For a more successful start in the music world, it is desirable to have a good teacher, with whom learning will be controlled, and it will be much easier than without him.
But before we continue, let's clarify. If the limit of desires in your musical career ends with the ability to play simple popular songs on the guitar by the fire, then, of course, the need for a teacher is not so high, or even an extra expense. And for those who have plans to develop well in the field of art or simply make their skills more perfect and developed than at the moment, then this article is for you.
What for? After all, many did without a teacher!
Many aspiring guitarists base their beliefs on the success of some professional musicians who have achieved unprecedented heights in their careers without learning from any teachers. And it would be reasonable to ask the question: “So, why do I need it, if someone could, and I certainly can.” Yes, there is indeed a possibility that you will turn out to be a talented self-taught musician, and you can do without anyone's help. But at the same time, one should not forget that, nevertheless, a personal teacher will speed up the learning process, even the most talented and independent students will have less time to study, and the process itself will become easier, according to a confident, proven method, which, to In addition, it was improved by the teacher himself on personal experience. In most cases, self-learning is hindered at a certain level, above which a potential guitarist may not "jump" without the help of a professional instructor. Mostly people who decide not to study with a teacher:
1) There is no interest in their own musical development, and they are not willing to invest time and finances in their prosperity.
2) Due to significant financial problems (does not have enough funds to pay for personal guitar lessons).
3) Probably does not realize the importance of the professional supervision of a personal instructor who could ensure the implementation of many goals.
Faster result
The article is directed mainly to the third category of people. Since most beginners to practice playing the guitar refer specifically to it. Let's start with the most simple and logical. Without a good teacher, your work, measured in a large amount of time spent, will lead to a mediocre result, while a lesson with a teacher ensures the correct training, you will be shown WHAT and HOW to do it right at the same time, in a short period of time. Musical progress will not be long in coming, and it will soon become noticeable that development is moving much faster with an instructor than without one.
Any athlete depends on his coach
Consider another type of non-musician who works hard to achieve excellent results in an activity they revere. Even the greatest athletes cannot do without coaches who help them learn and improve, and encourage them to become better than they are now. If you pay attention to professional football coaches, it turns out that most of them are not athletes, but at the same time, the skill of a coach lies in stimulating a football player to become better, their essence is that they are trained to teach and they know how to do it well. Think about how many Olympians in the world take lessons and do preventive training with their mentors, and yet these coaches with their physique will not be able to repeat half of what their athletes can do. And yet, they are preparing athletes for the Olympic Games with great success. From all this we can conclude that any athlete depends on his coach. For some, the analogy between athletes and students who study music will seem wondrous. Music teachers and ordinary teachers are similar in that they impart knowledge, knowledge of music theory, improvisation, scales, ear development, composing, chords, and so on. It is not always correct to search for this information on the Internet, as a lot of the information you find may be incorrect or incomplete! What about practice? How to learn how to save movements when playing, and how to control tension, how to ensure the autonomy of each of the fingers - its independence of action. All these things and many more are not subject to home study through textbooks or the Internet.
The teacher will help point you in the right direction
It is good when the student has a clear idea of the goal and understands which path is best to choose in order to best achieve it. But, unfortunately, many do not understand what they should study. And engaging in a practice that has no specific goals can become a tedious and frustrating thing, it comes to the point that achieving what was conceived may turn out to be unrealistic or it will take tens of times more time spent to implement it. Learning with a good teacher will help determine the gradual development path, the weaknesses of the teacher that need to be corrected. Many students do not realize the extent of the consequences of some bad habits, such as tension in the right hand or fingers too protruding on the left hand (which are not currently involved in the game). And those who are aware of the wrong actions - do not understand how to correct them. This is exactly what professional guitar teachers do. They make sure that the student does everything correctly and does not make significant mistakes that develop into bad habits, which are then difficult to part with.
Incentive to work harder
In addition to the obvious benefits of learning the musical plan (learning theory, songs, techniques, explaining how to play guitar and tabs), there are non-musical benefits, many of which are incredibly valuable. For example, a student of a musical institution who takes guitar lessons may not always be able to fully learn the material for the next lesson. For such a student, the teacher will become a mentor, he will inspire an incentive to study more and diligently in order to master the previous material. Here the task of the teacher is not to transfer some knowledge, but to interest the student in working and helping him reach a new level of self-learning, helping to learn more and harder. Such a student eventually begins to master large amounts of information with more difficult tasks.
New opportunities
Working with a teacher gives you an invaluable number of opportunities that, with self-study, might not have been achieved or would have been mastered over a relatively long period of time. The experience of a teacher is invaluable and worth the money you spend on training. Teachers usually have a lot of connections in the music business that can affect your musical life, whether you want to become a teacher, a studio musician, compose your own music, have a successful career in music as a player, or just for fun. By establishing good relationships with teachers, you will be able to secure a further musical career. Basically, students are grateful for their success to teachers, without whom their thorny musical path would not have been so fruitful and easy.
After long, but exciting sessions with teachers, you are involved in the music industry so deeply that in time you yourself will become able to train people to achieve professional heights in music.
Conclusion
Do you need a teacher - it's up to you. But, once you decide to learn from a professional, you will forever understand the difference between self-study and learning with a teacher. Classes with a teacher will ensure the ease of passing the material, and most importantly, the gradual adherence to the established plan, from which you will only enjoy, noticing how your skill grows.
Learn how to choose the right guitar teacher
You can also sign up for individual guitar lessons with me via Skype.
Archpriest Mikhail REZIN, rector of the Znamensky Cathedral in the city of Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod Region, comments:
Fourteen years ago, I asked the late Metropolitan Nikolai (Kutepov) of Nizhny Novgorod: “Vladyka, why are we priests not allowed into schools?” I was recently ordained, my heart was on fire. He replied: “Father Michael, if the doors of schools open now and we are called to teach, who will go? The priests are not ready, there are no teachers.” Now the situation has changed, many teachers, including young ones, go to church, take communion, carefully listen to sermons (I judge by my arrival). But there is still a lot to be done. Surely there will be mistakes, we will fill the bumps, but the road will be mastered by the walking one.
