Growingpains

Bob Gillespie works with one of his adolescent students

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Iwas at a loss to know how to motivate Jeremy. Yes, he was a very nice young teenager. He readily accepted instruction in his viola lessons. However, the progress in his playing was minimal from one week to the next. He said that he enjoyed playing the viola – he just did not like to practise. I tried to motivate him in all the ways I knew, but was not successful. Exasperated, I finally asked him one day if there was anything that would spur him to practise. He thought for a minute, as his mother (present) and I waited for a response. After a moment, he looked at me and said that he very much liked the cream pu­s made by a well-known local bakery. He explained that having a cream pu­ as a weekly reward for practising would be ‘great’. His mother and I looked at each other. Could this possibly work? From here began the journey of successful practice – cream pu­ – successful practice – cream pu­…

Understanding adolescents and knowing how to motivate them eThectively can be a mystery. At last week’s lesson they were focused, eager to learn and even inspiriting to be with! This week they are moody, distracted and daydreamy. You try to teach them, but at times they frown, sigh and roll their eyes. One week they practise well for their lesson – the next week they do not. You are feverishly trying to prepare them for a performance in six weeks’ time, but they are not that concerned about the performance because it is six weeks away! What is going on? How can we The ctively motivate them to be consistent in their focus, practice and desire to play better? Fortunately, scientists have found strategies that can help us.

Who are adolescents? Who are they, really? Understanding them is the €rst step to motivating them eThectively. Researchers such as Kim Dolgin (author of The Adolescent: Development, Relationships, and Culture, 14th edition, 2018) have identi€ed characteristics typical of adolescents, and those that can most guide our teaching are listed below. Adolescents are:

• black-and-white thinkers only. There are no ‘greys’. As a result, they make snap decisions, change their minds frequently, and are strongly opinionated (one week they hate a piece, the next week the piece is OK, and the following week they love it!)

• in their opinion, smarter and more perceptive than.anyoneThelse

• thirsty for independence and freedom and to make their own decisions

• influenced more by their peers than by adults

• late and behind because they have di.culty planning ahead

• sleep-deprived and tired

• easily annoyed, moody and touchy

• deeply emotional

• self-conscious and easily embarrassed

• self-absorbed and selsh

• questioning

• sad because they do not like themselves

• insecure because they doubt themselves defensive

• unhappy much of the time, typically more than young children and adults

• idealistic

• well-intentioned and generous

• unable to understand the relationship between actions and their consequences

• energetic

• likely to believe in chance

• mysterious to adults because adolescent and adult brains are diTherent from each other

How can this understanding be used to motivate adolescents? The following are a dozen strategies you can use:

Value them Adolescents are real people. They are the future musicians and leaders of our world. Adolescents are not just mini adults – they are becoming adults. Remember that they are truly diTherent from you. Listen carefully to their ideas and opinions, even if you disagree. Seriously consider what they have to say. Respect their emotions. What they are feeling is very important to them. They feel more deeply than adults.

Do not patronise them. You may not approve of their behaviour or what they are saying, but they strongly believe in what they are saying and feel deeply passionate about it. Teach them with respect and guide them. Forcing them will never work in the end. Lead them to the behaviour with understanding. Show them that you passionately care for them and their progress. Adolescents recognise and highly value passion. Remember, they do not have the same life experiences and cognitive structure that adults have. They do not think and feel like adults.

Set goals together Decide together short-term and long-term goals for their playing. Ask them what they believe the goals for the next lesson should be. What are the best long-term goals – both expressively and technically? Ask them: When do you think the solo will be ready for a good first performance? How should we prepare for it? What playing skills work well? Which ones do not? Do you think it is important to work on those skills that are not yet developed? Why? Why not? When should we work on them?

Give them the opportunity to answer all of these questions. Listen seriously to their answers, then share your ideas – and negotiate. Determine the final answers together. Yes, in the end you, the teacher, are the one who’s likely to have the best answers, but if an adolescent feels like they’ve had some input and you valued it, they will much more easily commit to working towards the goals. Give them freedom to express themselves.

