Prep School whole class violin - great idea?

[thedolly]

DD is in the first year of Prep School. Since the beginning of the year the whole class have been learning to play the violin as beginners. I'm sure this is a great idea for the majority of pupils but not DD. She has had private violin lessons for a year and a half now and is expected to 'learn' violin with the novices. She is understandably bored. Please could someone give me some advice on what I could do? I have already spoken to the teachers involved at the beginning and end of last term and nothing has changed.

I actually teach a group in a primary school the violin. I am a performing musician. I was asked to go in and set up the group. There is a lot that kids can learn even if they are already playing. We teach them in groups of 3 or 4 and it provides a very sociable way of learning and making the start of playing music a shared experience. Some parents have been negative (and I am a parent of a 5 year old, who is also learning the violin)which is a shame and also quite narrow minded- it seems that music teaching is a very sensitive issue. But also an important one, and through it children benefit so much. They learn to listen, to share and a good teacher will not interfere with what a child might be learning privately , but could enhance it. Many general musicianship skills can be learnt. It is important to keep a dialogue going with the school and music department, so that everyone is kept fully informed, but in general a school that adopts this form of learning should be praised for its efforts and it is possible to also include more advanced pupils even in a group activity.

CJBRDS - I agree that the right teacher should be able to make it a worthwhile experience for all. DD plays violin in a group of children with a range of abilities/experience as part of her 'private' lessons and it is beneficial in the ways that you have mentioned. Unfortunately this is not happening at school.

The point you make about a good teacher not interfering with what a child might be learning privately mirrors my thoughts exactly. However, DD was expected to change her previously taught technique to fit in with what the class teacher expected until I interfered .

Do you feel that I have been negative/narrow minded in my response to the situation as outlined?

Does my email say 'dialogue' or 'finger-pointing' to you? I am interested in your opinion as I agree that keeping a dialogue going is important.

thedolly- I think I understand your concerns from all angles- is it possible that you can ask to meet the violin teacher at the school.? He/she should want to know what your child is learning privately, who teaches them (it is a very small world and the 2 teachers may know each other and be able to work together), what methods are being adopted etc. There are many different methods out there but most of them hope to achieve similar goals-some teachers however prefer different methods. if all parties are provided with all the information it should be possible to settle your concerns and make it still fun for your child at school. The violin is not learnt overnight- it is a difficult instrument, but nonetheless worthwhile. If I were teaching your child, I would want to find out exactly what he/she can do, and reassure the private teacher that I was not seeking to change anything they were trying to teach- i might get the child involved in helping the other kids who are not yet so advanced in the group, and definitely get them involved in the general musicanship which is beneficial to all. Many beginner' s methods can incorporate an easy part with a more advanced part (such as the Sheila Nelson method) so that players of differing abilities can play together. The difficulty is as a teacher that often there is very little time, so this also needs to be balanced with ensuring the others also learn the basics , and sometimes other focuses such as class discipline can marr learning experiences.
I do know that we all tend to become very sensitive in areas of music education- quite rightly! It is highly personal in the way that some other subjects are not. i hope the school teachers can listen to your concerns. I once had a very similar situation to this when a child was already learning externally. I tried to talk to the mother to reassure that I would not dream of interferring with the private teacher and the child should know that their home teacher was their "real" teacher and I was giving extra help. I felt I was being very sensitive and accomodating, but the mother would not really listen to what I had to say, which was upsetting, and even after the very first session, in which the other children had just been given their violins for the 1st time was highly critical to the point that she put her anger onto her child, which immediately filtered negatively into the group. I suggested at that point that the child did not temporarily join in in the school group, but was welcome at any time, which is actually still the case. I usually make a point of talking to that child about how she is getting on on her violin, and i actually think she would quite like to join in.I wish you and your child luck and at the end of the day hope they enjoy the violin and the music - the goal that hopefully all parties are trying to achieve.

CJBRDS Thank you very much for your long and thoughtful post. If you were teaching DD I would I am sure have no cause for concern . Are you in a round about way saying that we should work towards a solution that means DD continues with class violin? .