Grouping student's is not so difficult

The best way to learn how to group students is by understanding how a more experienced group teacher handles the challenge. Here is an example of advice I gave one of our teachers recently.

In this case the boy's father is controlling the lessons. He believes private lessons are best for his son and of course wants the best for his son. The teacher is being agreeable therefore is unable to group. Here is my response.

"Parents who want the absolute best for their children should in fact do both group and private. We both know that playing with others is a different dynamic. Its like arguing whether running or swimming is better for your health. Do both! Private lessons are good but on their own do not complete the picture. Any pro player will tell you the fastest way to improve is to play with people who are better than you. Group work gives students a mix of team work, competitiveness, reflection, confidence building and social bonding. We are not teaching classical musicians. Most of our students want to be in bands and group lessons help them to gain the skills required.

Alex's Dad may be pushy but he is still paying us for professional advice. He is not the professional here. The more you allow him (or any parent) to run your lessons the less respect they will ultimately have for you. You have to be tactful of course but if his argument is based on comparing group to private then doing both is the answer."

Hope that helps.