Work In Progress
I’m a music teacher. But before that, I’m a student of music. Consequently, I have the good fortune of being able to see the process of learning unfold from up close — my own learning, as well as that of others.
When I first began my journey of music, I had no awareness of my learning and progress. Only with time did some sense of the path to improvement develop. I began to see a few checkposts (though few and far between). I began to understand what some of the stumbling blocks to further progress were. Most importantly, I began to see how long the road is and how much further I needed to go. Not only that — I noticed how unskilled I was at simply walking, metaphorically speaking.
To this day, many years after those first steps, I’m still learning how to walk. And I’m supposedly a teacher…A teacher who hasn’t yet mastered the craft that he teaches. This worried me a great deal the first time it occurred to me. A nagging question started to bother me: is there a way to ensure that those who I teach aren’t misled because of my lack of mastery?
Well, based on what I know at present, yes — there is a way.
Firstly, it is paramount that I remain aware of what I truly know and what I don’t; and secondly, I should only speak about the things I am certain of. Of course, this requires brutal honesty on my part and a deep familiarity with what I’m teaching. Without either, I might just be leading those who come to me in the wrong direction.
That begs the question: how would I even know what I truly know? My answer at this point is repeated testing. When something works once, I try it out multiple times and see if I consistently get the results I want. Over time, the wheat separates from the chaff and I’m left with what works well consistently.
Have I mastered this process? Honestly, I’m not even close. Sometimes, I’m reasonably cautious about the testing process but there have been so many times when I’ve jumped the gun and bought into my biases. This is a skill that’s a work in progress.
It reminds me of how every student’s skill is a work in progress. After understanding a new concept, trying it out and learning how to navigate the waters of a new skill, a student finally has a breakthrough! And then promptly fails on the very next try. This is natural.
There seems to be a vast difference between succeeding once, and suceeding repeatedly. The latter takes time and motivation. And that necessitates patience and persistence.
And not just in music. Even thinking about my life in general, it seems like that’s a work in progress as well. Likewise for a few others who’ve spoken to me about this. It takes time to learn. Patience and persistence go a long way. And experience is undoubtedly the greatest teacher.
In fact, considering how we’re all just trying the best that we can, perhaps we could help each other on our respective journeys by being compassionate and having faith that others are as much works in progress as we are…trying, sometimes succeeding, sometimes stumbling, but always trying, still trying, until one success turns into repeated successes, and then into consistent success.
And just maybe, if we donned the hat of a teacher now and then, maybe we’d see that each of us is just a student who needs some more time before managing to succeed consistently.
