Nature vs. Nurture

I took our daughter to her first piano "competition" today.  She only started taking lessons this past summer with several breaks for teacher or student travels, so our goal for her today was simply to gain some experience playing for a judge.  She wasn't competing against other students but simply playing for a judge who would give her a rating with comments.  We didn't even know which pieces she would be playing for this competition until last week, so clearly, her teacher was careful not to put any pressure on her whatsoever.

When we first arrived, I felt a strange sense of de'j`a vu.  During my youth, I competed in federation contests and hymn festivals numerous times, but the event itself wasn't the only thing that felt both strange and familiar.  What I also felt was an emotion similar to what I experienced as a 17 year old girl when I first stepped off the airplane in Japan for a student exchange program.  There was so much to see and do in Japan, but what was immediately obvious to me was that I did not look like everyone else.   

Out of curiosity and the sheer respect I gained while in Japan for Asian education techniques, we chose to pursue a Suzuki style of piano instruction for our daughter's first year of lessons.  At this competition, a large majority of the students looked more like Mr. Suzuki than my daughter did!  I was easily intimidated because my life experiences have given me the biased perception of Asian people as being exceptionally brilliant and musically gifted.  Our little girl, however, was much more interested in the American Girl book she brought with her to read while waiting for her turn than she was in the outward appearances of others.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

We spent some time in prayer together before we got out of my vehicle.  I asked the Lord to give her peace, help her do her best, and be gloried through our attitudes and actions.  She was a tad nervous but not at all afraid.  She was nervous because it was a new experience, but her confidence in God cast out all fear (1 John 4:18).  Update:  We just found out that the judge gave her a Superior rating overall and in all categories, so we are thankful to God for keeping her at peace and for enabling her to play her best.

The event was huge with over 1300 participants.  I was ushered into a crowded auditorium with all the other parents of students who were playing during that one 5 minute time slot!  While waiting, I began reading one of Suzuki's books about his educational philosophy.  He clearly favors nurture over nature.  He strongly challenges parents to provide an ideal environment in which children can grow and learn, especially during the first 4 years.  (Oops, my youngest is 4, so it is too late for our kids?)

Dr. Shinichi Suzuki

He encourages parents to expose their children to high quality music at an early age.  As children listen to fine music and watch their parents play, they will begin developing a passion for music and should be eager to learn and practice when they begin formal study.  Students may obey if their parents constantly nag them to practice their instruments, but true talent develops best when the student desires to practice out of a nurtured appreciation for high quality music.

As an adopted child who now knows (by miraculous means) both of my birth parents and even the foster parent who cared for me between placement for adoption and placement into a permanent home, I think my life experience can serve as a test for Suzuki's theories.   As far as I can tell, neither of my birth parents were musical proteges.  I don't think they played musical instruments at all.  My foster mother, however, is a skilled musician who plays the piano often at home and regularly exposed me to fine music during my brief four months with her.  My beloved parents (adoptive) both took some piano lessons as children, but neither continued to play for very long.  By the time I was five years old, however, I was begging my parents for piano lessons.  Back then, age 5 was considered too early for lessons.  Yet, the desire was already deep rooted within me.  If what Suzuki wrote is true, then those 4 months spent in the home of a musician helped develop a love for music within me.  I do not have any special musical talent in my genetic composition.  Yet, a passion for piano compelled me to practice regularly, and my parents provided me with the tools, instruction, and environment I needed to excel. 

Suzuki has tested his ideas on children labeled as "slow" in the Japanese schools.  He mentioned in the book one little girl who could not even count past 3 when she entered the school system.  He discovered that her home life did not provide a suitable environment for learning.  Her parents did not value education, nor did they attempt to teach her.  As her school teachers began to work with her, they applauded each tiny step of improvement she made in her learning.  As she gained confidence in those little things, her attention span increased, and she eventually passed the entrance exams for one of the finest universities in her country. The nurture of her teachers helped her overcome her rough beginning.  (Whew, it isn't too late for my children after all!)  Suzuki encourages parents to make learning enjoyable for their children and to praise their progress so that they can build confidence and concentration endurance. 

Let's just hope that providing a "suitable environment" does not require buying her a 6 figure piano!

I usually try to compare any teaching, secular or otherwise, with the Scriptures before accepting it. God is our perfect parent and teacher, so He should be our example.  He created man in His own image so we were created with the capacity to learn, achieve, and please Him.  However, God is more concerned with our motivation than our actions, so He gave mankind free will.  He doesn't nag us to practice piano, study our lessons, or obey him as we parents do with our children.  He delights when we desire to do those things out of love for Him and for all that is good and holy.   With that free choice, man fell into sin.  So, when it comes to nature, all men are born with a sin nature. (Romans 3:23)

What about nurture?  God nurtures a love for Him and for His beauty by revealing Himself through creation.  He nurtures a passion for righteousness through Christ's example on earth.  Christ certainly nurtured his 12 disciples.  He demonstrated perfect love through his sacrifice on the cross for the sinners who rejected Him.

1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.

God instructs parents to train children up in His ways and in His righteousness (Proverbs 22:6, Deuteronomy 4:10).  Establishing the right environment for children certainly ups their chances for coming to faith and living righteously, but it is by no means a guarantee.   Works alone will not overcome the sin nature.

^" know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified." (Galatians 2:16)

Only faith in Christ's payment for our sins on our behalf through his horrific suffering and death on the cross can overcome the sin nature and give each of us a new nature and a new identity as a child of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Moses is an example of a child who was born with the nature of an Israelite, nurtured by his Hebrew family during his earliest days, and then adopted into the home of the Egyptian Pharoah where he received the nurture and training of an Egyptian ruler.   God called Moses out of Pharoah's house to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  Neither nature nor nurture can hold a candle to the powerful calling of God.  God may work both our nature and our nurture together for His good (Romans 8:28), but nothing can thwart His plan.

Job 42:2
"I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

My conclusion is that Suzuki's ideas can be supported by Scripture in part and do have their place.  Parents most certainly should provide the best possible learning environment for their children.  Scriptures do teach that parents are ultimately and primarily responsible for the education of their children.  Nature certainly isn't the only indicator for a child's destiny.  I do believe, however, that Suzuki's methods omit the most powerful indicator of a child's potential, God's plan!  Regardless of the child's nature or nurture, God will equip those He calls with whatever education, resources, or abilities that are required (Philippians 4:18-19), and He will do so in such a way that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

^"for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)

My other concern with Suzuki's teaching is that it could tempt the parent and/or the student to develop a prideful heart.  If a child excels in music after a parent has diligently followed Suzuki's methods, that parent may be tempted to feel too much personal pride. Likewise, the student, having worked so diligently, may consider himself/herself more highly that he/she ought.

Romans 12:3
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

Whatever we do and whatever method we use, our primary purpose and aim should be to do so with excellence for God's glory alone (1 Corinthians 10:31).