Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner My mom said she is taking away my piano lessons :(

Actually, that's just one of the many reasons.

American teachers face a diversity of cultures in their classrooms. Every culture brings in some positives and some negatives. A good teacher will try to harness the good and expertly avoid the bad, but sometimes the bad far outweighs the good. Even a simple concept like "respect" is different among different people. I've wasted many hour building rapport in the classroom and making sure everyone feels included, to the expense of actually teaching something. At times, I felt like a peace-keeper just so the different groups can get along. Learning the subject matter is almost of secondary importance.

You certainly don't have that problem in Asian countries, where most populations are nearly homogeneous, and their expectations are more-or-less the same.

Oh, John, your post makes me physically ill. If the failure of the American education system is seeping into the colleges, we are lost.

Do you know what happens to a public school teacher who places the bar high and holds the students accountable? We are harassed by parents and administrators give us poor performance reviews which can lead to firing. What is boils down to is this: if you want to keep you job, you bend, and bend, and give second chances and third chances. You try to come up with solutions that don't compromise your own integrity but to keep your job, you sometimes are forced to make decisions that go against what you know is best for the kid. I have struggled with deciding which is more important: my own moral code or taking home a paycheck. My husband says, "take the paycheck. You retire in 5 years." Maybe that's why I've come to hate my job.