As a teacher mentor, I have observed two types of knowledgeable teachers. Type One teachers display an instructional ease reflective of the comfort they have with themselves. Type Two teachers display an unnecessary artificiality, illustrating the undeniable disconnect they have with themselves (and their students). What is the difference between these two types of knowledgeable teachers? The answer is in the title of my research – authenticity in teaching. Authenticity, according to Brookfield, is one of the top two traits students desire in their teachers (Brookfield, 2006, p. 54). Goldman emphasizes the value of authenticity and its connection to healthy living (Goldman, 2006, p. 234). Given the significance of authenticity as illustrated above, this paper investigates the concept of authenticity in teaching by conducting research into a world-renowned music education methodology: the Suzuki Method. My goal is to respond to the question: How is Suzuki’s approach to authenticity relevant to today’s education community?

In a radical departure from traditional music education, Dr. Shinichi Suzuki (founder of the Suzuki Method) created the Suzuki Method by combining the principles of Mother Tongue learning with a philosophical emphasis on music study as a process of personal development (Hermann, 1981; Suzuki, 1969). For students, personal authenticity became a priority. For teachers, Suzuki insisted on dramatic change to the institutionalized positions of knowledge-giver and enforcer. He championed the concept of teachers as models of both instructional excellence and personal authenticity. My connection to Dr. Suzuki originates from my 1983-86 apprenticeship with him at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. This learning experience led me to understand the significance of authenticity in teaching – the idea that I could teach as the person I was, rather than the person I thought others wanted me to be. Returning to Canada in 1986, my interest in authenticity deepened when I realized there was more to authenticity than concentrating on my self; authenticity also involved recognizing and responding to my students’ inner core or true self.  Later on, I realized that “authenticity and inauthenticity” were opposing sides of the same coin (Heidegger, 1996, p. 41), and I accepted the conflicting nature of authenticity that features the co-existence of good and bad, or true and false.

Despite current research into authenticity in teaching (Cranton, 2006; Kreber et al, 2007), there does not seem to be any theoretical or practical approach to authenticity similar to what the Suzuki Method offers. Traditional approaches to authenticity in teaching treat authenticity as an ‘add-on’ or extra activity such as reflective journaling, whereas the Suzuki Method treats authenticity as inherently embedded in the process of teaching and learning. Given the limited research into the Suzuki Method (Hersh, 1995; Rea, 1999) and my privilege as the first of only three Canadians to graduate from the Talent Education Institute under Dr. Suzuki’s mentorship, I humbly propose to honor Suzuki’s global achievement through a highly personal and critical examination of authenticity in teaching.

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