Schoolchildren themselves, with rare exceptions, can hardly consciously choose which religion to study as part of the lessons of spiritual and moral culture. Their choice depends on parents and teachers. So we need to start with adult education. But there are not so many parishes that could organize educational work with families. Work with teachers in the Church is more developed. So far, mainly within the framework of the Christmas readings, the Russian Cathedral, courses at the Theological Academy in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, theological conferences. This is not enough - it is necessary to organize courses for teachers at the local level, to involve employees of the rono, it is obligatory to conduct pilgrimage trips, two or three times a year - all-Russian seminars. Expensive, but in this case money is nothing. It is important that the training of teachers should not degenerate into scholasticism, but kindle their hearts. Only then will they be able to open the wonderful world of faith for children.
Ideas that a teacher's faith does not matter, or that a believing teacher should not talk about his faith, are false. How can a believer not talk about faith? It's like forbidding a person to breathe. Experience shows that a teacher always teaches best what he believes in, what he lives, what he is ready to do even not for a salary. We still have communist teachers in the Ardat school. I am sure that if the director offered them not to pay their salaries, if only they refused to teach, they would not agree, they would say: do not pay, but we will still tell the children how wonderful communism is. We understand that the ideas of communism are false, but it would not be bad for us, Orthodox, to convey the truth to children with the same conviction. And for this we ourselves must be strong in faith. Therefore, the number one task today is the training and education of teachers.
So far, alas, much depends on the local authorities. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, only a few schools teach the basics of Orthodox culture, and the directors do this at their own peril and risk. And in our area a year and a half ago it was impossible. The mayor, through the head of the city, warned: if at least one priest appears at the school, the director will be fired. Now, fortunately, we have a new mayor with whom dialogue and mutual understanding are possible. Remember, we were taught at school about the role of personality in history? Now this is especially true.
Recorded by Leonid VINOGRADOV
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Experience shows that a teacher always teaches best what he believes in, than what he lives. We still have communist teachers in the Ardat school. I am sure that if the director offered them not to pay salaries, if only they refused to teach, they would say: do not pay, but we will still tell the children how wonderful communism is. We understand that the ideas of communism are false, but it would not be bad for us, Orthodox, to convey the truth to children with the same conviction ... "(comments Archpriest Mikhail REZIN, rector of the Znamensky Cathedral in the city of Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod Region)
Not only former school teachers responded to our request: it seems that any teaching experience leaves a mark that I want to talk about.
Thanks to everyone who responded and entered into a dialogue with us. We publish five characteristic stories of former teachers, university professors and even a teacher of additional education.
Natalia
2 years worked as a teacher at the university - assistant of the department of international law. Now he is a hotel manager.
I never wanted to be a teacher. It seemed to me that a teacher or teacher is the worst thing that can happen to a person, because finding a common language and trying to “drill in” more or less useful information to children just beginning to form is a thankless task. I did not graduate from the Pedagogical Institute, my education was limited to 4 years of law school at one of the Siberian universities. And immediately after graduating and entering the magistracy, I was called to work at the graduate department as an assistant.
My work was to be limited to leading seminars. In fact, I often replaced teachers with lectures and sinned by giving lectures instead of my seminars, because it seemed to me that the other teacher did not give them something. Plus, I wrote articles, supervised term papers, of which there were from 28 to 40 per semester.
Since I was enthusiastic and absolutely sure that I would teach students how to live properly, I carefully approached the check of all works, corrected spelling and punctuation, checked all the facts and pointed out gross flaws, chewed on how to write. It turned out that "experienced" teachers only run coursework on "Antiplagiarism" and, if the originality is above 60%, read the conclusions for each article, and this is limited.
I was 22-23 years old, so often in our department, consisting of 90% of professors and candidates of sciences of Balzac age, there were disputes on the topic of patriotism, attitudes towards the state, life values, dreams and aspirations.
I taught diplomacy, the theory of international relations, international law and many more related subjects, and before teaching I studied international relations for 4 years. I didn’t like the situation of today’s Russia much (although the aunts from the department tried in every possible way to convince me that I was wrong, sprinkling facts from the news of Channel One), so I wanted to convey to the students the main idea: analyze and compare, you don’t need to blindly love your state, even if you are studying diplomacy. The department did not approve of this idea of mine and many times tried to teach me to love my homeland.
Sometimes I thought I would hate students, but working with them was the best part of teaching.
It is very interesting to observe how the streams differ, how students of different ages differ. I tried to diversify the educational process with psychological tests, tried to find out what the relationship was in the group, and suggested that the management correct something, transfer someone somewhere (none of my proposals were seriously considered).
I liked writing and publishing articles, supervising the scientific work of students, helping them, I liked telling them what I know, I liked being asked questions to which I did not know the answer. At that moment, my knees were trembling from inexperience, but I either assumed or looked for an answer after class and then reported. The fact that I was asked questions, the answers to which I did not know, is great, it means that the students understand, it means that they are interested.
I liked to conduct exams and tests, I let them write off, but on the condition that they really understand and remember at least something, I overestimated the grades, because the grades mean nothing for a person’s future life, but for some reason the students were very worried about the reaction parents at 3 and sometimes 4, literally fell on their knees and begged not to put bad marks, otherwise they would not be good at home.
I didn’t like that the team was very sensitive to the appearance of the teacher: the students didn’t care even if I came in pajamas.
The older generation of teachers insisted on the necessary strict appearance to maintain professional subordination.
My salary was 11 thousand per month, taking into account the northern coefficient, and this was a lot. At the same time, I conducted an average of 5-6 classes per week. Approximately once every six months, they made an allowance for leading the winners of the Olympiads, for published articles. I was satisfied with the salary, and here I can only support Medvedev's words about teachers' earnings: a young and energetic person will find how to earn money. It was possible to teach a course in English, and this would be a good increase, it was possible to take hours at other institutes, time allowed.
