I must say, I do not like the idea of professionalism. I get this image of a cold man in his mid-40's organizing papers from one pile into another. I get the image of a woman I care about deeply, yet all I can see is her life run by her job, and her warmth of heart seems robbed away by years of diligent work. It took years for me to figure if she really honestly cared for me or not.
I do not want to become part of academia. I do not want to lose touch with who I am and fade into my job title. I do not want to risk losing connection with another human being for the gain of a slightly larger pool of information. I do not want to cram in information--I want to teach. I want a positive environment--not just for my students, but for myself as well.
On the other spectrum, I do not want to be the "easy" teacher, I do not want to be the teacher who is the student's friend before they are the student's teacher, and I do not want to fail to teach over trying to be their bud. I suppose the question is how to make that balance work; how to be truly authoritative--to both discipline and care for the student.
I imagine one way to work towards this goal is to look at my priorities. FIRST: as a music teacher, I want to inspire students to become life-long lovers of music. This means a positive atmosphere is essential. I need to be a constant advocate for music. SECOND: I want to equip them, or teach them. Truthfully I don't know whether I care more about knowledge of music or the ability to perform it. They both add to each other in ways that I cannot explain. So I will leave that be. I am clear (and wish to remain clear) on my primary goal: that I wish to help people understand why music is so wonderful. I do not consider that a goal that can be done with cold professionalism in the midst of academia. In my eyes, the only good reason for professionalism is a fall-back, especially to be used dealing with the parents of my students. The education itself should not be approached with a gloved hand.
If overused, the whole charade of professionalism is no more than an encumberment to the goal of education. How can you really reach people when you aren't willing to step outside of yourself--by demanding that they come to you? That is not a lasting solution. I will only be as professional as I need to be; any more and I risk making myself look good at the expense of my students. I must choose potential embarrassment over potential isolation. Nothing can exist in a vacuum--so we must not place ourselves in a vacuum; neither should we deceive others into thinking we are strong enough to endure the vacuum--to be "professional." Make no mistake--teachers are just as human as anyone else. And for that matter, so are students.
