Building a better studio is one of the primary goals we each want to do. That’s one reason why Studio Helper was developed in the first place.

Here’s an area you might not have explored, one where creative thought and planning can make your studio stand out from the crowd.

We all want the best teachers in our studio

It’s not uncommon to think that the best performers are great teachers. “It ain’t necessarily so,” as the Gershwin song says.

First, let’s think about the makeup of a successful performer

• Obviously highly talented
• Very dedicated to their art form
• Able to analyze their own challenges and self-correct them while practicing
• Willing to spend an incredible amount of time mastering their craft

So far, so good. These all seem like positive attributes.

let’s think about traits that can work for positive or negative

• Are communication skills strong, given a superb performer’s ability to focus intently (often in isolation)?
• Can this person relate to students by providing age and skill appropriate examples?
• Will high level teacher expectation create frustration towards the student? (Why can’t they get it?)
• Will this person be able to provide consistent compliments on incremental improvement? Parents appreciate positive response to their children.
• Are repertoire and tasks based only on the teacher’s personal learning experience?
• Can this skilled performer lay out logical curriculum at the most basic levels?

Where does this all lead?

It’s not unusual for high level performers to only relate to exceptionally talented students. That leaves lots of students getting less than ideal instruction, leading to potentially unhappy customers.

Maybe the teacher can say “do it like this” with a demonstration but not explain what to do.

I remember seeing jazz saxophonist Art Pepper do a “Master Class.” He would say, “Well, I just… uh, it’s probably… uh.” Then he’d put the mouthpiece in his face and play a wonderful phrase.

Was he able to perform at a world class level? Absolutely. Able to communicate with students? Not in the least..

Here are the real questions to ask yourself

Can a teacher think in terms of varied curriculum materials spanning multiple styles? Does the teacher know a variety of beginning and intermediate level materials? This would be critical if a student “doesn’t get it” and needs to spend more time at the same level before advancing.

How about being able to build essentials in multiple ways? If the teacher had a weakness while learning (arm flow for ballet), was their personal instruction so focused on the problem that their future teaching focuses on the same issue, even if the student has other challenges?

How is the teacher’s “positive attitude” when dealing with lesser skilled students? Is encouragement part of the process, or are there negative words and phrases used?

Are the teacher’s technical fundamentals sound in the area being taught? There are sometimes excellent teachers on one instrument whose background is with another. As long as they know how to teach what they teach, success is probable.

Can this teacher put together an email, letter or face to face discussion to show parents “Your student is progressing wonderfully in skills a, b, and c. The next challenge to work on is…” Negative words (isn’t, can’t, should be, won’t) have no place in parent communication.

There are some performers who are wonderfully gifted teachers. Those folks are the ones you’d love to have in your studio… encouraging your students, educating parents, providing the highest level of artistry.

That said, there are excellent teachers who may not be the most highly skilled performers. In a sense, their “high level performance skill” is the ability to teach.

Just what can you do to learn more about teachers?

Here’s what is often done at the university level, perhaps it might give some ideas for hiring within your studio. When applying for college teaching jobs, my interviews (exhausting as they were) typically included the following components:

• Meet with the top level administrator… that would be you, of course!
• Meet with faculty (other teaching staff, in your case)
• Meet with current students in the subject area (their feedback can be quite revealing)
• A brief performance or recital open to those involved in the studio
• A Master Class, teaching one or more students (this will reveal teaching style, communication skills, use of positive reinforcement, ability to pick up on issues and prioritize them).
• Providing a sample lesson plan or curriculum for beginning and intermediate students.

While it seems overwhelming, these steps would give you a complete picture of the potential teacher.

What does that process really show?

1. Can the teacher relate to colleagues and managers?
2. Can the teacher relate to and guide student progress?
3. Can the teacher communicate with parents?

Thinking about hiring new teachers with these ideas in mind can really add value to your hiring process. Any change on your part hires better teachers.

Here’s another reason to use “planned pre-screening” techniques

With the knowledge you gain, recruiting students for the teacher becomes very easy. Singing the praises of a new teacher catches attention quickly, and you know from personal observation that what you say is true. It helps whether prospecting through emails, posting notices on community bulletin boards and blogs or placing announcements in newsletters.

Give this approach some thought. It may help you hire the best and make your studio “best in class.” Always try to hire the best teachers. That is the critical thought to keep in mind!

