My mother was a career teacher for Cincinnati Public Schools and I never thought I'd follow in her footsteps as a teacher, but I did! I received my first formal teacher training more than 20 years ago, with courses such as “Effective Communication Skills,” and “The Learner-Centered Classroom,” among others, while teaching over 5,000 English lessons in Japan for Berlitz Language School. I taught private and group lessons to students ranging in age from 18-80, and “Business English” classes to groups of 6-15 students for top Japanese companies such as Hitachi, Shiseido and Nissan. My teaching evaluators at Berlitz wrote that I was, “ . . . excellent; gifted . . . With an intense interest in the personal development of his students and a great sensitivity to their individual needs and cultural background.”
My very first experience as a private guitar teacher was back in the early 1970's, when I taught for the Cincinnati-based music store chain, Howard Early Music. I am a passionate life-long learner and musical artist who, after establishing a successful international career as a performer, recording artist and entrepreneur, returned to school at age 50 to achieve the academic qualifications that would better enable me to “give back” to society by educating and inspiring others.
I believe that I have a “teachers heart,” that is, an innate ability to build rapport with students and lead them to their highest potential. And importantly, I am cognizant of and grateful for the “two-way street” of communication which should exist between any student and teacher, as each collaborate on the learning process together. Nothing is more gratifying to me than to witness my student find their passion and exceed their initial expectations. I like to compare my teaching philosophy to the parable about teaching someone to fish so that they can eat for life, as opposed to feeding them one fish meal. I say that I want to teach you how to play, but not what to play . . . I teach you how to figure out things on your own rather than merely copying what I do without the knowledge of how I came to do what I do! I believe that the formal terminology is that I favor student-centered, constructivist teaching methods in which students are actively involved in the learning process, as opposed to being passive recipients of information that is lectured “down” to them.
For anyone interested, details of my formal teaching experience (1973-2009) can be found on pages 4 and 5 of my CV (curriculum vitae), which can be seen on the “Academics” page of my website: https://gregchako.com/academic Just scroll down the page until you see the hyperlink titled: “Greg's Academic CV”
Covid came as a blessing in disguise in 2020 because I obtained an online teaching position which in turn prompted me to seriously upgrade (digitize) my teaching materials. At the same time, I composed
My very first experience as a private guitar teacher was back in the early 1970's, when I taught for the Cincinnati-based music store chain, Howard Early Music. I am a passionate life-long learner and musical artist who, after establishing a successful international career as a performer, recording artist and entrepreneur, returned to school at age 50 to achieve the academic qualifications that would better enable me to “give back” to society by educating and inspiring others.
I believe that I have a “teachers heart,” that is, an innate ability to build rapport with students and lead them to their highest potential. And importantly, I am cognizant of and grateful for the “two-way street” of communication which should exist between any student and teacher, as each collaborate on the learning process together. Nothing is more gratifying to me than to witness my student find their passion and exceed their initial expectations. I like to compare my teaching philosophy to the parable about teaching someone to fish so that they can eat for life, as opposed to feeding them one fish meal. I say that I want to teach you how to play, but not what to play . . . I teach you how to figure out things on your own rather than merely copying what I do without the knowledge of how I came to do what I do! I believe that the formal terminology is that I favor student-centered, constructivist teaching methods in which students are actively involved in the learning process, as opposed to being passive recipients of information that is lectured “down” to them.
For anyone interested, details of my formal teaching experience (1973-2009) can be found on pages 4 and 5 of my CV (curriculum vitae), which can be seen on the “Academics” page of my website: https://gregchako.com/academic Just scroll down the page until you see the hyperlink titled: “Greg's Academic CV”
Covid came as a blessing in disguise in 2020 because I obtained an online teaching position which in turn prompted me to seriously upgrade (digitize) my teaching materials. At the same time, I composed
