I think instrumental teachers have it pretty hard sometimes. I'm sure I've written before about my interest in helping them. One of the big reasons for this is my wife, Esther, who is a Piano teacher. She runs her business as a sole trader company. The last couple of years have brought about a huge number of challenges which she has had to adapt to.

The pandemic has caused a lot of disruption to lesson schedules. Students often couldn't attend face-to-face lessons, online video lessons, let's be honest, are no where near as good as in-person. If this change hasn't been enough the government in the UK will require even small sole traders to implement digital accounting software to submit returns by April 2022.

All of this means that running her simple one-person company has become a lot more complicated.

For a while now I have watched how she works with her students. We've talked about different things we could do to improve the learning process to make it fun and collaborative. I believe that if we can improve the experience then we will also increase the potential progress for the students she teaches.

There have been numerous studies showing that music participation is directly linked to academic achievement so we should be doing what we can to make the process accessible and enjoyable.

With this at the front of my mind I recognise what an important role my kids instrumental teachers have in their future success. I want to see their teachers succeed, despite the circumstances we find ourselves in and so I am exploring what I can do.

References:

• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201906/music-participation-is-linked-teens-academic-achievement?fbclid=IwAR0qYE7gci_2Inl_-FUnpmhDzlyftzGvMrUNKVMhqTsr5_PPxQTKO6gKZe8
• https://www.academicentertainment.com/blog/music-lessons-improve-student-academic-achievement
• https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/240228993.pdf