‘I learned as much or more as I hope they learned from me’

Last updated 11:23, Wednesday, 25 June 2008

While writing a unit of work on the music of The Beatles for my A-level students, I recalled the lectures given by the head of the music department at the university I attended and that these had subsequently become the basis of a book.

A search found that it was out of print but I managed to obtain a second-hand copy and, on reading it, I was struck by how original his ideas were.

I was transported back to the lecture hall where I first heard these utterly idiosyncratic views delivered with a passion and enthusiasm that just simply swept you along.

This lecture series was in fact so popular that students from other courses and disciplines flocked to hear them, resulting in a relocation to a larger lecture theatre in the social sciences building simply to accommodate the number of students attending.

When, a while later, a friend emailed me to draw my attention to Wilfred Mellers’ obituary, I regretted that I had never contacted him to express my appreciation of his highly influential and inspirational teaching.

Not that he would have accepted my accolades.

Although a man with a highly personal vision and encyclopaedic knowledge, he was an educator with little or no ego to speak of.

It was typical that when revising one of his many publications, he dedicated it to his students, remarking, in humility rare among experts, that “. . . from their intelligent comments and probing questions, I learned as much or more as I hope they learned from me”.

Perhaps this quality was one that I recognised as his real gift as a teacher; the ability to bring a huge breadth of understanding and knowledge to a subject and yet to be completely convincing in allowing the student to feel an equal partner in the journey of learning.

Alongside this was an infectious enthusiasm for whatever he turned to and that turning circle was wide indeed.

He was equally at home with Bach or the Beatles, Beethoven or Bob Dylan and his observations would be peppered by references to music from such diverse groups as Eskimo children, South Plains Indians and Maori shaman.

Asked to establish the music department at the newly-built York University, he created a groundbreaking modular course that showed his other strength as a teacher – a belief in his students.

The course allowed students to freely mix and match a variety of projects which were on offer.

It succeeded because it involved freedom, choice and self motivation. It was a precursor of what we now call ‘personalised learning’.

Similarly, the student response to a project could be in a variety of forms; essay, composition, performance, arrangement, etc. thereby anticipating the multiple learning styles that figure in current models for effective teaching and learning.

Reflecting on what was for me my most influential teacher is, however, not just a nostalgic exercise.

I find for example that it accords with what pupils currently tell researchers about what they think makes a good teacher.

Read also comments made by celebrities, media personalities and others about their memories of their best teacher.

What emerges as the most important qualities relate to how you are treated, rather than what you are taught, how you are inspired to follow your own path rather than just striving for qualifications and how this person is a key figure in helping you to see your own potential.

These are not qualities that can be easily quantified and subjected to inspection or graded on a scale of merit, and yet they are central to the development of young people.

We need to value those who are able to fulfil this vital role.