As Director of Enact Music's Certificate for Music Educators Course, I have witnessed first-hand the transformative effect this course has had in the lives of the many Music Teachers who have enrolled and completed the course at Enact Music.
Below, I summarise some of the most relevant benefits.
Benefit #1 - The course helps you develop a vision for yourself as a music teacher and musician
Often, music teachers are busy individuals, juggling a busy teaching schedule with personal responsibilities and life demands, where almost there is no time or opportunity to think about 'where they are now', 'where they would see themselves in 3 or 5 years', 'what are they very good at', 'what needs in development they have'. This results in a repetitive life without the creation of goals and, being such the case, without career progression or consideration of how professional life could be more enjoyable, manageable and rewarding (personally and financially).
Benefit #2 - The course provides you with a community that will support you in learning throughout and beyond the course
It is common for music teachers to work alone, particularly in studio teaching settings, with little interaction with colleagues. This creates a sense of isolation and can cause professional stagnation. Enact Music Online Community of CME learners is an excellent source of support, where questions are asked and answered, where experiences are shared, where advice is suggested, and where people become acquainted with other teachers and teaching practises, be it close to home and in various other parts of the world. By interacting with other music teaches we learn new things everyday.
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller.
Benefit #3 - The course provides a solid foundation on the latest research insights relevant to music teaching in a variety of different work contexts
More than simply teaching the same way we were taught is needed, even if you were taught very well. The world is changing at a fast pace, and so are cultures and our learners. Being ready to motivate learners, engage them effectively in learning, and ensure that music has a positive and lifelong contribution to their lives, requires understanding our learners. For effective promotion of learning, such understandings need to be considered side-by-side with the psychology of learning and research-tested teaching methodologies, and not in isolation.
Benefit #4 - The course is flexible, and feedback is offered using a student-centred approach
As the course is fully delivered online, each learner takes their learning journey at their own speed. This allows for creating individual learning plans, which we help our learners devise at the start of the course. By doing these plans, music teachers consider the time they have available to study and to complete the course assignment tasks, what times of the year they have more time to work on the course, and whether they prefer or not to be given deadlines for work.
Feedback from learners in our course consistently highlights the positive effect of our flexible approach and the constructive feedback they have received from our course mentors. Our approach to feedback is designed to develop music teachers' confidence in themselves while constructively highlighting areas for improvement where needed.
Benefit #5 - The course enables music teachers to progress further in their careers and attain positions of increased responsibility and income
Many music teachers who have completed the course had told us that before the course, they had not even considered career progression as something that they would work towards. This resulted from being overworked and trying to make ends meet on a frantic everyday race towards survival. The course helped them realise where they could be and how, and the many different paths their lives could take should specific actions occur sooner than later. This in itself is something that I, as course Director feel very proud of, which is why my team and I love our work. Supporting other music teachers to realise all that they have achieved and help them develop a plan where they can see a new version of themselves is very rewarding and something I consider my life mission.
Apply to Enact Music's CME course now!
Take the first step towards availing of all the benefits of Enact Music's CME course and much more! You can watch this 20 minute video where I provide more detailed information about the course. Alternatively, please fill out our online application form if you are ready to apply for the course now.