Another concept strived for in many aspects of education is flexibility.  Lists of educational standards and plenty of syllabi stress lessons and projects that are multi-disciplinary.  Although I cringe at the thought of a single set of educational guidelines governing every student in an educational system, stressing multi-disciplinary thinking in one's own teaching can do wonders for making the student want to learn.

     If you've read any of the other educational blurbs I wrote, you know I teach private piano lessons.  But basic psychological principles can be found in any form of teaching.  I find education becomes easier when a lesson is allowed to expand beyond its designated purpose.  If students are more interested about the structure of society during Bach's life than the minuets they are working on, a tangent should be taken.  If word painting or imagery in a piece of music brings up the literary subject of onomatopoeia, there's another good conversation.  I sometimes take breaks to open up a piano lid and explain the mechanics behind it.

     Not every student is solely interested in what you are teaching, but if after they see how your topic relates to some of their more passionate interests, a lesson can be more enriching for everyone.