I read this on the train yesterday and thought this was great. I can relate too well with making mistakes leading to humiliation. I had a teacher who was a bit of a jerk when I had to try and sight-read in front of the class in AP music theory. I was only just beginning my musical journey and felt embarrassed unable to read rhythms and sing pitch. It was in front of the whole class too! I still think too much in regard to singing and have always been nervous about pursuing it seriously. Put a few drinks in me at karaoke and I'll be fine though!
I've also experienced that humiliation and when I was at school and university I saw happen to fellow students several times. It's so damaging, and sadly it is also currently very routine. I hope it will die out as people gradually realise the harm that they are doing. The good thing is that nowadays people are talking about it much more, that gives me a bit of hope. The worrying thing is that I still sometimes see it taking place teacher-on-teacher — I saw it happen in a teacher's group on Facebook this very week. So I'm only cautiously optimistic. But I think we have to be the change we want to see
I think educating through this old lens is dying out. Nobody wants a jerk for a teacher and there's plenty of alternatives in learning these days. When I think of the old lens of 'if you don't learn this it will be embarrassing and humiliating' I think of people like Tiger Woods or Michael Jackson. Pretty sure their fathers taught them like this for hours on end in order to 'be the best' or what have you. It resulted in them becoming the pinnacle representations of their field, but at the cost of every other thing in their personal lives. That seems like an unfair trade-off to me.
I read this on the train yesterday and thought this was great. I can relate too well with making mistakes leading to humiliation. I had a teacher who was a bit of a jerk when I had to try and sight-read in front of the class in AP music theory. I was only just beginning my musical journey and felt embarrassed unable to read rhythms and sing pitch. It was in front of the whole class too! I still think too much in regard to singing and have always been nervous about pursuing it seriously. Put a few drinks in me at karaoke and I'll be fine though!
I've also experienced that humiliation and when I was at school and university I saw happen to fellow students several times. It's so damaging, and sadly it is also currently very routine. I hope it will die out as people gradually realise the harm that they are doing. The good thing is that nowadays people are talking about it much more, that gives me a bit of hope. The worrying thing is that I still sometimes see it taking place teacher-on-teacher — I saw it happen in a teacher's group on Facebook this very week. So I'm only cautiously optimistic. But I think we have to be the change we want to see
I think educating through this old lens is dying out. Nobody wants a jerk for a teacher and there's plenty of alternatives in learning these days. When I think of the old lens of 'if you don't learn this it will be embarrassing and humiliating' I think of people like Tiger Woods or Michael Jackson. Pretty sure their fathers taught them like this for hours on end in order to 'be the best' or what have you. It resulted in them becoming the pinnacle representations of their field, but at the cost of every other thing in their personal lives. That seems like an unfair trade-off to me.
I couldn't agree more!
Great article!
thank you!