Professional certification.

On March 29, 2006, Sylvia Coats, NCTM, became the new MTNA Certification Chair, succeeding Pat Tuley, NCTM. AMT presents this interview with your new Certification Chair.

How does it feel to be MTNA's new chair?

I am deeply honored that President Paul Stewart has appointed me to this position. At the same time, I must admit that I am rather apprehensive about fulfilling the responsibilities. Past Chair Pat Tuley and the National Certification Commission, have done an excellent job revising the Certification program and bringing it to a high level of professionalism. The MTNA staff is very attentive to processing the applications. I am grateful to Pat for her leadership and for the time she has taken to mentor me. Because the program is now well established, I feel that I can at least carry on.

How did you become involved with MTNA?

I was introduced to MTNA in the 1970s while I was a student of Guy Duckworth's at the University of Colorado and attended a few local association meetings and a national conference in Denver. I joined the Corpus Christi (Texas) Music Teachers Association a few years later and have been a member ever since. I became involved in leadership as the monitor chair for the national conference in Wichita in 1988, and later through an appointment by Margaret Lorince as National Chair of Collegiate Chapters.

Tell us a little about yourself...who is the real Sylvia Coals?

Yikes, this is embarrassing. My fellow music teacher in Derby, Jill Slayden, recently told me, "You've always had an easy going demeanor and pleasant personality that puts people at ease!" That's how I see myself on the whole. For those of you who follow learning styles, my type is extraverted, intuitive, feeling and perceptive. Incidentally, my husband is my opposite--introverted, sensitive, thinking and judgmental_ We've both become much more flexible!

You recently completed a term on MTNA's Board of Directors and served as past-president of the West Central Division. What made you want to be part of Certification?

I thoroughly enjoyed my terms in those positions. MTNA's leadership are some of the most wonderful people that I have ever met. They work very hard to advance the music teaching profession and sere the membership. The collaborative effort was a experience.

I have been the Certification chair for two local associations in the Wichita area for several years and also have prepared Wichita State University students to become certified. President Paul Stewart asked me to chair a task force to explore ways to certify collegiate students upon graduation. Teaching piano pedagogy has been my life's work. I think that encouraging and assisting young teachers to strive for excellence and professionalism by becoming certified should become a vital part of pedagogy training.

What are your immediate goals for the Professional Certification program? Long-term goals?

I plan to jump in and carry out the administrative duties of working with the Certification commissioners and MTNA staff. I know I have a lot to learn from these experienced people.

A long-term goal is to expedite ways for collegiate students to become certified by the time they graduate. As I mentioned, an MTNA Certification Task Force is presently working on this idea. Including MINA Certification in pedagogy classes will help our future teachers see the value of professional membership in MTNA, as well as validating their professional competency.

I would like to further assist the state and local association chairs in their efforts to promote Certification and to mentor applicants through the process. I want to make sure help is getting to the local association chairs. A continuing goal is making the public aware of the importance of studying with a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM).

Why is Certification important to you? How is it important to MTNA, its members and the music field?

MTNA Certification is the only certification that is available for the studio music teacher. With the designation "NCTM," the independent music teacher and the college music professor can validate their qualifications and demonstrate to their employers, clients and peers, that they are committed to excellence. The five Standards of the MTNA Certification Program define what a competent music teacher should know and be able to do. The Standards encourage the music teacher to validate that they are a well-rounded professional in their preparation, teaching practices, business management, partnerships and personal renewal. It ensures that we keep current in the field and pursue creative activity to further our personal and professional achievement.

I compare the Certification application to my evaluation reports as a university professor. I am asked to plan professional goals each year, and my progress is assessed with a yearly merit report. Application documents for tenure and promotion are very comprehensive, rather like the validation process of the Certification Portfolio Option. These awards give me recognition on campus. However, my MTNA Certification provides national visibility and credibility to my peers, as well as validation of my expertise to those outside the field. I feel strongly that as a leader in the profession, being an NCTM demonstrates that it is important that music professionals become certified.

Are there any misconceptions about the Certification process you'd like to address?

