Invisible burdens

How we can lighten our students' loads

Sometimes our students enter our studios with the weight of the world on their shoulders. To use two examples from my studio right now, they might be caring for a critically-ill family member, or being bullied.

Like our students, we may also have burdens to carry.

Making music often lightens the load. We’re lucky to work in a job in which it is so central.

But sometimes we have performance or exam deadlines to meet. These can add to the burden.

When your student leaves your lesson, they should feel less burdened, not more.

Here are some other things that can help lift the weight:

• Companionship

• Deserved Praise

• Acceptance

• Patience

• Kindness

• Laughter

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This post is part of the “Thinking deeper” series, where I reflect on creativity, learning, teaching and kindness.