I stopped working because they promised to cut my salary, and during the same period of time I was going to move to another city. Plus, I still understood that I had “professional incompetence”. I had my own strong political views, which I tried not to advertise, but the students constantly elicited. It all came down to the fact that they were trying to please the teacher and expressed my point of view rather than personal, for which I scolded them. But in the minds of the students, the idea of the institute as a place where you need to please the teacher, memorize on "5" and forget is completely stuck.
This job taught me patience. She taught me to treat everyone with an open mind. And she made it clear that you can not teach something to a person who does not want it at all.
However, not everyone is so unwilling to learn, many simply do not like the tedious process. Whenever possible, I tried to weave modern films, series, book characters into the educational process, arranged classes in a non-classical form, for example, in the form of a court session or the UN Security Council, in the form of a press conference, weaved games like "Crocodile" or "Who am I ?”, when it was necessary to explain the term without the help of words, etc. Sometimes this attracted those students who, it seemed, would no longer be included in the educational process.
I would gladly return to the profession if it was possible to come to work in ripped jeans and if the salary of an assistant was 20 thousand, then it would be magical.
As for advice, I would wish teachers: make students and students think, do everything to develop logical thinking in them, so that they drive everything through the prism of skepticism. Do not focus only on the subject, do not be afraid to go beyond it.
Advice to students: don't be afraid not to learn what you don't like and leave where you don't want to learn. Many students waste time when it is obvious that they do not need this specialty.
Alexei
For 10 years he taught at the university at the Department of Economic Theory. Now he is a project manager.
After defending my dissertation on entrepreneurship, a professor, a member of the council, came up to me and said this phrase: “Do not stop teaching, this is a gift, you must realize it.” An unexpected remark sunk into my soul. So I became an ordinary teacher at a provincial university, went from assistant to associate professor. It was a busy 10 years filled with work and creativity, meetings with amazing people, communication with colleagues and students.
I worked at the department of economic theory, lectured for first-year students, including non-economic specialties. The “throat” load is hard work, but it also gives powerful hardening. After in-line lectures, there is no fear of a large audience, and in general, this is a good lecturer's training.
The system is designed in such a way that the teacher is not spared - the principle of the conveyor and the talking head operates. However, here too there are glimpses. For example, when you get tired, you are not in the mood, you are doing a lesson on autopilot, and suddenly an unexpected question turns you on - and you are already in flight! Days like these are remembered.
I was very annoyed by the assessment system - these are time-consuming procedures and meaningless. I often imagined myself as a school teacher with a pile of notebooks. The point system is one of the imaginaries of university life (in fact, everything comes down to traditional twos / threes / fives), as well as control tests - I caught the first steps in this direction. In the absence of enough computers, these days turned into a hell of a marathon of pushing buttons.
In general, the antediluvian material and technical base and shabby classes do not brighten up the everyday life of a teacher. Basically, everything is based on falling in love with the subject, falling in love with the group with which you work.
I am a temperamental person, at first I experienced strong emotional stress, when everything passes through my heart, but gradually I managed to find the right tone in interaction with the guys. For me, personal communication, involvement in the life of my students has always been very important - I have been involved in a lot of scientific and social projects, preparing reports, speeches, materials for student conferences, competitions, grants. He constantly dragged books and magazines from home to the children - the scientific library at the university is poor and inconvenient. Read aloud and discuss.
The first call that it was time to leave came when I realized that only 10% of motivated, interesting individual students were sitting in the audience.
And before it was 30-40%, interaction with them gave results and stretched the group as a whole, and you yourself developed. I decided that with two or three students I could work independently and outside the walls of the university - there would be more sense! A platform for this already existed, together with colleagues we organized a methodological workshop in the regional library. So I "hid" from students, first in doctoral studies, and then quit altogether.
The decision was difficult: it turned out that I spent half my life at my native university - a student, a graduate student, then a teacher. But the intensity of labor has doubled at the same salary. There was no time left for science and projects, they paid pennies. The flow of meaningless papers grew. We have become real slaves.
The prospect of professional growth disappeared, any methodological innovations and other initiatives were perceived indifferently. All management and decision-making mechanisms are not transparent. Key posts were occupied by a generation of people who through positions solve only their personal problems. The administrative services of teachers were despised. Any trip to the accounting department, the personnel department, the methodological department caused me internal shudders, because I have never met so much unprofessionalism, rudeness, undisguised aggression and disrespect. For example, in order to knock out crumbs to pay for travel to a conference, one had to go through a real meat grinder of humiliation. By the way, this attitude has become dominant among students as well: teachers are service personnel.
The most painful was the separation from my native department - for me it was a nest. Amazing people surrounded and shaped me - Professor V.A. Petrishchev, L.A. Karaseva, E.A. Spasskaya, V.A. Kuntysh, N.V. Kostyukovich. I list the names, because from them I received knowledge, the secrets of craftsmanship, an unbending moral core.
Working at the university is the foundation of my success today. This, of course, is also a formal inheritance - a title, a record in labor, communications. But the main thing is the skills of creativity, research work, communication in a team.
It is impossible to leave the teaching profession, it is inside you - professional deformation occurs.
The only area where I have to restrain myself is the family. From the first days my wife warned me: "Turn off the teacher!"
What needs to change in the system for me to want to go back there? Perhaps the teacher should be put at the forefront.
Alyona
She worked for 4 years as a senior lecturer at a university, for 4 years as a teacher of additional education. Now he is a methodologist in an additional education institution.
Briefly about his attitude to the work of the Teacher. The profession should come by vocation, enthusiastic people. This is definitely creative work. At the same time very responsible. Since childhood, I myself wanted to be a teacher, but I started my career at the university, I never worked at school, although I am a technology teacher by education. Oddly enough, I want to go to school and constantly considered this option. However, we do not need technology teachers at school.