One misconception is that Certification is only for the teacher with a college music degree. I have been a mentor to Natalie, a young teacher who was home-schooled and has not attended college. She has studied piano with me for about five years. She has a large studio and is very motivated to become an excellent teacher. I think the MTNA Standards for Certification gave her a model for which to aspire. She is president of our local association, has designed web pages for two local associations, and has given programs on using technology in the music studio. She has passed the proficiency tests in music theory, music history and pedagogy, and is preparing her portfolio for the final step in the Certification process. She amazes me! I hope teachers who do not have a degree will study the Standards to guide their teaching and follow through with applying for Certification.

Another misconception is that the collegiate music professor does not need to become certified. I have already mentioned that MTNA Certification is the only professional certification for the studio music teacher. Masters and doctoral programs attest to the graduate's academic and performing competence, but generally not to his or her teaching competence. I think music professors serve as role models to the profession. Becoming a NCTM demonstrates the university professor's professionalism.

Let's play a word association game. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word ... MTNA? Certification?

MTNA--A family of professionals Certification--Excellence in the art of teaching.

You are a pianist in the Sotto Voce Trio along with soprano Dorothy Crum and saxophonist Jean Lansing, and you have extensively lectured and taught about group teaching. Collaboration seems to be your interest. What do you find appealing about learning, teaching and collaboration?

Working with people energizes me. I find that it is fascinating to discuss ideas and come up with something better than any one of us could have thought of alone. I have much respect for the musicianship of my fellow Sotto Voce Trio members, Dorothy and Jean I think we listen to understand each other's viewpoint and we're willing to try a passage many different ways before we feel "in sync." We're working on a composition by Philip Parker, "Story Hour," based on nursery rhymes, and we get so much enjoyment from practicing complicated rhythms and listening to each other's parts to improve our ensemble.

Teaching in groups and sharing what I have learned about group teaching has been one of my professional passions. The energy for learning in a group of students is incredible if directed in a positive way. I encourage a spirit of collaboration in any group of people that I'm involved with from a pedagogy or piano class, to faculty meetings, to MTNA Forums. It's much more interesting to discuss issues together rather than just listening to myself talk!

As a member of the Sotto Vote Trio, you have performed at universities, recital tours and even at children's concerts. Which do you prefer, performing for grown-ups or children?

Because our trio has unusual instrumentation--soprano, saxophone and piano--we have commissioned composers to write for us. To help the audience, children or adults, understand contemporary sounds, we demonstrate and discuss the music before we play. We have performed commissioned music by Meyer Kupferman, Christina Kuzmych, Wichita State composers Dean Roush and Katherine Murdock, and MTNA/Kansas MTA commissioned works by Ken Bales and Philip Parker. Children are in many ways more responsive to the contemporary idiom than adult audiences. We often ask for participation and the children gleefully voice sounds of barnyard animals to help us perform a work with such improvised sounds.

You recently presented a session, "Dancing the Baroque and Romantic Dances" in Beijing, Tianjin and Hong Kong. What prompted this trip to the East? Why was this decidedly European topic chosen and how was it received?

I am so thankful for the opportunity to visit China--my first trip overseas. I was invited to present the dance session at a Chinese national piano pedagogy conference at the Capitol Normal University in Beijing. It was the first time in 10 years that university piano professors from throughout China had met for a conference. I was the only Westerner in attendance. My friend, Shiao-Li Ding, a Kansas colleague on sabbatical in Belling, arranged for my lecture and requested the topic. Rather than only lecture, I had the audience learn the steps to the dances. I also taught the dances to college music students at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and Tianjin Conservatory. Students were studying and performing Western music, as well as Chinese music. Both professors and students were eager to follow the steps and very quick to learn. Students at the Tianjin Conservatory were dance and music majors and were reluctant to dance the waltz with a partner. However, at the Beijing piano pedagogy conference, I partnered with a Chinese male professor and I was delighted when he led me!

You are director of the undergraduate and graduate piano pedagogy programs at Wichita State University, which are recognized as leading programs in the field and draw students throughout the United States and abroad. What makes these programs so successful?

In a nutshell, I think two to three years of supervised teaching and an active MTNA Collegiate Chapter are primary reasons for the continued interest in the program. I believe students learn by doing, so they begin teaching in the first pedagogy course. We have a strong faculty in all areas of music and we work well together, even with continued budget problems that state universities have. Although we have fewer international students at the university since 9/11, I have had consistency through the years in the number of foreign students in the piano pedagogy program.

