Most SHAR employees are players in addition to being luthiers, salespeople, purchasers, or web developers. So when one of our senior customer care specialists asked to attend the Phoenix Phest Grande Suzuki Teacher Training Workshop, we said, "Sure! But can you also blog about it?" Not only has Alexandra Ostroff sent us dispatches from her training workshops, she's generously shared her reflections on the Suzuki Method, allowing us to witness the discoveries and challenges of this week-long session at Phoenix Phest Grande.
August 6, 2013
Each piece in Suzuki Book 1 is designed to hone several skills. In class, we will be going over the finer points of each piece by playing them as a group and partnering-up to role-play as a “teacher” and “student” to get hands on experience (today in training we went over the Twinkle Variations and Lightly Row).
During our lunch break today we watched the video biography of Dr. Suzuki’s Nurtured By Love (did you know the Suzuki and Einstein were friends?) and then watched a video of Dr. Suzuki teaching. I was struck by what a kind, intelligent, funny and warm person he was. In fact, I’ve seen pieces of him shining through in the teachers at this Institute. How could anyone think that this man wanted anything more than to create joy in the hearts of the children who learn in his style of teaching? Think of the world events that he lived through (b. 1898-d. 1998)!
Please consider the following quote from the book Nurtured By Love whenever you think of Suzuki and his method:
“It is in our power to educate all the children of the world to become a little better as people, a little happier. We have to work toward this. I ask no more than the love and happiness of mankind, and I believe that this is what everyone really wants.”