Contextual research week 12 – Shinichi Suzuki and the Suzuki method
In June 2019 I started my MA with Falmouth university as part of an accredited education programme.
7th December 2019
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‘I want—if I can—to get education changed from mere instruction to education in the real sense of the word—education that inculcates, brings out, develops the human potential, based on the growing life of the child. That is why I am devoting my efforts to furthering Talent Education: what a child becomes depends entirely on how he is educated. My prayer is that all children on this globe may become fine human beings, happy people of superior ability, and I am devoting all my energies to making this come about, for I am convinced that all children are born with this potential’.
European Suzuki education. The Suzuki method. https://europeansuzuki.org/about-us/the-suzuki-method/
I did many photoshoots this module where children and adults were learning musical instruments both individually, and together. At one of them, the Suzuki method of learning violin was mentioned to me. So I started researching this method of musical education, only to learn it was a whole philosophy of educational belief. I’ve only been able to research briefly, as found this information just two days before hand in, but I am planning to continue researching this method of education, and the pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki himself. Below are some initial notes and website links of note –
https://europeansuzuki.org/about-us/the-suzuki-method/ – EUROPEAN SUZUKI METHOD
https://suzukiassociation.org/about/suzuki-method/ – SUZUKI ASSOCIATION OF THE AMERICAS
https://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/suzuki/ – THE AMERICAN SUZUKI INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-STEVENS POINT
https://europeansuzuki.org/about-us/the-suzuki-method/ – EUROPEAN SUZUKI ASSOCIATION
https://www.suzukimethod.or.jp/english/E_mthd112.html – SUZUKI METHOD JAPAN
http://internationalsuzuki.org/method.htm – THE INTERNATIONAL SUZUKI ASSOCIATION
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_method – SUZUKI METHOD WIKIPEDIA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinichi_Suzuki_(violinist) – SHINICHI SUZUKI (VIOLINIST) WIKIPEDIA
You tube. What is Suzuki Violin Teaching method – 7 Notes – Frisco Plano Dallas TX . 24 Mar 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A511WtJqzQM
WHAT IS REALLY INTERESTING ABOUT THIS METHOD, IS THAT IT WAS CREATED WITH CONTINUING THE TUITION AT HOME IN IT’S FOREFRONT. THE PARENT LEARNS EITHER AT THE SAME TIME, OR AHEAD OF THE CHILD FIRST, AND THEN CONTINUES ALONG WITH THE CHILD, SUPPORTING, AND ENCOURAGING AT HOME. THERE ARE NUMEROUS REFERENCES TO THE “HOME TEACHER” “HOME SUPPORTER” IN MOST OF THE PIECES I HAVE READ AND WATCHED SO FAR, AND WHEN I INITIALLY MET THE MOTHER WHO WAS USING THIS METHOD WITH HER CHILD, SHE EXPLAINED THAT PRACTICE HAPPENS EVERYDAY, WITH ONE OR OTHER OF THE PARENTS ALWAYS, AND PARENTS ATTEND THE LESSONS WITH THE CHILD AS WELL.
WHAT I ALSO REALLY LIKED WAS HOW IN THE VIDEO ABOVE IT STATES THAT THE CHILDREN ARE NOT EVER MEASURED AGAINST EACH OTHER, BUT ONLY BY THEMSELVES, AGAINST THEMSELVES, THEY ARE THEIR OWN YARDSTICK, SO TO SPEAK. FOR ME, THAT TIES IN WITH MY BELIEFS AROUND EDUCATION AS A WHOLE.
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THE GOAL OF THIS METHOD OF EDUCATION, IS NOT TO CREATE MUSICAL PRODIGIES , BUT TO CREATE FUNDAMENTALLY GOOD HUMAN BEINGS FIRST AND FOREMOST.
THE COMMENTS IN THE VIDEO ABOVE BY THE PARENT, ABOUT IT NOT BEING TO BE IN ANY ORCHESTRA, BUT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY WHEN THEY ARE OLDER JUST FOR RELAXATION, OR TO THEIR OWN CHILDREN, THAT IS ENOUGH, IT ISN’T ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE, IT IS ABOUT THEIR OWN FULLFILLMENT.