Teacher Cao Tam and the students
The teacher of hundreds of female teachers.
Not only does musician Cao Tam inspire his students, but he has also guided and helped hundreds of music teachers regain their fundamental teaching knowledge, enabling them to confidently showcase their talents and enthusiasm in front of their students. Particularly during the pandemic and the prolonged period of social isolation, Mr. Cao Tam opened online classes for music teachers, hoping to reinforce and enhance their knowledge. Initially teaching for fun without seeking personal gain, the classes unexpectedly attracted approximately 500 music teachers nationwide, including some as elderly as 80 years old from provinces such as Hue, Dak Lak, Kon Tum, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Hanoi… Mr. Cao Tam himself was surprised by the large and enthusiastic participation of the teachers.
With selfless dedication and enthusiasm, the teacher wholeheartedly taught the female teachers music knowledge from simple to advanced levels, from accompaniment, theory, harmony, playing the piano, to posture, performance techniques, finger placement... how to "play the piano with your eyes closed." After each lesson, the teachers recorded videos of their "homework" online, and all were rated as satisfactory or good. The teacher shared: "I realized that many teachers are limited in their professional skills; some don't even know how to accompany simple songs in the textbook. The boredom in music lessons makes students dislike them, and instead of finding music engaging, they have a passive attitude towards the lesson."
Mr. Cao Tam's piano lessons have touched upon a common weakness among music teachers. Many teachers are always apprehensive about playing the piano and feel inferior to their colleagues. One teacher confided that, since graduating and starting her career over a decade ago, she had never touched a school piano, and for all those years, her piano had remained dormant in a dark corner. But after attending Mr. Tam's class, the piano came back to life. She can now confidently play for her students, even singing beautifully while playing. She feels a greater love for her piano, her school, and her students, leading to more engaging and captivating lessons.
Teacher Tâm explained that his class has three mandatory criteria: Firstly, the teachers must be able to play the accompaniment for all the songs in the textbook; secondly, they must teach the material to the students instead of keeping it to themselves; and thirdly, they must use this knowledge to create social value and generate income for themselves. These are the lessons he wants to impart to the class.
Educating students through music.
In reality, during music lessons in schools today, teachers often play music on computers for children to listen to and sing along to. However, this approach inadvertently diminishes the interaction between teacher and students. Music teachers should be those who inspire students through music, so that they learn to love music and create beautiful emotions in their lives.
A lack of knowledge fosters self-doubt and leads to many negative emotions in teaching. Conversely, when teachers are confident in their profession, they will be more open with their students, pouring their feelings and love into the lesson, creating interaction, engagement, and a different experience instead of just lecturing on dry, boring theory.
Teaching at Trung Vuong Secondary School (Da Nang) from grades 6 to 9, Mr. Tam realized that four years of music theory was a waste of time for the students without providing any practical benefits. Therefore, he gathered talented students into separate groups such as singing groups, guitar groups, piano groups, dance groups, flute groups, etc. During class, he allowed the students to bring their instruments from home to class and perform, teaching each other. "Learning from peers is better than learning from a teacher," and the students progressed very quickly, making each music lesson lively and surprisingly engaging.
According to Mr. Cao Tam, the path from lyrics and melodies to education is very close and quick. Long and abstract theoretical lectures are difficult for students to remember, but musical melodies penetrate deeply into the heart, especially effective for young children. If the song's content expresses love for parents, love for homeland, gratitude, and emphasizes what is right and good, then students will think about it sincerely. At the same time, it aims to awaken students' love and passion for art – that is the most beautiful purpose of introducing music into schools. In addition to these useful and effective social activities, Mr. Cao Tam also plans to set poems in textbooks to music to make them easier for students to memorize. "The poems will be left as they are, only set to music, or slightly modified to suit the context. Instead of having to memorize them from a book, students will easily access and remember them through music," Mr. Tam explained.
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