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The Ideal Choral Music Teacher:

A Student Description

by Lloyd P. Campbell

This article is a reprint from Choral Journal, December 1978. these secondary school students about their teachers:
View the original article online at acda.org/choraljournal.
One of the most exciting things about Mr.
Lloyd P. Campbell has ten years’ experience as a teach- ________’s class is the bulletin board reserved
er in the public school system. He was also associate pro- for ‘Very Important Persons.’ Each student’s pic-
fessor of secondary education at North Texas State Uni- ture appears there at least once during the semes-
versity. ter with a profile of their past and present major
achievements, and aspirations for the future. Being
the VIP is a source of pride for each student.
Describe an outstanding teacher. Not a particular
teacher you have known, but the ideal teacher, the one All semester Mrs. ________ has made effective use
you wish all student teachers could become. of the tape recorder and video tape player. She
While most prospective teachers want to know what has taped each of our performances and some of
makes an outstanding teacher, the lecture method is possi- our rehearsals, then played them back for us six or
bly the least effective means of telling them. It is far better eight weeks later. It really makes us proud to hear
to permit the learner to inquire, discover, and transfer into how much improvement we have made. Even then,
their own setting those teacher characteristics which they Mrs.________ is open to suggestions and ideas of
view as important. how we can show even more improvement.
Toward this end, I assigned a class of pre-service sec-
ondary school choral music teachers the job of inter- Mrs. ________ had us provide her with informa-
viewing students in the choral departments of several tion about ourselves. This included our leisure time
secondary schools. The teachers in each school had been activities, job experience, achievements, etc. She
identified by their colleagues and supervisors as outstand- is interested in what we are doing other than just
ing teachers. The results of this assignment were dramat- being a member of her class. I work harder for a
ic! The following is only a partial listing of statements by teacher who takes a personal interest in me.

ChorTeach Volume 15 • Issue 4 19 Summer 2023