For 4 years I worked at the university as a senior teacher (“senior” sounds intimidating, although the lowest rank among the teaching community). At first, I liked everything: working conditions, salary, workload, colleagues. The department appreciated, students respected. But in the last year of my work, I was given a load of 0.25 rates, this is 2,500 rubles a month for a senior teacher (it was 2011). And loaded up with public works in the role of secretary of the SEC and SAC. In view of such employment, it became difficult to find a part-time job. So I spat on all this scientific work.
After that, I was lucky to work in the field of additional education for children. And again 4 years. I managed to be both a teacher and a methodologist, and held a leadership position. Therefore, I had to experience in my own skin not only all the difficulties of the work of a teacher, but also the complexity of administrative work interspersed with constant complaints from subordinates, a kind of feedback.
The difficulty of the work of a teacher of additional education is that a certain stereotype has developed in society in relation to circles. And not only for children, but also for teachers themselves.
And it was a hundred times more difficult for me to readjust to think differently. Because it is at the institute that students go to a teacher for knowledge, for a diploma, or they don’t go to boring lectures, because they are such students. It is the children who will definitely come to school, because it is obligatory to go to school according to the law. And in the circle, if the child did not come, then he is not interested (it seems to me, what other teacher once thought about this). And you jump out of your skirt to fucking interest them.
And each child has his own motivation for visiting the circle. And everyone has their own schedule at school and in other circles. And they require groups of 15 people, although the office does not fit more than 5. And then another official or a candidate of science from the local advanced training institute will come up with some whim and go do it, because then you need to make a report and attach a photo. This is real!
Last year we celebrated Heart Day! (Aren't you?) We were obliged to celebrate the Day of the Heart, and instead of developing engineering ingenuity in children, we jumped ropes with them. The most shameful thing is that children themselves understand where there is profanity. And we, teachers, continue to fool their heads ...
It is also more difficult for a teacher of additional education because there are no standards, no programs, everyone has to write a program for himself and plan work. Some do not have enough experience and education for this. While their salary is lower than that of school teachers (at least in our city).
I will not say that the reports filled up. All teacher reporting is to fill out a journal. The most difficult thing is to ensure the presence of children in the classroom, because for 0 people in the group they threaten to cut salaries, and this is always annoying.
All these circumstances are also revealed during the annual inspections by the city Department of Education. And this is where the breakdown begins. Applies to everyone, from young to old. They can say to the face of a young teacher that he is nobody, does nothing and should be fired. What's it like?
“You organized a city competition of technical creativity, and you have 14 participants, this is not a competition, but a get-together. Where are the participants from the schools? - they ask me during the next check. “Okay, we are organizing a children's drawing competition and we will have a hundred participants,” I answer. “What are you talking about! You are the CENTER of technical creativity! By the way, why are there no participants in all-Russian competitions from you? - the inspector continues his work. “Because all-Russian competitions with remote participation are drawing competitions, and in order to participate for “technicians”, you need to travel outside the republic, far away. They offered. Parents refuse, ”I again with an excuse. Verdict: “So you propose!”
This is a misunderstanding on the part of administrative workers, their excessive demands. Sometimes they themselves can not understand what they require. And this only leads to an increase in negative attitudes towards work, to the dismissal of talented and truly irreplaceable colleagues. In this case, the main motive for my dismissal was not the salary at all, but the existing instability, misunderstanding, the constant “adding on” of duties and, most importantly, the attitude of officials to your work.
There will be no development in unjustified criticism. Sometimes after one kind word you move mountains. It is a pity that I had to hear these words only from my students and their parents.
Daria
I worked as an English teacher for 4 years. Now he is a manicurist.
At school I worked as an English teacher. The subject is not the easiest, so there were a lot of problems. Classes were different, starting with the second and ending with the ninth. At first it was very hard, but my colleagues-"English" helped me. Thanks to them, I did not quit after a year.
It was easier to work with the younger grades, problems with discipline rarely arose, but with the senior school it was more difficult, because due to my age (at that time I was 22 years old) it was sometimes difficult for me to behave seriously with them, I wanted to joke, laugh. But the borders were never crossed.
I didn't get on well with the school because of the bosses. While I combined work with study (I studied at the evening), they didn’t touch me much and gave me the load that I asked for. When I finished studying, the opinion was not particularly taken into account. “You are young! Work!".
Yes, the salary was rather big, but I don’t think that school is the place where you need to build a career, I wanted to enjoy work, and when you are loaded, you no longer feel pleasure!
I asked to give me fewer hours, but they refused me, and even gave me a class teacher. I realized that this was not at all mine, as I began to break down on the children, constantly cried and woke up with the thought: “Why me?”
The persuasion of my colleagues, who found it very difficult and insulting to let me go, did not help either. True, I wanted to complete it by the end of the first quarter, but they didn’t let me, so I left in October, which I’m incredibly happy about. Everything that is done is for the best.
I don't know what this job taught me, honestly! I understood one thing: if you want to change something, then you don’t have to be afraid, and you need to appreciate and love yourself. When I left school, the headmistress said: “You can work more hours, you just feel sorry for yourself!”. And I completely agree with her, now I work 12 hours a day, the difference is that now I enjoy work, I began to sleep better and, no matter how strange it may sound, there is more time for myself!
Would I like to go back to school under some conditions? Not at the moment! On no terms! There was still some residue left from the first experiment. But in general, in the future, when there are children, perhaps I would go to work in a school. Conditions: 18 hours a week (teacher's rate), no classroom management and less paperwork. I don’t quite understand why a teacher should write a program for the academic year, when methodologists should be doing this.
In general, I think that people who love their job, who like to work with children and parents, should work at the school, and not because of the salary, gain more hours and create the appearance that they are working.
I left the moment I realized that I was becoming like my class teacher.
Our class was not the most calm, and by our graduation she became neurasthenic, always screaming, breaking down over trifles and her hands were constantly shaking. I didn't want to be like that!
