UK Piano Page Piano Forum

Hello, I really enjoyed reading this forum, hope to become a regular user!

I'm a bit confused over my situation, maybe someone experienced can point me the way.

I graduated in 2004 from one of Russia's major Conservatoires with a Specialist Diploma with Distinction, majoring in Piano Performance and Teaching. Around that time I was as a Trainee Teacher for a few years and took up a piano teaching post in a music school while at my last year at the Conservatoire. Since I came to England in 2004, I didn't do any teaching due to lack of language confidence , but I have been accompanying lots and lots and sometimes included solo pieces in concerts.

Now I'm very eager to get back into teaching, so I've started actively selecting literature, music books for different levels etc. I've also looked at local teaching courses, and EPTA one appears to be the most convenient... maybe I'm wrong? I'd love to 'refresh' and enhance my teaching skills, regain confidence - would CPPed be right for me? Or is there anything better for Conservatoire graduates out there? Will it make a real difference if I get yet another diploma/certificate?

Very soon I'm moving to a wealthy area of Surrey with lots of private schools and ambitious parents. Would it be justified if I started charging £30 per full hour? Or do I equate to an unexperienced teacher due to a few years' break in my teaching career, and hence should charge less?

Many thanks for your advices in advance, I really need them! Anything will help really, even tips on how to 'market' myself.

In order to teach in schools in the United Kingdom, you have to have QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) which can be achieved via a B.Ed., PGCE or a specialist instrument tuition qualification which can be done via most of the main music boards in this country, i.e. Trinity Guildhall, London College of Music, Associated Board. Some of these courses can be studied at home without the need to attend seminar weekends, although Associated Board is one that does require this.

If you are planning to teach piano on a one-to-one basis, I am assuming that your specialist training will be mostly if not entirely transferrable to UK. Unless you have a PGCE, you will not be able to teach public music classes, that is to classrooms of children as you would associate with a typical teacher in a school. However, many of the posh grammar schools will have a private tuition option for students within their music department, and these specialist teachers do not require a PGCE to work in this capacity. However, it may be useful to contact one of the music boards I mentioned already to see if your Russian qualification would be recognisable in this country, as well as making contact with the LEA that corresponds with the area of Surrey in which you are planning to move. If push came to shove, with your musical background, doing an LTCL, or LLCM, etc in instrument teaching wouldn't be hard for you. You may even be able to apply for accreditation for skills already attained which would speed up the attainment of a British qualification. Check your options first before starting down the road of extra qualifications for qualifications' sake!

If you wish to familiarise yourself with the values of British piano teaching on the other hand, this may be an option worth exploring. I know many piano teachers that have more than one diploma after their name anyway, but the important thing to remember is that unless the qualification is going to make you a better teacher, then doing eight or nine diplomas is probably a waste of time and money.

Bottom line then? Check with the LEA, and the music colleges I mentioned and if necessary, with the Department of Education for more info about recognised music teaching qualifications.

RusPiano wrote:Would it be justified if I started charging £30 per full hour? Or do I equate to an unexperienced teacher due to a few years' break in my teaching career, and hence should charge less?

I'm breaking up my posting as the last one is rather long!

In response to your question, 'No!'

I'm assuming that in order to have received a qualification that deals with performance AND teaching that you did in fact have to complete some kind of teacher training on your instrument? In this case, your qualification will testify to your skills as a teacher. Three years is not all that big a deal. When principals recruit staff, they have two main categories for staff: qualified and unqualified. These two determine employability, length of employment as well as the rate of pay. Unqualified staff in a school (although they are certainly in a minority) would need to be more concerned about experience and levels of skills being demonstrated through a deligent CV. Obviously if you can account for anything relating to music tuition during the three year's career break, that would help strengthen your application.

I would also get a police check (whose exact name I can't remember, but I know both Marky & Barrie do) which will help you when it comes to appying to schools and dealing with over-protective parents.

If you apply for a permanent post in a school, as part of the application form, you should be given a consent form to permit the local policing authority to check their records for previous convictions, as part of the "Criminal Background Check", that would suggest unsuitability to work with children in your care.

Temporary or substitute teachers may not have had one since they graduated and, depending on when that took place, it would be useful to get a check done to keep yourself covered, particularly as you haven't undergone ITT where background checks would have been done when applying for the training. Some schools or LEAs may be willing to pay for the costs of the checks as it is in their interest to know about the teachers they employ.

A big thank you to everybody who replied! I'll be more confident and start teaching little-by-little, reading useful method books at the same time. Am currently on "The art of effective piano teaching" by Dino Ascary. Very impressed!..