Following on from Petrat's thread, can I ask those with teaching diplomas - DipABRSM, LTCL, whatever, what they feel they have gained from doing the actual exam. Not in terms of being able to use the letters, but in real terms in their daily teaching. What do they do differently now compared to what they did before they did the diploma?

And for anyone who has failed a teaching diploma, what were they failed on? (If you don't mind sharing it!)

For me, the biggest gain to my teaching as a result of doing the dip was a huge boost in my confidence. Someone other than me listened to my thoughts on how to teach things, and decided I wasn't totally barking mad

(Despite the joke in the exam....he did look a little worried at that )

The process of preparing for the exam also gave me a benefit in that I looked hard at my own singing technique in order to be able to answer any technical questions in the exam, and my voice improved as a consequence


Oh, and the examiner suggested a couple of books I might find interesting to read too. So that's another small gain

I gained the most from watching other teachers, not by doing the exam to be honest.

Thank you for the replies so far, guys.

I had a few piano pupils befpre starting on my full time course; just some of my own friends and a couple of cousins who wanted to play. I didn't do any singing teaching apart from giving suoervised lessons when training until after I had pased the exams so I cannot really comment on how my teaching methods have changed. What I do know is that I had been well versed in teaching methods and really made to think about the ins and outs of teaching and training voices of all ages . Voices can be damaged and I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing from the start. I wasn't into the school of thought where you learn by your mistakes, although I have improved my teaching methods over the years of course. I had just one really great teacher before going to college. If I had based my own teaching methods on those of my other teachers I would not have done well by my students. I suppose that they were good examples of how not to give lessons in some cases.
If I was a beginner now looking for a teacher of a new instrument I would certainly look for one with good qualifications on that instrument.