Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales
Scroll through your social media feeds, and if you’ve ever taken an interest in piano education it’s likely you will come across videos of children receiving tuition, students performing in events, and celebratory photos of them with certificates or trophies. The desire to share such media online is understandable from a number of angles.
Firstly, and most obviously, it seems entirely appropriate for parents to celebrate their children’s musical achievements on their private page in this way, and potentially for teachers and schools to do the same.
As the NSPCC put it,
“It’s important that children and young people feel happy about their achievements and have images of their special moments for themselves and their families to look back on. This might include photos and videos taken by teachers during school performances and special events, or by staff and volunteers delivering events and activities outside of school.”
Secondly, there are good reasons for teachers to share videos on forums when seeking advice from colleagues: what better way to explain a technical challenge or developmental issue when seeking an expert second opinion?
Thirdly, some teachers use pupil videos to promote their teaching. I am less comfortable with this, concerned it could skew our attitude towards learners who don’t enjoy performing, and lead to prescriptive teaching in which we might tend towards cloning our interpretation of music rather than nurturing our pupils’ own response. Nevertheless, as a colleague explained to me recently, she sees videos of pupils as her “professional portfolio”.
We should note that there’s a big difference between
- public publishing: for example, on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or a teacher’s public website, and
- private sharing: such as in a secure, password-protected web space, or a private WhatsApp group.
This article pertains particularly to publishing on public platforms. Why are many professionals opposed to the practice of sharing images and videos of piano students publicly online?
And what are the legal, ethical, and professional concerns that teachers and parents should understand and consider carefully before we post or share media online?
These are questions that I have had to grapple with over recent years, and look into from a number of angles: as a teacher, business and website owner, and online forum moderator. In this article I will outline what I’ve found…
Continue reading Why not share student images and videos?
