excitement in these sessions. Just the other day I asked them to think over the course of the week about their definition of music. Then, we had a terrific discussion (college level really) about it, and I admit I was surprised at how sophisticated and comprehensive things got.
We are now preparing for the end of semester concert which will take place on December 12th and will involve both individual performances as well as group singing. This past weekend we started the group preparations and had a great time with that as well!
So, I am quite grateful for the opportunity to teach here in Bhutan and have found it to be a tremendously rich and rewarding experience for me, not without the daily challenges that come with any kind of occupation and especially teaching, which demands endless amounts of patience and unconditional love. But, that is where I get to work on myself, that's where teaching is my teacher. So far, so good.
Stay tuned for photos from KILU!
Much love,
Noam
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