For advice, I am young and inexperienced, but one thing I can say is that children are not always to blame for everything, you can always find a common language with them. I loved working with them, although there were disgusting kids who I wanted to strangle, to be honest! The whole problem is in the bosses and higher authorities: the first do not help and do not support, the second do not know what they want.
Oksana
She worked as a mathematics teacher at a school 20 years ago, now she is the chief administrator of the sales department of a large plant.
I worked as a mathematics teacher in the middle classes immediately after graduating from KSU. T.G. Shevchenko. It was an ordinary school on the outskirts of Kyiv in the usual 90s of the last century. I remember this school as a bright and good place, despite the difficulties of that time.
I liked this job, but I felt that I lacked pedagogical education and practice. For some time I even thought about how I could fill in these gaps, but then I came to the conclusion that this format of work does not suit me. First of all, the fact that I would be a good subject teacher, but not a cult-mass organizer of all sorts of rulers, political information ... I would be happy to prepare "olympiads", weeks of mathematics, but I was strained by everything that related to the ideological and educational part of the process , evoked melancholy and introduced into a stupor. Now I look back and understand that the decision was right: the 90s cannot even be compared in terms of pressure with what is happening now.
In addition, I came to school after five years of working as a tutor. I got used to the fact that they are waiting for me: on the one hand, there is a dad with money, on the other, a mother with a cup of coffee, and the child, if not happy, then at least understands why he is teaching and what he will take.
Imagine my shock after that when I heard from the guys in the class: “Why do I need this math of yours?” "Need not? I thought. - Sure, not a problem. Me too, problem. I will always find those who need it."
And the teacher must still be sure that his subject is needed in the amount that he gives according to the program, and reasonably require a certain level of knowledge.
Now I would be able to answer the students, I understand that, by and large, the program as such is not the essence of the issue. The main thing is the skills that people receive in the learning process. And these skills can be obtained on different sets of formulas, topics, tasks.
Sometimes I think that I had to visit that school for the sake of some inveterate bully, completely neglected in the mathematical sense.
I brought him logical problems, problems with the application of practice, problems for attention. Initially, I did this only so that he would just sit quietly: he did not understand anything, since he had not studied before, and he was noisy from boredom. The solution of these problems fascinated him, increased his self-esteem, and as a result, he already made sure that there were no distractions in the class. If we talked longer, I'm sure he would have mastered the school course (if it was his good will, of course - to study in the summer) and could apply for a technical university.
An unexpectedly difficult question is what this work has taught me. Probably, first of all, that everything needs to be learned. It would be naive to expect that if you yourself were at school, studied the subject, then you can go into the classroom and immediately become a teacher. That behind ordinary things that seem simple, there is a lot of work and experience of generations. That it is unwise to break into a new area without drawing on the experience of people before you.
Alisa Reznikova
Head of the school of foreign languages, teacher, author of the program for learning spoken English and French in three months.
You pulled yourself together and once again decided to learn English. You are in search of a teacher, and your eyes dazzle from the abundance of options. You are promised a tutor with many years of experience and three educations, instant results, royal pronunciation, preparation for Cambridge exams and training for your pet dog. Before you the first difficulty - the choice of the teacher. However, if the right decision is made at this stage, the same difficulty will be the last one on the way to the long-awaited understandable English.
What to look for when choosing a specialist? Here are 11 main aspects.
1. Education
International diplomas and certificates really confirm an excellent level of proficiency in modern English, but a linguist diploma can often be an alarming bell. It is important to understand whether the teacher is interested in the development of the language or is he limited to what was learned from the textbook many years ago.
Remember when you were taught in school to say we shall to represent the future tense? In modern English, this form has long been considered obsolete and is practically not used. Unfortunately, with the teaching of English in many universities, the situation is similar to that in schools.
At the same time, if your teacher has a psychological and pedagogical education, this can be a tangible advantage, since the teacher will better feel the peculiarities of your perception and will be able to find an approach to you, regardless of personal sympathies.
2. Experience
No diploma can guarantee that the teacher will hear your questions, sensitively adapt their materials and quickly find solutions to non-standard problems that may arise during the course of training. It comes with practice. In addition, only an experienced teacher will be able to determine what exactly is hindering you on your way to mastering the language, and select materials that exactly meet your goals.
Even if you choose a teacher whose native language is English, his work experience is still one of the most important criteria. Especially now, when any native speaker can start teaching simply because it is in demand in the education market. But it is much easier for a person who thinks with you in the same language to understand your problems and offer ways to solve them. Try to figure out for yourself how you would explain to a foreigner studying Russian the pronunciation of the sound [ы]? And the fact that the almost identical phrases "I'm coming from the office" and "I'm coming from work" need different prepositions?
A native speaker always uses its rules intuitively, without thinking about how they actually work. Keep this in mind when it seems to you that an all-English course with a foreigner is an easy solution to all problems.
3. Honesty and professionalism
gifphy.com You should not refuse a teacher who answered one of your questions: “I don’t know.” After all, you do not speak your native language perfectly. Do you know the meaning of these primordially Russian words: locker, belongings, orarion? Unlikely. But these gaps in knowledge, rather, are your opportunities for growth and certainly do not prevent you from freely communicating, working, and getting an education in Russian.
An important correction: a good teacher will never leave you alone with a problem, and after his “I don’t know”, “I will clarify the information and answer you next time” will definitely follow.
4. Engagement
Any popular language in the modern world is changing at lightning speed. Even 15 years ago, we would have been perplexed when we heard phrases like “We went out for soap” or “Throw money on a mobile phone.” Now they are the norm of our daily life.
With English, the situation is even more interesting. Due to the fact that it is the language of international communication, it changes even more rapidly. Every year, about 4 thousand appear in the English language! Moreover, the changes are happening so quickly that the Russian school does not always keep up with them: until now, in English classes, you can find the use of the word supper to denote dinner, although in reality it has long been supplanted by dinner.
