There is such a thing as a “teacher’s high.” This describes the state I was in as I entered the last FSA Board meeting, several days after I returned from my Book 6 & 7 Teacher Training Course at the Chicago Suzuki Institute this summer. As each board member arrived and asked how I was, I immediately began summarizing the life-changing takeaways from the course: I now have a clear picture of how I can prepare my book 4 students for the upper books, I have changed my approach to bring joy back into the lessons, I made new practice sheets! Turns out that not everybody cares about developing a good bow hand at the frog (!), so rather than taking up precious business meeting time with my stream-of-consciousness teaching revelations, our board president wisely suggested I write an article for our Newsletter. I agreed. As I started to write, it occurred to me that many folks might not know what a Suzuki Institute is, or what goes on during one.
An Institute is like a week-long family camp for Suzuki families. Families from all over come together for daily lessons, group classes, and a big celebration concert at the end. For the daily lesson, every child is grouped into a pod of three students of the same level (late book 1, for example). The three students meet daily for an hour and take a 20-minute lesson in front of one another. From a child’s standpoint, this is a fun way of learning because they are spending time with other kids. The teacher will often hand out note cards so the students can write down practice assignments for each other. It’s quite a bonding experience for the students to share their struggles and ultimately, triumphs in overcoming their challenges in front of one another.
Institutes are more than just a summer camp for Suzuki families; they also serve as the primary venue at which Suzuki teachers to do their training. Training can be for a specific book level (Violin Book 6, for example); for supplemental topics (like “Enriching Your Suzuki Teaching with Fiddle and Controlled Improvisation”); or for courses that provide constructive feedback, like the Violin Practicum course FSA sponsored last November. Over the course of the week, teachers meet for 15 hours of classroom lecture with the teacher trainer and observe over 8 hours of lessons and group classes.
What a cool convergence of community: Not only are the three students present at the lesson, their parents are too, as well as the teacher trainees doing observations. Every summer I attend Institute, I am just awe-stricken by how supported and loved these students are. The old adage of “It takes a village to raise a child” is very true in this case. By the end of the Institute, not only are the students celebrating each other’s accomplishments, but so are the other parents and teacher trainees. Music students are seldom publicly celebrated for the hard practicing work they do, but at Institute, it’s like having a built-in cheer squad for each student. (“You played the whole Twinkle with a soft bow hand! WOOO!!! 🎉). And to continue the sports analogy, the teacher trainees can go over the play-by-play analysis of the lesson during their lecture class. After the experience, we learn to be better, more effective and inspired teachers, students and parents.
My friend and colleague recently reminisced about her Institute experience as a student:
When I was a kid, I spent every summer at the American Suzuki Institute with my family… I remember peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with my Dad 🥜 🍓, bats in the dorm 🦇, trampolines and styrofoam airplanes in the circle ✈️ , games of clue, group classes in the basements 🎶, …talent show tricks (cellos being played upside down, yo-yo tricks, bases being played with peoples heads.. 🎻)…but mostly, I remember time with my family. They were a highlight of my entire year. I felt a strong sense of community and love, that I just knew as fun! I’m so incredibly thankful for the investment my parents made in me to make opportunities like this possible for me.
-Kirby Kay, Suzuki teacher
Let’s face it, being on task for 2 minutes while concentrating on your best bow hold is not the most glamorous work, but is the most meaningful kind of work we do, not only for developing musical ability, but for character development. By the end of the week, parents of other children are giving meaningful compliments to the other children, and here’s the real shocker: the students become friendly with the teacher trainees, and will even smile and say hello, unprompted, while passing in the hallway. I believe this is the world Dr. Suzuki envisioned for our children. I hope all Suzuki families will consider participating at an Institute next summer!
-Andra Prewett
For a complete listing of Suzuki Institutes, please visit the Suzuki Association of the Americas’ website: www.suzukiassociation.org