Teach for success All of us love the feeling of success. It feels good! All of us want to capture that feeling as many times as possible. It is the same with adolescents, and even more so because of their self-doubt. Remember, we know from research that people feel emotions more deeply during their adolescence than at any other time of their life. As their teacher, give adolescents tasks that they can achieve. We all know how demoralising it feels to try to perform a piece for which we do not yet have the necessary skills. It is frustrating. Layer their tasks sequentially and lead them to succeed one step at a time. e more times they feel successful, the harder they will work.

ADOLESCENTS ARE NOT JUST MINI ADULTS - THEY ARE BECOMING ADULTS. REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE TRULY DIFFERENT FROM YOU

Show them how achieving short-term goals gradually leads to accomplishing long-term goals. As they develop a track record of success, you will be able to raise the bar by giving them more dificult tasks. You will experience their success too, and in turn you will be motivated to work harder to be a better teacher for them. Success breeds success!

Let them question Adolescents are in the process of developing their own set of values. From these values, they learn to make decisions. They ask: Why should I play the violin? Do I really want to play the violin? Why do I have to practise? Why do I.have to play this kind of music? Why do I have to do it this way? Do not be threatened by their questions. Do not be defensive. Be open. Do not feel like you are being personally attacked or disrespected. Take their questions seriously and answer them. their questioning behaviour is healthy.

Let them make decisions Adolescent brains are di Therent, as.noted by neurologist Frances Jensen in The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults (2014). An adult can often wonder, ‘What were they thinking!’ e frontal lobes where decisions are made in the brain are not yet connected when we are adolescent. at is why teens believe in chance. Decision-making (‘Is this a good or a bad idea?’) and the relationship between actions and consequences are not default behaviours at this point in our lives. However, adolescents delight in making their own decisions, as it makes them feel free and independent. They.feelThempowered.

Here are four possible scenarios: you have set multiple tasks and now you let them choose which to demonstrate first; you have assigned them three diTherent scales to prepare and now ask them which one they would like to play first; you select three solos that align with your pedagogical goals for the student and allow them to choose which one to work on first; you ask them to choose which solo – of the three they have learnt to play most recently – they would like to perform in the upcoming studio recital.

Use feelings to teach musical expressiveness

Adolescents live in the feeling world: ‘I did not practise this week because I did not feel like it,’ they might say. Capitalise by focusing on incorporating emotional expressiveness in their playing. You might say: ‘How about playing this phrase joyfully?’ Or, ‘Should it be played with a feeling of grave remorse or should it just be melancholy?’ Or, ‘Let’s play this opening as if the sun is rising and we feel the first rays of light from the sun touch us.’ Another approach is to acknowledge their feelings: ‘How do you feel about the quality of your practice last week?’

You can use the feelings to deepen their emotional connection to the instrument. One of my adolescent students, David, was becoming an excellent violist. He practised, followed instruction and enjoyed playing his instrument. At one point there was serious strife in his family, and he was very troubled by it, becoming angry at the world. What saved him was his instrument. He was having emotionally intense feelings about his home life, and I encouraged him to bring the same level of emotional intensity to his playing. David poured his emotions into the viola. He felt freer after playing each day. He was able to release his angst through expressing his aggression in a safe way – through his instrument. Now in his .fties, David is still playing his viola as a means of relaxation and enjoyment in a doctors’ orchestra at one of the leading cancer hospitals in America, where he is an oncologist.

Be positive Do not take things personally. Realise that adolescents frequently say and do things without thinking first. Try to focus on the positive. Recognise and praise their achievement both verbally and non-verbally. You may have given them, say, five tasks to complete by the next lesson. Compliment them first on those that they did accomplish, then continue to work with them on those skills they did not achieve. Perhaps break a task into smaller steps that may be easier, or try some diTherent pedagogical strategies to accomplish the task. Keep working with them until they get it. Persevere patiently. Do not give up on them. Point out kindly what is still not working and then lead them to success. Remember, adolescents are often emotionally insecure. If you are critical, they will take it personally. Some will rebel; others will believe they could not accomplish the task because they are stupid and untalented. Neither reaction is good for learning and maturing to adulthood.

