Teaching Statement

In the last twelve years, I have had a chance to teach in different institutions throughout the United States, which gave me an opportunity to work with students of diverse musical and cultural backgrounds, different ages and academic interests. Through my extensive teaching experience I have developed a comprehensive approach to teaching and an ability to find ways to connect with individual students. As a musician of a different national background, I possess a good understanding of students of foreign backgrounds and I’m always keen to find better ways of assisting them.

Being a professional pianist and an active performer provides me with a better perception of the instrument, making my piano instruction more efficient and enabling me to better help the students. Additionally, my professional engagement in composition and research provides me with a deeper understanding of the musical process. It has enabled me to pass on the knowledge of music theory from a different perspective.

Coming from my own learning and teaching experience, I can conclude that for successful teaching one needs to possess not only good knowledge, but also the appropriate skills to serve various audiences; as well as an ability to work with students of different backgrounds.

Music is a subject immediately connected with practice. Thus, my primary goal in teaching is to provide students with the necessary skills and functional tools of which they can apply to their lifelong musical practice. Through my teaching experience I have come up with a number of insights which proved helpful in making the teaching and learning process effective. To begin with, I think it is important to apply a diverse and comprehensive approach in teaching and to utilize various kinds of methods and practices, to foster the effectiveness and thoroughness of learning. It is also important to be creative and to experiment with new things, to make the learning process more interesting and memorable. A teacher needs to give students a chance to evaluate themselves through various activities, to enable them to gauge their own progress and evoke a critical approach towards themselves. And finally, a teacher needs to be caring and understanding in their approach to students, regardless of their abilities, background and interests. I believe possessing a good knowledgebase and demonstrating strong skills in teaching is not enough to create a good learning environment and stoke a desire for learning among students. To show students that you truly care about them would create more enthusiasm for learning and a higher sense of responsibility in them, through which the learning process would improve and benefit from.

To me, all the mentioned aspects are important factors in shaping the effective teaching and learning model which can provide students with functional tools, and a valuable learning experience throughout life.