In addition to practice, recruiting, and instruction of students, the music teacher must also learn to emphasize personal and professional growth.
Part 4 of Enhancing the Professional Practice of Music Teachers: 101 Tips that Principals Want Music Teachers to Know and Do focuses on Tips that Enhance the Profession.
Among the 23 tips offered are:
- Invite the Mayor to Conduct – Music has the power to draw people together and create goodwill within a community. Take time to think how simple community gestures could enhance interest in a future concert.
- Sing, Dance, Create, and Perform – Create a school climate where students can be expressive, move, and use their imaginations without feeling someone will poke fun. They’ll participate, learn, and enjoy them when they feel comfortable.
- Understand the Child of Poverty – Strive to provide every child with a music education by finding instruments for students who can’t afford them, sponsors for those who can’t afford uniform or participation fees, and arranging transportation to practices and performances for students who would otherwise be left behind.
Tips for Personal Growth is made up of 11 tips in Part 5. These tips include:
- Don’t Write Memos While Angry (or Frustrated) – It will come back to haunt you. Buy time by taking a deep breath or running five miles. Put the nasty memo aside, cool off, read it when you’ve calmed down, and revise it. Run it by a co-worker before sending. If something tells you not to send it, don’t.
- Commiserate, But Be Careful Where – You never know who might be listening. Select a safe place to share your experiences, feelings, and thoughts with a mentor or confidant. Be willing to listen when you are given good advice.
- Know When to Leave – Staying when conditions inhibit your growth or creative spirit will lead to cynicism and burnout. Music teachers need to stretch beyond their comfort zone and move to a more advanced position once they have accomplished all possible goals.
For complete tips and details, Enhancing the Professional Practice of Music Teachers: 101 Tips that Principals Want Music Teachers to Know and Do is available with a 25% discount to MENC members from Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Author Paul Young, a graduate of the Ohio University School of Music, is a former music teacher and elementary school principal. He currently is the Executive Director of the West After School Center in Lancaster, Ohio, and an adjunct professor of music at Ohio University-Lancaster.
Common Sense Tips, Part 1
Common Sense Tips, Part 2
—Becky Spray, December 9, 2009 © MENC: The National Association for Music Education