Teaching From Home
A Very Candid Account of the PROS and CONS
PART 3: Establishing your Studio Within a Church
Some churches are often willing to provide you with a free space to teach or perform. Other churches, much like academies, will allow you to use their space for lessons in exchange for a percentage of your hourly income. As with a nonprofit, the pros and cons are often similar to working for an academy, with a few additional peculiarities:
PROS
My student Zoe reading the NFMC announcements at a Festival performance within a church.
Generally, the instruments are fantastic. You can benefit from the care and maintenance that many churches give to their pianos and organs. The space and acoustics are unmatched, and you have a built-in place for recitals and events.
You will also benefit from being part of a caring community with its own advertising and built-in clientele.
It will not be difficult to benefit from many performance opportunities for you and your students, even including speaking parts. This can be an ideal situation if you are working to establish your reputation.
CONS
Often, the church may consider your students as "belonging" to it [or its studio], not to you. Your students may feel the same way. As with an academy, you are developing a studio that you would have to abandon if you decided to become independent or to move locations later. Unfortunately, even students that you recruited and have taught for years may end up remaining at the church under the instruction of a new teacher rather than following you to a different location.
The fees can be high, though generally not as much as a private academy would charge.
As with an academy, your work as a teacher is typically not the priority of the church. They are doing you a favor to support your community. In return, you might feel obligated to return the favor by accepting requests to sub or to give performances that might not be convenient for you.
As with academy settings, it can be difficult to have privacy and to concentrate. People walk the halls, participate in choir rehearsals or service preparations, talk in the sanctuary, have loud meetings in adjacent areas, etc. You never know who is listening to all your wrong notes! That can make it difficult to truly enjoy your practice time or to keep your students focused. OK, I have to tell you a true story. For a while, I was taking organ lessons, trying to fulfill my old dream of becoming like the Count character on Sesame Street. I was finally playing a really, really awesome Bach cantata arrangement and thinking I was doing great, when all of a sudden, in the middle of it, I started hearing giggles. I got scared and I looked back. To my surprise, I had a whole kindergarten class – at least 20 children – looking at me with total fascination. It ended up being an adorable moment, and very educational for the children. However, after that, the day was shot. I could not concentrate again to save my life. I kept looking back, waiting for another group of kindergarteners, almost disappointed that they were not there for my morning “concert.”
You typically don't have much control over the room decor or organization. It can be difficult to have everything you need handy or to keep other teachers from “borrowing” your materials without permission.
Not all parents in your studio belong to that faith or are religious at all. Some people prefer a teaching space that is equally comfortable to people of all different denominations and beliefs.
Conclusion: I know some young teachers who have fantastic situations working within a church community or religious school. Yet, they often complain of having to take on multiple other tasks within the church, sometimes completely unrelated to piano teaching. These teachers do stay busy and do not need to advertise or worry about having enough students. In some situations, they can even receive a full-time salary for offering after-school teaching or teaching a few morning classes, placing themselves in the enviable situation of not having to worry about student enrollment. In addition, they know they are teaching in a safe place, often surrounded by a deeply caring community that values education and the arts.
As with academies, I believe that churches can offer a welcome opportunity for new teachers who do not yet want to be on their own, but who are willing and eager to participate in the community and to be involved with their church. I think this is a match for someone who is extroverted and enjoys being connected, participating, and performing. The setup is also ideal for someone who might enjoy teaching group classes or choir in addition to one-on-one piano lessons. It is important that you share in most of the core the beliefs of that church so that you can feel at ease. It is difficult to work for a church that feels too foreign to your own values, as this can make your studio situation uncomfortable.
Click here if you want to read a different segment of this blog post on Teaching From Home:
Part 1: Teaching at an Academy
Part 2: The Particularities of Teaching for a Nonprofit
Part 4: Renting Your Own Space to Teach
Part 5: Teaching From a Home Studio