The teacher may be fluent in English, but if he is not in love with this language, he will only be able to teach you what is written in the textbooks, and not the living language that you will encounter at the end of the class. Ask a potential teacher about new trends in vocabulary or grammar. And be sure, if the teacher not only learned the language once, but really lives it every day, he will have something to tell you.
5. Training program
It is obvious that the promises from the series “learn English while you sleep” do not correspond to reality. If there was a universal method that works easily, quickly and for everyone, the whole world would have long been speaking English.
The bottom line is that there is no perfect method, but there is always a method that will suit you.
Agree, it would be useless to teach snakes to swim breaststroke. However, snakes are excellent swimmers, despite their "flaws" in the form of a lack of paws. The situation is exactly the same with English: anyone can learn to communicate, despite their “shortcomings” in the form of personal characteristics of information perception. Your task is to find a teacher who is ready to adapt his course for you, and not convince you of the need to follow a clear structure.
6. Specialization
There is a very popular saying in English, “Jack of all trades, master of none”, which describes a person who takes on everything, but is not a master of anything. Very often, in their announcements, teachers indicate that they can prepare you for the Unified State Examination, and for international exams, and for entrance to a medical university, and for a business trip, and for a tourist trip to South Africa.
Yes, indeed, in all these cases, you will need one language - English. But the difference can be significant, both in terminology and grammar. If a teacher has such a range of programs in his resume, be sure to specify whether he teaches all these specialties himself or collaborates with other teachers. If he works alone, ask about his experience in your target area.
7. Price
The cost of English classes can vary from $5 to $225 per academic hour. Paradoxically, it is not at all a fact that expensive classes will lead you to your desired goal. The main criterion for you should not be the cost of education itself, but the value for money. It is unlikely that you want to learn English for many years, even if it will be classes for only $ 5.
8. Timing
This criterion is very often not indicated in the announcements of teachers for a simple reason: they are not ready to take responsibility for your result. Most likely, when asked about the terms of training, they will answer you that everything is very individual, because everyone has a different learning ability. This is true, but the trick is that your ability to learn will become apparent to a good teacher in the first 2-4 meetings. Therefore, it is ideal if, when asked about the duration of the course, the teacher names the approximate dates and indicates that he will be able to tell you the exact numbers after about a week of classes.
9. Results
An insecure teacher will move away from discussing your results into lengthy reflections on how much they will depend on you, on the frequency of classes and on the position of the Moon in the third house. An experienced teacher will briefly present you with possible scenarios: what efforts and for how long can lead to certain results.giphy.com
A good teacher will not make you blush for not knowing simple things - instead, he will make them so for you. Do not look down, be understandable and intelligible - the norm of communication of such a teacher.
11. Love and hate
It is just as important that you are attracted and inspired by the personality of the teacher, just as important that it is easy and pleasant for you to study with this teacher. A true teacher will not try to please you, will not follow your whims. He will do exactly what will help you reach your chosen goal. In the process, you may not understand his motives, you may be annoyed by his pickiness. But you will laugh at all this together when, by the end of the course, you will discuss in English how your classes began.
It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of a conscious choice of a teacher for the effective learning of a foreign language. After all, it is here, at the very beginning of the journey, that it is decided whether you will waste your resources, falling in your own eyes and harboring resentment against the teacher, or fall in love with the language, reach the intended level and, with the help of a new powerful tool in your hands, achieve the goals about which previously only dreamed of.
The Village continues to find out how the budget of people of different professions works. In the new issue - a university teacher. Every year, the compilers of the QS World University Rankings choose the best educational institutions in the world. The assessment is based on six indicators: academic reputation, reputation among teachers, the ratio of teaching staff to the number of students, the citation index, the proportion of foreign students and teachers. This year, a total of 68 Russian educational institutions were included in the global rating at once, including Lomonosov Moscow State University, MGIMO, the Higher School of Economics and the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. We learned from a teacher at a Moscow university, which is also included in this rating, how much she earns and what she spends money on.
Profession
Senior Lecturer
Income
60 000 rubles
spending
4 000 rubles
communal payments
15 000 rubles
products
2 000 rubles
clothing and personal care
working expenses
savings for an apartment
How to become a university teacher
I started working when I was still in college. There were not enough teachers in the college at our university, and I, a fifth-year student, was offered to conduct seminars there for a year. I liked it, and I decided to go to work already at the institute, which by that time I had graduated from. To become a teacher, you must first spend several years in the status of an assistant professor or associate professor, who is considered your mentor. He can lecture himself, and entrust you only with seminars. After three years of work as an assistant, you become a senior lecturer, after another three years of teaching experience and a PhD degree, you become an assistant professor. I am now 25 years old, I am a senior lecturer, I teach programming classes for students and applicants and at the same time I am writing a PhD thesis.
Now they have introduced a system of bachelor's and master's programs, and it turns out that after six years people are already tired of studying and do not want to spend another three years in graduate school to go to teach. Because there are not so many young teachers. Their number often depends on the industry. For example, in less applied areas - chemistry, biology, higher mathematics - it is more difficult for people to find a job after high school, and they remain teaching. There are also many young people in the departments of foreign languages. In IT disciplines, we really need fresh blood - those who are well versed in new technologies. I often consult with my former classmates who work in their specialty, find out what they are currently using, go to various courses, and look for relevant topics. After all, if you teach something outdated, students get bored very quickly. They must be shown where this knowledge can be applied. We also try to invite current employees of large companies to conduct classes. Usually they work during the week, but they come to us only on Saturdays.
Of course, it is not always easy for young teachers. When I first started teaching, my students did not do their homework, but I attribute this to the fact that in college there is no special discipline and motivation among students. I try to immediately make it clear to students that I don’t have a freebie: I tell them that I will teach them couples for a whole year, for admission to the exam I need to write three control papers, then in the third year we will meet again - and I will have to pass my term paper. I also usually take younger groups so that we have a larger age difference, otherwise the current third-year students entered the same year when I graduated from the institute.
