Dear Yamaha Music Education Centre Australia:
As part of the teacher evaluation process last year, I was asked on a questionnaire to describe my 1st year as teacher. I, with a masters in journalism, struggled for words. Eventually, however, I came up with the following:
I absolutely adore every minute of my teaching experience. Nothing brings me more pleasure than watching a child’s face light up as they discover – all on their own – where “re” is on the keyboard. It feels phenomenal to know that I’m responsible for the sparkle in a three-year-old’s eye when they hear the “ting” of a fairy in the classroom high above us, and it feels even more phenomenal when they proudly announce that “Miss Mariah! The fairy made a high sound!” To march to the rhythm of a drum, to sing do-re-mi and count 1-2-3 with a classroom full of eager young minds is an experience that I never imagined could be so incredibly fulfilling. Above all, knowing that every Saturday morning, I enlighten childrens’ hearts and brings the joys of the classical music tradition to their ears – and to the ears of their parents – is incredible.
Simply put, I love teaching music more than anything in this world. The fact that I am no longer able to teach has effectively broken my heart. As a result, I have resolved that you cannot get rid of me that easily and that I will do anything to restore my teaching abilities with Yamaha Music Education Centre.
I understand that I am not legally able to work for both JXT Consulting and Yamaha Music at the same time. The Temporary Business (Long Stay) Standard Business Visa clearly states that I am to be employed with no more than one company (the nominated company) at one time, and I respect that law. I am in no position tamper with the forces that constitute the Australian Immigration Department, nor do I care to do so.
What I don’t understand, however, is why YMEC is refusing me the privilege of teaching when I have offered my teaching services free of charge. I originally had 7 classes and almost 60 students across two of the three YMEC schools in Sydney. That’s more classes than any other Yamaha teacher in the Sydney region, possibly more than any teacher in the entirety of Australia. Perhaps, YMEC, you fail to understand just how much I love teaching. Allow me to explain.
Unlike many YMEC teachers, I’m not a uni student, or a part time mum, or a part-time worker. I love teaching music so much that I took on seven classes this year, sacrificing my Saturday and Sunday mornings and effectively my Friday and Saturday nights, even though I already have a full time, Monday to Friday, 8:30-5:30 job. That much.
I love teaching music so much that before I had a car, I was up at 5 am on Saturday mornings in order to catch a 5:45 bus to the city, in order to catch a 6:15 train to Jannali, in order to walk from the train station to the YMEC music school, in order to arrive in my classroom with ample time to prepare for the morning’s classes, because I don’t have time to prepare during the week. That much.
I love teaching music so much that now that I have a car, I still leave my flat at 6:30 am and drive 50 minutes south to arrive in Jannali by 7:15, again in order to best prepare for my upcoming classes. Because I work during the week, it’s on Saturday mornings that I warm up my voice, warm up my fingers and go through the songs for the day. That much.
I love teaching music so much that after my classes are over, when the pitter-patter of children running up and the down the halls has disappeared and the energetic singing voices have climbed into cars and faded away, I remain in my classroom, humming to myself the songs of magic carpets and dripping raindrops as I clean up my classroom, erase the dryboard and put all of my teaching materials away. Even after the parking lot is empty, I remain at the music school, preparing lessons plans for the next week and marking my roll. I email homework to all my parents, indicating which songs to practice, track numbers on CDs and what we did well with in class that day and what we need to work on. While others are at the beach or enjoying the beautiful Australia weather, I remain in Jannali, contriving up new ways to help my students remember chord positions and conjuring fun and exciting actions for next week’s keyboard game, because I know that I won’t have any spare time until the following Saturday. That much.
I love teaching music so much that I based the location of my home around YMEC. Working in North Sydney, near Chatswood, though also holding my Jannali school dear to my heart, when moving house I chose specifically to live in a suburb that sits halfway between Chatswood and Jannali, the two schools at which I had planned on teaching this year. That much.
I love teaching music so much that I spent every weekend of my summer planning for the upcoming year. I spent entire days in Jannali, as my RC can attest to, organising attendance charts, lesson planning, hanging up posters, colour coding folders, practicing, playing, singing and writing letters to the soon-to-be parents of my students. That much.
I love teaching music so much that I have spent at least hundreds of dollars on marketing materials and spent dozens upon dozens of hours promoting YMEC without ever asking for anything in return except for the mere privilege and honour of teaching. I have created my own Yamaha business cards, spent entire days at kids’ festivals, created promotion after promotion and glued purple sheet after purple sheet of paper onto cardboard. That muc—wait, I’m not done. I’ve spent my weekends (the only free time that I have) touring downtown Jannali, chatting with shopowners and hanging posters up in windows and on buildings and at bus stops. I’ve spent time writing information on those posters, such as location, class time and my personal mobile number for parents to ring. I’ve taken phone calls, walked parents though Yamha methodologies, encouraged potential parents and students to attend FIS (free information sessions) and successfully converted these fresh faces at FIS to members of the YMEC family. That much.
