HEAR! HEAR!  Well said, Pops!  Too often teachers who don't know how to teach will blame failure on the student instead of the failure of the teacher to identify the best way to teach to the student's particular learning style.

For example, you can't teach a beginner the same way you can a student who's an undergrad or grad student in ollege.... CP's(comeback players) have their own unique sets of circumstances, and each must be approached with THEIR needs
considered first!

For some, who are AURAL, or ear-centered, learners, it is sufficient to demonstrate so that they may imitate the teacher's
sound, attack, style, interpretation, what-have-you...

For others a more clinical approach is necessary, with careful explanations and definitions clarifying the material for the
student...

For others, it becomes necessary to cajole the student via experiencing the feeling of producing a particular sound, style
or articulation...Once they've internalized the experience they'll be able to reproduce it....

And that, I believe, is the crux of the matter....No teacher, no matter how experienced he or she may be, is able to be with the
student for more than a couple of hours per week(and that's if they meet for both lesson and a master class)....

In the long run, it is the job of the conscientious teacher to enable the student to teach him/herself, since the student must
spend many more hours alone in practicing than they will with anyone else, and must develop a method for providing their own
feedback on their progress.

To assume that a teacher's influence is absolute is to pander to that teachers self-aggrandizement and vanity...And I'd wager that
such a teacher would turn away students who'd require more than the usual attention and effort on the part of their teacher,  and
accept more than an average number of pupils who would have progressed adequately even without ANY outside input at all<!>...

Judge me on my worst students, please, as well as my stars...For the students from whom I(and anyone else) will have learned the most are those who have struggled and persevered, despite the odds being against them.

One closing thought.  I once taught at a school which had the following quotation prominently displayed on the bulletin board
in the teachers' room:

*Teaching is the only profession which affects eternity*

Quite a _responsibility_ in my opinion.

- --
Take Care!
Jeannie