Are you prepared for who could walk into your private studio?

Are you prepared to teach a child with 2 dads? What about a Christian who's waiting for marriage while you live with your fiancee? Is your studio wheelchair accessible not just for your students but for their parents? Are you OK with all manners of race and religion? Can you adapt to a student with a disability, or will you turn them down on sight? Do you have a problem with inter-racial couples? Do you consider people with tattoos and piercings to be immature and lazy?

If you have issues with any of the above, I'm not here to judge you. But as a teacher, you do need to be prepared to be open-minded. You need to be honest with yourself on whether you can give your students the attention they deserve while accepting and respecting all manner of parents, and also students. You need to respect your students/parents' beliefs, but not allow them to compromise your own, or insult other students/parents in your studio.

In short, you as a private music teacher must think of yourself as an equal opportunity teacher. This means keeping thoughts, comments, and facial expressions to yourself if you don't agree with the values or beliefs of a family. Not treating one family differently than another based on how much money they make. Making sure your studio is fully accessible so that someone like my own fiance, Dan, can take his future children to their music lessons without needing me to tag along and help. You will have to leave politics, religion, values, current events, and opinions locked in a drawer during the times that you are teaching, meeting with a wedding client, holding conferences, or giving a recital. This is not to say you must be a robot, but your priority as a teacher should be to make sure everyone feels welcome, accepted, respected, and equal within your studio. You may not be able to control how they are treated out in the real world, but when they're with you, make sure everyone gets to be the same.