Is teaching an art or a science?
The thoughts in this piece were occasioned by a conversation where i was asked if I thought teaching more of an art rather than a science. I responded that the question was a false frame, and was asked to explain.
My explanation comes in part from my background and formal education in music.
I think what we are seeing in education is neither art nor science, but the attempt to turn education into an engineering problem. In engineering, it is of course important to have rigorous standards. In manufacturing the ideal of exactly the same interchangeable parts is an important component of mass production, which provides consistency, and may even save on cost.
But students are not, and should not be, widgets or other manufactured outputs. They are absolutely unique individuals, and should be respected as such, even as we try to assist them in growing and developing and learning how to learn. Please note that last phrase - learning how to learn - we thereby empower them to lifelong learning that does not depend upon a formal school/educational setting.
Is music composition an art or a science? Is performance of a pre-composed piece an art or a science? Is the improvisation one sees in jazz, which is part of fulfilling the continuo of many baroque works, which was originally what was done in the cadenza of a concerto, an art or a science?
The answer is, as far as I can tell, both and to a lesser degree neither. It is both because it is not an absolute
My explanation comes in part from my background and formal education in music.
I think what we are seeing in education is neither art nor science, but the attempt to turn education into an engineering problem. In engineering, it is of course important to have rigorous standards. In manufacturing the ideal of exactly the same interchangeable parts is an important component of mass production, which provides consistency, and may even save on cost.
But students are not, and should not be, widgets or other manufactured outputs. They are absolutely unique individuals, and should be respected as such, even as we try to assist them in growing and developing and learning how to learn. Please note that last phrase - learning how to learn - we thereby empower them to lifelong learning that does not depend upon a formal school/educational setting.
Is music composition an art or a science? Is performance of a pre-composed piece an art or a science? Is the improvisation one sees in jazz, which is part of fulfilling the continuo of many baroque works, which was originally what was done in the cadenza of a concerto, an art or a science?
The answer is, as far as I can tell, both and to a lesser degree neither. It is both because it is not an absolute