The Wichita State University Collegiate Chapter has been a place for professional and social relationships. The Wichita local association members are an integral part of the success of the chapter--they are models of professionalism for the students. Besides the many events that they sponsor, the collegiate students have worked hard to fund expenses so that members can attend the MTNA National Conference. Ten students attended the Seattle conference last year and presented a panel session on "Teaching and Learning in China, Japan, Croatia, Indonesia and America." It was so successful that they also presented at the Kansas MTA conference and at a meeting of the Wichita Metropolitan MTA They have received the MTNA Collegiate Chapter of the Year Award twice. As you can tell, I am proud of them.

As a multi-talented individual. what do you enjoy most--teaching/lecturing, adjudicating, leading, performing or writing?

I feel so fortunate to love what I'm doing. I can't imagine not being a musician and teacher. I must say my daily teaching of pedagogy and piano are the most enjoyable part of what I do. In the supervised teaching courses, I observe the student teach each week. It is very gratifying to discuss teaching strategies with the student teacher and to see them improve each week in helping their students learn.

I'm especially enjoying seeing my first book in print, Thinking as You Play: Teaching Piano in Individual and Group Lessons, published by Indiana University Press in January 2006. It was a long process and difficult to write but I think the book has really helped my pedagogy students to understand the many facets of good teaching. Coincidentally, the chapters in the book seem to parallel the five MTNA Certification Standards in many ways.

Music making is in my blood, so I can't go too long without doing it. Many times other responsibilities take me away from playing, and I find I really need to play for something at least every three months. The Sotto Voce Trio, the Wichita Symphony, and my duet and two piano partners keep me playing often.

What's the most recent ... music you listened to, book or magazine you read and movie/TV show you watched?

I listened to the Richard Strauss Alpine Symphony in preparation for playing the celeste part with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. When I play with the orchestra, I listen and study the full score. Because I play only a few measures, I'm fearful that I might miss the entrance if I don't know the score. I recently read Mastering the Art of Performance by Stewart Gordon. I've already tried some of his ideas with my students. I'll have to admit that I spend Sunday evenings watching ABC's Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy.

What do you and your husband do for fun in Derby. Kansas. your current home?

I walk daily and Casey and I work in the yard, eat out, and attend car shows in his 1959 Corvette. We visit our children Jason, Michelle and her husband Dustin who also live in Kansas. I'm a new grandparent of puppies--two Labradors and a Vizsla.

Casey loves to golf and I'm really starting to enjoy it too. We like to travel and have played some beautiful courses throughout the United States, most recently in Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

Newly Certified

MTNA is proud to acknowledge the following newly certified music teachers:

(As of January 31, 2006)

Florida:          Sue A Hidalgo, Wesley Chapel, Piano
Hawaii:           Christine Lee, Honolulu, Piano
Michigan:         Maria Lonchyna-Lisowsky, Troy, Piano
North Carolina:   Jennifer K. Hancock, Mebane, Piano
New Jersey:       Tomoko Harada, Basking Ridge, Piano
Ohio:             Lee Ann Forgrave, Lewis Center, Piano
Oregon:           Robyn  W. Pfeifer, Portland, Piano
Texas:            Matthew C. Kline, Dallas, Piano
Utah:             Jenean M. Christensen, Grantsville, Piano
                  Bryan K. Eikins, Orem, Piano
                  Katrina D. Gabbitas, Provo, Piano
                  Sharalyn Heath, Orem, Piano
                  Hana Janatova, Salt Lake City, Piano
                  Merrill H. Marshall, Sandy, Piano
                  Connie B. Nay, Syracuse, Piano
                  Cheryl Rytting, West Valley City, Piano
                  Gloria Savage, West Jordan, Piano
                  Lori Z. Serf, Mapleton, Organ
                  Judith Jane Wright Sandy, Piano
Virginia:         Andrew M. Horowitz, Alexandria, Piano
Washington:       Pai-Yu J. Chiu, Bellevue, Piano
                  Julia B. Swienty, Kent, Piano
Wisconsin:        Opala C. Bilhorn, Whitewater, Piano