How can we attract more teachers?

Stub

How can we attract more career piano teachers to this forum? Over at PW, the teacher's forum is almost dead.
Possible reasons (please add to list if so inclined):

It is my understanding that many teachers have moved to venues like facebook groups.
Was it a welcoming place for teachers?
As fewer and fewer teachers took part in the forum, the more non-teachers like me chipped in. I have no issue with non-teachers jumping in, but perhaps the career teachers felt less compelled to participate?
Some teachers just felt they'd said all they have to say. This new forum is a place to say it anew!

I see a teachers forum as a place for teachers to talk to each other and for non-teachers with questions for teachers to ask them. Thoughts?

WieWaldi

I think this is easy: A teacher wants to earn money!

But anyone can self-teach piano without a teacher. You need 3 things:

Methods Books / Sheet Music for your level
Tutorials / Lessons on YouTube
A forum for hosting specific questions

About 1, teachers are neutral. They use method books for their own teaching, and they know this is out there.

About 2, teachers are using them as advertising, mostly. You get some very basic tricks, here and there on a specific topic, but very often if you want to go deeper, you find a link to a paid online course.

About 3, teachers hate them! 1 and 2 need from time to time that the student can address some specific questions. And to do this, the best place is a teacher. A paid teacher, of course. And a forum is cutting down their income in a certain way. So don't expect teachers to contribute here.

BartK

WieWaldi About 3, teachers hate them! 1 and 2 need from time to time that the student can address some specific questions. And to do this, the best place is a teacher. A paid teacher, of course. And a forum is cutting down their income in a certain way. So don't expect teachers to contribute here.

I absolutely disagree. There were many teachers participating on the teacher's forum at PW for many years. Participating on forums gives them a lot of visibility just like YouTube teachers giving free tutorials to attract students for paid lessons. The reasons for the lower participation probably has to do with the general trend away from forums and towards social media. Besides, giving advice is not cutting into any teacher's business. Nothing can replace direct and immediate in-person feedback.

JB_PT

WieWaldi So don't expect teachers to contribute here.

The idea is for teachers to have a space to interact with other teachers....talking about business aspects and methods of teaching, etc.

Stub

BartK WieWaldi About 3, teachers hate them! 1 and 2 need from time to time that the student can address some specific questions. And to do this, the best place is a teacher. A paid teacher, of course. And a forum is cutting down their income in a certain way. So don't expect teachers to contribute here.

I absolutely disagree. There were many teachers participating on the teacher's forum at PW for many years. Participating on forums gives them a lot of visibility just like YouTube teachers giving free tutorials to attract students for paid lessons. The reasons for the lower participation probably has to do with the general trend away from forums and towards social media. Besides, giving advice is not cutting into any teacher's business. Nothing can replace direct and immediate in-person feedback.

+1. PW had a number of teachers in the past who offered advice on the forum because they were passionate about teaching.

Pallas

My Facebook piano groups have thousands of users, are extremely active, and have lots of teachers. The posts have nested comments so it's easier to ignore comments you're not interested in, and, frankly, you have more control over your own experience there. If someone ruins your day every day, you can hit a button and instantly clean up your feed. There are many reasons to hate Facebook, but I love my piano groups on Facebook. I come here, because you are all here and not on Facebook, so there is clearly a reason some folks prefer one over the other. It seems extremely easy for teachers to post links to all kinds of other platforms where their content lives. Things to think about

iternabe

I don't know about piano teachers. But in my other hobby where I also teach, I find really good teachers are never stingy in giving out great free advice, because they know they have so much more to offer if hired in person.