Features of work
Each year, a contract is concluded with the teacher, which specifies how many hours of study he must work. Usually there are couples three days a week, and the rest of the time we have to update curricula and programs, prepare materials for lectures and seminars, and create tasks for students. The very first class starts at 8:30, but I'm fine with such early classes, because I like to work in the morning and be free as early as 13:20. We spend three, maximum four couples a day. They don’t even put more, simply because the teacher gets tired and becomes inattentive.
There are no requirements for appearance at our university, the only request is not to wear torn jeans to work. But there is a special department that monitors what is written about our university on the Internet. Somehow, students posted on one site an article about a very picky and strict teacher, who also teaches a complex subject. They ridiculed his appearance and voice, speculated about his sexual orientation, added all sorts of obscenities to the photo. These students had completed profiles with personal information on the site, so they were quickly identified and kicked out, because this teacher was also a vice-rector, that is, he was responsible for all enrollments and deductions. Oddly enough, this article has not yet been removed from the site.
There is no unnecessary information in my social networks. I once had a student in the group - a former friend of mine, thanks to him my social networks instantly scattered throughout the university. I understand that it is not difficult for students, especially those specializing in IT, to dig up a lot of information about you on the Internet. In addition, now you can simply take a photo of a teacher from the official website of the university, and then find this person using special services and programs. But even if your social networks become known to students, no one will annoy you, at most they will ask something about the case a couple of times. They don’t get teachers on the Internet - they’re just afraid of deductions, but memes with our faces and catchphrases immediately fall into groups and publics.
I teach classes for schoolchildren in preparatory courses, students of the day and evening departments, and the most difficult of all, of course, schoolchildren. Their discipline is lame, you need to constantly monitor that they do not play on the phone during class. In addition, there are many among them who are sure that immediately after graduation, success and wealth will fall upon them. In the daytime department, as a rule, we have ordinary students from families with an average income, many from other cities.
Our university is more focused on the financial sector, rather than programming, so Muscovites usually choose the more prestigious Moscow State University, HSE, Baumanka and MEPhI. But there are majors at the economic and law faculties. After the exam, the brains of students are tuned to solve the same problems according to a given formula, but it’s worth changing something, even transferring the numbers to examples from real life, and a stupor and exclamations begin: “It’s difficult!”. It turns out that after the Unified State Examination, we teach students anew to apply knowledge and look at the world more broadly. Somewhere half comes with burning eyes and really wants to learn, and the other half just sits back. Perhaps the parents sent them to get a higher education - or the students themselves heard somewhere that IT is prestigious.
The most responsible and corrosive students in the evening department, because they have excellent motivation - financial. Preparatory courses for schoolchildren are expensive, but everything is paid from the parent's pocket. In the daytime, students are just starting to earn money themselves, but the evening students went to study of their own free will, work and pay for their studies. They always ask a lot of questions, they will write to teachers in instant messengers and social networks if they don’t understand something. We have this rule: if the group does not like the teacher, the students report it to the dean's office, and then someone else will teach them. In this case, the teacher will be punished: he can simply write an explanatory note, or he can get to the point that his contract will not be renewed for the next year. In the full-time department, such complaints are very rare and they are not related to the incompetence of the teacher, but to the fact that he is strict and gives a lot of bad marks. But evening parties often complain, for example, if outdated material is read to them.
Now we have online education: the teacher uploads recordings of his lectures, students are given some time to watch these lectures, solve problems on them, and pass tests. During the exam, the student sits at the computer and answers the teacher's questions via video link, the defense of the diploma is also held online. Of course, cheating can be very simple, but we don’t see what is happening on the screen of the student, even if he is currently looking for answers on the Internet. The only way to understand whether a student has learned or not is to ask a question that is slightly different from the standard one, where knowledge must already be applied.
Of course, students continue to cheat, but they do it in a completely different way than before. Everyone knows: while you are preparing a cheat sheet, at least something is deposited in your head. Now there are no cheat sheets, they come to the exam with headphones. Those who have long hair simply cover them, but there are also wireless earpieces that are placed in the ear so that they are not visible at all. The microphone in such a device looks like a chain with a pendant, and on the other end of the wire, someone dictates the correct answers.
Previously, before the exam, we issued lists of tickets with questions that would be in them. Now, in order to write off less, they simply made a list of questions, and students do not know how they will be combined into tickets. But even here they came up with a way out: the assistant simply reads out the entire list of questions and, when he calls the right one, the student gives some kind of signal - clicks his pen or coughs. So, if someone makes a lot of strange noises in an exam, there is reason to suspect that he is cheating. We are fighting cheating with the same methods that are used on the exam - we put means of jamming communications. This is such a small box that blocks the operation of all cell phones for the radius of the cabinet, but at the same time it buzzes rather disgustingly. There is a theory that these jammers are bad for health, so we cannot use them if there are pregnant students in the group, someone has a pacemaker or a hearing aid.
About 50 percent of those who entered reach graduation. Some drop out due to poor progress, and someone simply understands that the IT field is not for them, and leaves on his own. There are those who finish their studies, but only for the sake of crust. They come to exams practically without knowing anything and ask to put a three. In general, it’s still difficult for me to slap a failure, even if it is well deserved. At the exam, I can sit from morning to evening, but I will stretch all the losers into triples - I give them simple tasks, I chew on the material. Sometimes it seems to me that I am wasting my time on those who do not need it at all, so in this session I will definitely try to learn how to put fair deuces. After a failure, the student goes to retake. In the case when the grade does not get better on the retake, a commission of three teachers gathers, and if the student again fails the exam, then this is followed by immediate expulsion. When they prepare orders for expulsion, there are simply queues in the dean's offices to tell their story and pity the dean. As a rule, students succeed, and the dean or even the vice-rector allows them to try again to retake everything, especially if the applicant has come for the first time.
