Mu& in educafion
successes’ to his or her credit, is ensured of a hard, yet reasonably
safe livelihood.- External examinations from the ‘beginner’ stage to the ‘diploma’
grade are conducted (several times a year) in numerous centres all
over the country by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of
Music and other schools of music mostly based in London. - Many teachers in private practice may be products of this very
system, having gained what qualifications they may have without
entering any training institution or having made any real contact
with others of similar interests and inclinations, though a few have
undoubtedly become good teachers. - Others in private practice are direct products of the schools of
music where, after the requisite three- or four-year training period,
they have taken their ‘diploma’ examination (internally). Many of
these, having realized the difficulty of obtaining a livelihood, have
adjusted their original professional intentions and sought a teaching
diploma without the necessary sense of vocation. - From the conditions indicated in paragraphs 5 and 6, it may be
assumed that a child is indeed fortunate to find a tutor with the
power and conviction of a born teacher. - Efforts have been made through the Royal Society of Teachers
to raise the status of those in private practice but with no
apparent result, and it is difficult to conceive how the training
of the child can become less fortuitous without some statutory
obligation being placed on education authorities. The appoint-
ment of ‘peripatetic teachers’ of orchestral instruments (subject
to certain recognized qualifications) is already widely accepted,
though it is the secondary schools that derive most advantage
from the scheme. - Is there no case for junior music schools, the character of which
may vary with the area to be served? The urban music school (with
its stress on juniors) might be housed permanently in one centre,
whereas in a rural area a music school might simply imply a mobile
staff of teachers employed by education authorities to serve the
less acessible localities where the dearth of good teachers is espe-
cially severe. - The establishment of such schools, with its implied professional
status and security, should attract the best teacher, and eventually
affect the training courses for intending teachers. In this atmo-
sphere, too, the child would do more than just prepare its examina-
tion pieces.