There is this paradox of us – of our species – that we do come more alive when we struggle. Boy, there’s a real balance in talking about this, because you don’t want to glorify struggle. Because in these situations, whether it’s an oppressive country, or a war, there are many people who don’t make it through. There are many casualties. But it also awakens the poets and the prophets in us.
– Krista Tippett on The Ezra Klein Show
Finding this balance is the job of every teacher, and I think it’s especially difficult for choral educators.
On the one hand, you want to push your students to achieve their potential. Drive them to make more and better music than they thought they could. You want to awaken the future musicians and set them on their road to achievement.
On the other hand, you do not want casualties. You don’t want students to leave music behind because they don’t make it through the struggle.
I understand that these stakes are not comparable to the struggle of East Germans during the Cold War, which she was discussing, or the Rohingya refugee crisis in Southeast Asia now. Compared to the humanitarian, political, and social crises around the world, we’re talking small potatoes.
And yet. There are small tragedies every time a choral educator fails at finding this balance. On the one side, students can have their musical flame extinguished through too much struggle. On the other hand, future musical leaders might never reach their potential without a struggle to clarify their art.
Where do you fall on this balance? Who is best served by the balance you choose?