Educators shouldn’t always give in to their instinct to offer options for different learning and personality styles.
I’m always one to offer different perspectives, different approaches for the things I teach. I want to reach and teach everyone, so I’ll cover a topic in as many different ways as I think it’ll take.
But sometimes, students need specificity. Even if it’s not the way they eventually do something, they need to be told “Do it this way” to start.
I’m thinking of things like:
Learning to mark a score for conducting. Do it this way. (Eventually, you will adjust it to your own preferences.)
Keeping an organized work calendar. Do it this way. (You’ll eventually do it your way.)
Making a detailed rehearsal plan. Do it this way. (Until you’ve found your most effective strategies for rehearsal.)
I think it’s important to be clear up front that you don’t think this is the only or even the best way to perform this task. It’s just that the best way to learn is to have as much specificity as you can. Once you’ve gotten a feel for it, you can begin to adjust to your own best.