This year as I travel to help teachers, I will focus on nurturing through the awareness and application of integral learning. Dr. Suzuki didn’t use that framework to discuss his philosophy, but he often discussed the development of “Ki” which is translated with various words including energy and intuition. Here is the wikipedia link “ki”
His famous quote “Character then ability” also points to recognition of developing the emotional and spiritual quadrants. In fact, the whole purpose of “Talent Education” is to enable the student to develop physically, emotionally and spiritually as well as mentally.
“Playing by heart” is not just memorization. It is not physically being able to play the notes without looking at the music. It has to do with what is going on inside when a person is playing. This is mysterious isn’t it? For example, if we teach physical with mostly verbal/mental directions, students are probably thinking “move your fingers, drop your shoulder, don’t drop your head, etc. etc.” If we teach how to “interpret” the musical score with directions instead of teaching through sound, students are possibly thinking “Get louder here, slow down here, …etc”
If we do not help the students achieve enough ability before a performance, we can feel/hear them get nervous when the hard part comes.
When you see a great performer, do you think they are thinking/feeling this way? Can we teach “playing by heart” through teaching students many things to think?
Dr. Suzuki called this way “playing with heart tone”, which is in essence the place where the sound and the awareness are one without interfering thought.
So, “nurturing” is not just teaching. The word nurture is derived from the latin verb “nutrit” or nourish and also cherish.
How then do we nurture our students? Let’s research together how to teach by heart.
