Before I became a Suzuki teacher and studied Dr Suzuki’s philosophy in depth, I thought that Suzuki lessons were just for kids. After all, he did say, “Every child can learn.”
When I look more closely at his stories and experiences surrounding this concept, I see adults! The teacher becomes familiar with the child and the family and learns to sense when concepts are being understood and skills are accomplished. The practice partner learns about the student, recognizes when there is success or frustration, and figures out how best to handle the situation. Teachers learn from other teachers! Practice partners share and learn with other practice partners!
What happens, though, as the child grows up? Does the Suzuki philosophy still apply? Take a moment to think about your child’s Suzuki teacher. He or she has pretty high teaching standards. She participates in music conferences and observes other teachers. He plays with other professional musicians and is active in the Suzuki Associaion of the Americas. The Suzuki teacher embodies the philosophies of Shinichi Suzuki. The teacher does not turn off “Suzuki” as his or her students mature as musicians. It is always there.
As a Suzuki student grows up, she continues to receive the same high quality teaching from her teacher. The Suzuki teaching technique of breaking a complicated passage into sections and working on it in small steps still applies when the student graduates from the Suzuki books and begins to work on even more advanced material. The maturing student has internalized these ways of learning so that the process of tackling a hard task is easy.
When do Suzuki lessons end? They don’t!