After the third year, the curriculum necessarily includes an internship, and I advise all students not to stamp their report somewhere with their parents in the company, but to really go to work - even as an intern, even for very little money. In the fourth year, it is already quite possible to combine study and part-time work. The institute gives a broad outlook, but there are no specific deep knowledge and skills in one area that can be obtained only in practice.
Income
The senior teacher has a fixed monthly salary - 40 thousand rubles, it is written in the contract along with the number of hours to be worked. In general, the higher the position, the higher the salary and the less you need to work. So, for an assistant, the norm is 850 hours, for a senior teacher - 800 hours, for an associate professor - 700. In addition, we conditionally divide the teaching load into light and heavy among ourselves. A heavy load is lectures and seminars, and it is considered easy, for example, to take practice from students. They bring you a report that you can read in 15 minutes, and checking the report of one student on working hours counts as about eight pairs worked out in the classroom. We also include checking term papers or participating in a commission during the defense of diplomas as a light load. As a rule, such loads are taken by professors. Teachers are also paid extra if they conduct classes with masters or evening classes. There is an order that 80% of couples in the magistracy should be taught by professors, so this burden also goes to them.
Once every few months we have bonuses, at the end of the year they give the thirteenth salary. Teachers also have a paid vacation of 56 days. The awards depend on the intra-university ranking, and it is compiled separately for professors, associate professors, senior lecturers and assistants. Those who fall into the top three dozen receive an increase in salary for the next year. That is, we, like many corporations, also have a KPI index (Key Performance Indicators - key performance indicators). This rating is calculated taking into account many factors. They even look at what students write about you in the “Overheard” group, how they evaluate you on special sites. Therefore, some even specifically ask students to write good reviews, they may even start with this seminar.
Also, when assigning a rating, they pay attention to how often the teacher appeared in the media. It is believed that the best PR for the university will be provided by its employees, who will act as experts and give comments. So, the university constantly flashes in the press, and this acts on our potential applicants as the twenty-fifth frame. Therefore, many teachers do not always speak out even on the topics of the subjects they teach. You can, for example, tell in some report what you think about the views of the younger generation or the demand for certain professions, the main thing is to indicate which university you are from.
The rating is positively influenced by publications in scientific journals. There are Russian magazines, you can still get into them, although it is not easy, but it is considered especially cool to publish something in an international magazine. Also, when compiling the rating, they look at how the teacher participates in research work, how much he takes part-time jobs within the university, what students answer about him in anonymous surveys.
The teacher has many opportunities for additional income. Someone works in several universities - three days here, three days there. Often students come with requests to work with them additionally, but I always refuse. We are very strict with corruption, and if they find out that I work with my students for money, I will have problems. So I just advise some courses where you can improve your knowledge and not be financially connected with me.
It happens that a company that sells online education sends a request to the university that they need to develop an entire course in programming. I can prepare it in a month, record lectures and make assignments, complete and hand over all the work. The company fully buys the copyrights, a certain amount is credited to the university's account, and then this money is transferred to me. This is beneficial both for the company that sells online education, because they have entered into an agreement with a well-known university, and for us, since you can get 250 thousand for the development of the course. At the Department of Marketing, some research can be commissioned. In addition, conducting surveys and processing the results is often entrusted to students as a learning task. Sometimes some part-time jobs can be found inside the university, for example, to develop or update a website. Together with various part-time jobs and additional payments, I average 60 thousand a month.
Expenses
Fixed expenses are 4,000 for rent and 2,000 for travel. Another 15 thousand is spent on food. Around the university there are many places where you can go to eat and coffee shops, I usually go there. We have a canteen at the university, but the prices there are not at all student prices - lunch costs 200-300 rubles, almost like a business lunch in a cafe.
I have small but fixed work expenses. On average, they spend about a thousand rubles a month. In graduate school, I study for free, as an employee of the university, but during the preparation of a dissertation, you need to publish articles about your research, and you already have to pay for this. They can print for free only in three cases: you are a doctor of science, you have made some important discovery, or your article is perfect for the topic of the issue. If you go directly to the editor of the journal, then the publication will cost 800 rubles, and if through an intermediary, you can give 5 thousand.
Almost all the books I need are on the Internet in the public domain, I don’t have to spend money on them. But according to the Unified State Examination, manuals and collections of typical tasks that I buy are updated every year. We also have Olympiad Programming classes for schoolchildren. It has little to do with real work, but there are children who are interested in it. There are no open access materials on it, so I also buy books. Now at our university all the boards are metal, on which you can write only with markers, but the university does not buy these markers themselves. Without a marker, even a couple cannot be drawn, because you constantly need to draw something. They are cheap - 100 rubles, but I'm more concerned not with the costs, but with the need to remember to buy this marker in advance, because they are not sold anywhere within the walls of the university. I usually buy several at once and carry with me in case someone forgets.
At least another 15 thousand is the cost of appearance, that is, cosmetics, personal care, clothing. In our cynical world, you will always be greeted by your clothes. In Russia, there is already a stereotype that teachers live in poverty, and if you also look like you have little money, then you will not be able to gain credibility with students. Here I am a programmer, talking about IT, and students are well aware that salaries are high in this area. If I do not maintain the image of a successful person, interest will immediately fade away. As the saying goes, "if you're so smart, why are you so poor?". Therefore, one way or another, all teachers create a certain image - many drive a car, all women, even young ones, wear fur coats. Someone may think that this is just throwing dust in the eyes of students, but it is necessary to do so in order to confirm one's status.
I save all the free money. Of course, at my age I want to spend money on entertainment, but now I'm planning a big purchase. According to May decrees, teachers should receive 200% of the average salary in Moscow by 2018, and our salary is gradually growing. Even now the mortgage rate is falling, it was 12%, and has become 9.5%. At some point, I will reach the peak of my salary and the mortgage rate will drop to a minimum, and this will be the perfect moment to buy an apartment.
