Do you have a mission statement as a music teacher? Do you have a set of values that guide your teaching and the way you've set up your studio?
For the past few months, we at Duet have been learning so much about setting up an independent music teaching studio from Brittany Gardner's course. (If you haven't watched her 12-episode series yet, visit Resources > Webinars in your Duet account or access it through Udemy here.)
In Episode 1, Brittany introduces the idea of values and a mission statement. Like any business owner or entrepreneur, having a clear vision of what you want to accomplish with your work helps you maximize your potential.
To reach a clear vision, Brittany encourages us to start with our strengths. What are your strengths as a musician? As a teacher? She encourages us to be honest about our strengths - no one is good at everything! And so acknowledging weaknesses is also part of this process.
Brittany also encourages questions that get to the "Why?" of teaching: Why do you do what you do? What draws you to teaching your instrument? There's always a deeper "why" to ask: when you get to an answer, continue to ask yourself why that answer is meaningful, and ask again, until you get to the very heart of what drives you.
These introspective questions can provide the foundation for creating a vision for yourself as a teacher and your studio. In her homework assignment, Brittany advises us to create a mission statement for our work based on our strengths, gifts and motivations.
But a vision also requires continuous work and a movement forward into the future. To that end, Brittany also assigns goal-setting: short term goals (ideas that can be launched within a few months to a year), long term goals (1-5 years), and then totally outlandish dreams that you might not see a way of accomplishing now.
If these questions and discussions pique your interest, check out "Setting Up An Independent Music Teaching Studio" at Duet or on Udemy here. Have you already gone through this process of establishing a mission statement for your studio? Tell us about it!
Are you a music teacher? Boost your music teaching business with Duet Partner. Register here.