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I love teaching music so much that when times were really rough for me, when I was struggling to pay rent, working my way through grad school and working the maximum amount of hours during the week that my visa allowed me to work while residing in Australia as a student, when I was working, studying and going to class non-stop and when I only JUST getting by, I spent what little extra money I had on stickers and stamps for my students, on cotton balls for cloud songs and on felt for finger puppets because I love to watch little faces light up when I produce elephants and mice from my fingertips. That much.
I love teaching music so much that the thought of a poorly trained, soft-spoken and unenthusiastic new music teacher taking over my class – especially a class of which I know all of but 2 of the 11 students, a class of which I brought in fresh faces to the FIS from my mini-marketing campaign, a class of which many students had been in my Music Wonderland (the class that precedes Junior Music) class last term and a class of which I see so much potential, musicality and growth – absolutely and positively, without a doubt breaks my heart. Upon observation of the first lesson of this particular class, there was no class control. The teacher commanded no authority in the room and nobody – parent nor child – was listening to her. She did not engage with the kids during songs nor did she employ the correct movements. She did not sing along with the lyric songs (“Friendly Fingers’”) or if she did I could not hear her, and she skipped entirely “Come and Play With Me,” which is the theme song for Junior Music Course and is the song that stresses the importance of the listen, sing play model – the cornerstone of the students’ musical experience for the next two years. She attempted to teach the students far too much solfege, not only for the first lesson but for any lesson in general (do do sol sol la la sol fa fa mi mi re re do) and as a result the children absorbed almost none of it at all. She failed to address the students individually, despite nametags, and did not mark roll. Fortunately, I knew almost every single child in the room from the FIS or from Music Wonderland and was able to confirm their attendance. This particular JMC class is full only because of my personal marketing efforts and because of the turn out at the FIS and importantly, because the parents were under the assumption that I would be their teacher. I would not be surprised if some of the parents decide to remove their children from this music class. The children were disengaged for much of the lesson (some of them even walked away from the piano in the middle of a song) and they would not have been engaged at all had I not been there to take control when needed. I love teaching so much that I had to literally walk out of the room in the middle of this lesson to prevent tears from streaming down my face, because seeing children I had previously witnessed in music class smiling, singing, listening and having fun were now bored, listless and learning little. That’s how much I love teaching music.
I understand that you have multiple concerns with the idea of me teaching music on a volunteer basis. I would like to make it very clear that I am willing to do anything in order to retain my position as music teacher with YMEC. Find below some concerns you may have in regards to my volunteer work and a potential solution to each problem:
1. YMEC does not want to be liable for any personal injury that may result from my teaching.
· I am aware that YMEC does not want to be liable for any actions I take during my music lessons. In this regard, I have made inquiries and found that I can take out the following insurance policy: AON Music and Singing Teacher’s Insurance Package 2010. This policy covers me for public liability and personal accidents. It is specifically designed for music teachers and also extends to volunteers. It protects me in the event of most claims – please see attached policy. I am of course more than willing to pay for this policy and for any policy that YMEC requires I have in order to teach music.
2. YMEC is worried that because I am a volunteer, my classes are at risk that I could not show up for class, may leave in the middle of the term or take off on holiday without any notice.
· See above. Do you really think that I would do that? I’m happy to sign any document that states that if I fail to fulfil my duties as a volunteer, I will no longer be able to teach music at any time in the future and that YMEC has the right to ban me from teaching permanently. I’m also happy to sign any document stating that if I fail to fulfil my duties as a music teacher, I will owe YMEC the total amount of the music lesson fees that each parent paid. I am aware that each student pays up to $550 per term for music lessons.
3. YMEC does not want to give me keys to YMEC property because I will not be an employee of YMEC.
· Fair enough. Instead of doing my teacher preparation in the mornings, I will stay late in the afternoons to prepare for the next week’s class and arrive to the music school when the RC has arrived and unlocked the premises.
Need I remind you that with 7 classes ($25 per hour = $175 per week) and about 53 students ($2.50 per student = $132.50 per week), totalling $307.50 per week, and 40 weeks in the teaching year, I am literally giving YMEC $12,300 a year? I want to make it clear right here and now that money is of no importance to me; if I was in teaching for the money, I would have quit a long time ago. I love teaching so much that I’m not only willing to fork over more than $10,000 a year in the income I would have made but I’m also ready and eager and begging you to allow me to pay YMEC to allow me to teach.
That much.
If you have any additional concerns revolving around my volunteer work with YMEC, I would like to address them. If there are any additional costs involved with extending your insurance policies to cover volunteers, I am ready to pay them. If there is anything that I can do in order to maintain my teaching position with YMEC, I will do it.
Sincerely,
Mariah Gillespie
15 February, 2011