Use all the tools at your disposal: Studio Helper, thoughtful hiring, community outreach, creative marketing. Possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Meanwhile, stop by the blog periodically to learn new ideas that may spark your own creative thinking.

As you know, quality in your studio depends a lot on the quality of your teachers.

One way your studio can rise above the competition:

Provide a positive and successful environment for your instructors – help them do their best on your behalf.

It’s a fact: Word of mouth referral goes a long way towards expanding your business. If students tell others about good experiences, the studio sells itself.

Knowing more about your staff’s strengths helps document successes. It can give you new ways to identify, recognize and encourage the best teaching approaches across your entire business.

Here are six tips to help evaluate your instructors in a positive way. This sort of information can be useful to you as a studio owner or manager, regardless of the focus of your teaching studio.

Studio Helper is a leading edge tool supporting this type of communication with students, parents and teachers. These tips and Studio Helper can give you a way to measure and track your success.

1. Keep it simple and straightforward.

Use a simple questionnaire, checking only the most general information. Short forms are most likely to be completed.

The web provides some great free tools for gathering information. Two that are easily available are surveymonkey.com and www.polldaddy.com. Getting the survey to your target audience is as simple as including a link in an email.

2. Measure accurately.

For valid results, use statements that assign a rating:

Another way to get this information (perhaps better suited for online forms):

Question #1: The zoo is a place where animals are kept

a. Strongly agree
b. Agree
c. Neither agree nor disagree
d. Disagree
e. Strongly disagree
f. Does not apply

Here are sample questions that might work on a student questionnaire:

• My teacher clearly shows me what to practice.
• My teacher helps me know how to practice.
• I feel my teacher helps me improve.
• Class always begins on time.
• When I don’t understand, my teacher helps me by presenting ideas in other ways.

Questions that might apply to a parent questionnaire:

• I am kept informed well of my child’s progress.
• I know schedule information well in advance.
• Class always ends at the scheduled time.
• I am welcome to attend any class or lesson.

Of course, if you are using a comprehensive tracking and communication tool like Studio Helper, the only reason for not knowing about items [a] and [b] is that the parent hasn’t logged on to check status or they are ignoring emails!

Looking at the questions above, can you see how “checking for positive issues” need not be threatening to instructors?

Instead, these questions focus on gathering feedback so teachers can think about ways to improve and be more successful. It also helps parents and students feel they have a voice, that someone is interested in their opinions.

Remember, look for the good, note areas where coaching or mentoring might help.

3. Give them a reason to participate.

Provide an incentive for students and/or parents to complete the questionnaire. This may take a bit of thinking on your part.

A discount on tuition could raise response rate. For the kids, arrange an ice cream party or some other celebration if they respond. Whatever works for you, give it a try.

Anonymity is important for comfort levels:

Stress that any information will only be shared with a teacher in an average way, individual responses are completely confidential.

4. Track results.

Compare results across a period of time (say three times a year). Don’t view results from a single data set as a strong indicators.

Remember, a small response pool can give single voices a very large impact. In that case, individual ratings can assume a strong bias towards positive or negative. The more responses you get, the more valuable the information.

5. Share the good news.

Visibly recognize and reward teachers who show significant improvement over time. It’s a great way to encourage others to think about “how they do what they do.” Movie tickets, certificates, posting the “teacher of the quarter” names on your web site – each of these can help boost morale.

6. Prepare before you start measuring.

Present the concept of evaluation to your teachers in a carefully planned way. A team meeting is an excellent time to introduce the idea. If you have a questionnaire prepared before the meeting, sharing it with them during the meeting can help defuse any worry about “being judged.” What you’re doing, after all, is building the best possible team.

It’s also good to ask for teacher input and ideas, giving them a sense of ownership and participation in the process. Getting ideas from small groups while you are outside of the room probably leads to the best sort of response.

Closing thoughts:

So you decide to try this out. Awesome. Just remember that when it comes to teacher assessment:

1. Any questionnaire should have no more than 4-5 items.
2. Put your contact information on the form (email for online formats), it gives anyone filling it out a chance to get in touch with you about other thoughts or issues.
3. Transition gently into regular assessment in a very positive way. Your teachers should know the information affects neither pay nor status. It’s a chance for them to get feedback that improves their ability to help students succeed.

These tips can help your studio improve a lot over time. That should be the goal – developing the best possible environment for your students and teachers.

With Studio Helper as a communication tool and thoughtful data collection for feedback, the circle of success is complete.

Checking the pulse of your studio helps everybody!