Celebrate! Be happy when adolescents accomplish their goals. Show positive emotion in a way that is comfortable for you, for example smile, nod, use gestures to show your happiness, show enthusiasm, give rewards (move from intangible to tangible ones) – emote! Adolescents are passionate, so teachers must communicate with.passion.

Encourage Please remember that adolescents are often fragile, frequently doubting themselves. They are self-focused, and believe that life revolves around them. They take their identity from their peers. They now realise that there are others who are smarter, more physically attractive, more athletic or more liked, and when they look in the mirror in the morning they only see aws. So they question their value and place in life.

Try to give them tasks that are achievable, because the feeling of success builds their self-confidence, self-esteem and selfe cacy. Encourage them: ‘I know you can do this. Let’s keep going. I know you are going to be able to play this!’ Share stories of your own struggles and failures – don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. They will read that as care; and the realisation that even their teacher has struggled will give them strength: they will begin to get their strength from your strength. Help them learn to plan ahead Explain all the steps necessary to give a wonderful performance. If they have a recital in six months’ time, you could ask them where they think they need to be with the programme five months from now, four months from now, three months from now, and so on. So you break a.long-term goal into several shorter-term goals, and then together you plan steps for reaching each one. This process is easy for you as an adult because you have learnt to plan ahead, but adolescents have not had that experience. Do not expect them automatically to think ahead, anticipate, schedule and plan, as most will not. Those life skills they learn from you will transfer to other areas of their life. Your help will help them throughout life.

Employ attribution theory Attribution theory involves people accurately determining what causes their successes and failures. When an adolescent is asked, for example, ‘Why did the performance go so well?’ their answer can reveal their lack of understanding of the relationship between cause and eThect.

They often respond with a blank stare, followed by, ‘I don’t know. Oh, I guess it was just a good day. Yes, I felt really good. I.was lucky. Everything just seemed to go right.’ I am still amazed when I get this response!

After such a response, it is important to point out gently all of the things the student did to enable the good performance: they planned well, practised intelligently, followed instructions, worked hard, reinforced skills and spent long enough with the music so that it felt deeply within them. Indicate that they will want to retrace those steps for the next performance. In that way, they can look forward to the next performances because they know how to get there. The student now has a recipe for success: they can do it again; they do not have to rely on luck, or on how they feel on the day of the performance; and they won’t just be hoping that the performance goes well.

Reinforce Select the right behaviours and goals to reinforce (consistent practice, accurate fingerings and bowings, an acceptable standard of intonation, and so on). The goals should be specific, well defined, measurable and attainable. For example, at first, try to reinforce every time the student uses the right bowings, if that is the desired behaviour or goal. Reinforce with something the student values, such as verbal praise, a smile or a treat. Eventually you can vary the reinforcers and raise the bar: forThexample, now the bow hand shape has to be correct five.times in a row to be reinforced with a ‘bravo!’ from you. Continue to raise the bar. Eventually the behaviour will become.a reliable habit.

Do not worry about the small stuff Te student’s sometimes odd behaviour, immature actions or poor choices must not be taken too seriously. Create a positive, supportive atmosphere in the lesson. Respect them, keep them busy, reinforce good behaviours and show that you care. Do not have too many rules. Let the little stu. go. Remember, they will mature and grow out of this life stage, and your input is an important part of the process.

In sum, good teachers teach people music. Adolescents are real people – they are not just small adults, but adolescents. Take time to understand them, because they are not like you. Adults are adults; teens are adolescents. Find ways to enjoy them and motivate them in ways that make sense to them, not just you. If.you connect with them, they will walk the plank for you!

SHARE STORIES OF YOUR OWN STRUGGLES AND FAILURES - DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE VULNERABLE. THE REALISATION THAT EVEN THEIR TEACHER HAS STRUGGLED WILL GIVE THEM STRENGTH