Hear Artur Schnabel:
Talent is the premise. It may be released, but cannot be supplied by a teacher. Neither can he guarantee world fame to his students. He is no magician; the student is more important than he. What can a teacher do? At the best open a door; but the student has to pass through it. (Quoted from The Life of the Creative Spirit, p. 349.)
Viola Spolin believed that a teacher can take the student further:
First teach a person to develop to the point of his limitations and then - pfft! - break the limitation. (Quoted in The New Quotable Woman, p. 364.)
Perhaps their views are specific to their professions? Artur Schnabel was a classical pianist; Viola Spolin, an actress. "Pfft! - break the limitation" seems less likely a possibility in teaching students classical piano, higher mathematics, chemistry and physics, than it is in teaching students acting, religion, and business.
Perhaps, too, their views are specific to the lower and higher levels within each profession. In learning lower mathematics a teacher can break a student’s limitations; in learning higher mathematics a teacher can’t.
For a brief biography of Artur Schnabel, click here.
For a brief biography of Viola Spolin, click here.
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