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MTNA-Print Version
INVESTING IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL FUTURE
Barbara English Maris
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary explains that TO INVEST means
- To use for future benefits or advantages
- To endow with a quality or characteristic
- To furnish with power or authority
If I had the opportunity to sit down with those who are exploring this new MTNA website, I would want to find out more about you. Over a cup of coffee, perhaps we would chat about questions such as: “What do you plan to do after you leave school?” “Where do you expect to live after you graduate?” “What are your personal and professional goals?” “What aspects of music do you find most gratifying?” “What are your strengths?” “What are some skills you don’t have now but want to gain in the future?” “Why do you want to teach?” Your answers to these and similar questions would help you make a number of important decisions even before your formal studies end.
Some of my former students have moved many times since leaving school. Sometimes they have been able to take with them matching retirement funds received from a former employer. In other instances, though, they lost some retirement benefits because of leaving a job before a certain length of time (i.e. before the funds had been vested). In contrast, I realize that investments in MTNA continue to pay professional dividends throughout one’s life.
MTNA is a strong national organization that was founded in 1876. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, MTNA has established an extensive network of regional, state, and local associations. No matter where you live, you are near MTNA members who are connected with other musician/teachers. Professional benefits that accrue from MTNA membership and participation belong to you whether you remain in one community or move. Now that MTNA has established the VCCI (Virtual Collegiate Chapter Initiative), it will be even easier for students and unaffiliated teachers to become involved with MTNA and learn how the organization can serve as a professional resource for them.
When I started teaching, more than fifty years ago, I often heard private teachers explain somewhat apologetically, “Oh, I just give lessons in my home to a few students.” During my lifetime, that self-deprecating attitude has become much less common. Today when I meet “private music teachers” and hear them describe their work, their words sound very different, reflecting confidence, excitement, and pride: “I’m an Independent Music Teacher (IMT), and I am very active in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), my professional organization.”
Many IMTs value the flexibility that comes from teaching independently. IMTs have the ultimate responsibility for determining their own schedules, fees, studio policy, length of lessons, vacation dates, studio resources, content of their curriculum, and the number of students they teach. Each time they revise their studio policy (and I recommend doing that every summer), they can adjust their policies in ways that make sense to them in terms of their own students. When personal priorities shift, IMTs’ teaching schedules can be adjusted. Some years, a group of five to ten students may seem like an appropriate number. At another phase of life, however, teachers may prefer to work with many more students. But no matter how many students you teach, you can approach your work with dedication and a 100% level of professionalism.
Investing in one’s own growth and participating in MTNA’s professional opportunities will provide lifetime benefits to music teachers. The level of participation can vary from one year to another. Each member can select from a wide range of opportunities to become involved: festivals and competitions for students, teacher enrichment programs, workshops and presentations on special topics, coordinating a project, organizing a special event, serving on a planning committee, attending national and state conventions, preparing for MTNA teacher certification, learning from MTNA publications, and exploring the new resources available through MTNA’s Virtual Collegiate Chapter Initiative.
As you ponder the questions in my opening paragraph, which I might have raised over coffee, I hope that you will consider ways that MTNA can help you identify and meet your goals. You are entering a profession that will challenge you to grow as a musician, teacher, and person. Within MTNA and its state and local associations, you will meet many experienced teachers who can serve as role models, mentors, friends, and guides as you develop your skills and build a studio clientele. And, at the same time, you will be able to share with other teachers your own mixture of strengths and experiences.
Along with MTNA, I welcome you to a community that experiences music through teaching students. MTNA can make a big difference in your life. And what you bring to your music students can make a tremendous difference in their lives. You are needed!
Barbara English Maris, NCTM is Professor Emerita of The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC) where she directed the graduate degree programs in Piano Pedagogy for two decades. From 1995-2001, Dr. Maris served as Editor for Articles and Reviews for MTNA’s American Music Teacher. She now lives in Pennsylvania and participates in the local association activities of the Lancaster Music Teachers Association.
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