Future Music Educator Readers,
When do you become an arts educator? Is it when you earn your degree or sign a job contract? Perhaps a better question is: When do you start teaching? Many people describe what you are doing now as “preparing” to teach. But when we change the verb from anticipating to doing—“I am ‘becoming’ an arts educator”—we acknowledge your accomplishments and expect continued practice of your accumulated knowledge and skills. When you are “becoming,” you are developing and growing into your teacher-self.
One conceptual skill that society expects teachers to have is the ability to lead. We can often identify good leaders and even some of the behaviors they exhibit. However, many of us struggle with making those behaviors our own so that we feel competent and confident leading large groups. So how can we become better leaders?
LEADERSHIP
Successful leaders consistently demonstrate some common specific behaviors, no matter their personality, profession, or who they are leading. Furthermore, researchers agree that these behaviors are skills that can be learned and improved upon. Here are a few ways you can practice your leadership skills when working with peers or students.
Be Inspirational. One of the most inspiring things you can do as a teacher is to be great at your craft. Take time to create or perform in educational ways. When you model an ideal outcome beautifully and then immediately provide students with feedback or directions that allow them to see, hear, or feel their own improvement in real time, you gain respect as an artist and trust that you will share your knowledge.
Notes. The goals of modeling (e.g., tone, agility) can transfer across mediums and instruments. So, keep your primary instrument on hand for these needed demonstrations as you continue to gain greater acumen on secondary instruments. The purpose of modeling should be educational; if the focus stays on the teacher for too long, it becomes performative and can result in student frustration and resentment.
Foster Mutual Respect & Trust. Learning is a vulnerable endeavor. We are all more likely to take risks and stay focused on improvement when we feel supported by a teacher and our peers. Respect comes before trust. Model respect by using people’s names, actively listening when someone speaks (i.e., making eye contact and attending and responding to questions/comments), anticipating and providing for academic and physical accommodations, maintaining professional boundaries, and interacting with every person in your group and student in your class.
Model trust by verbalizing your own goals, admitting mistakes, consistently being prepared for lessons or activities, focusing on student improvement, providing honest, specific, helpful feedback, and being predictable in instruction and behavior management. Teach respect and trust by providing students with opportunities to lead and interact with outlined expectations (e.g., tell your partner which measure seems particularly difficult, then try to improve it together). These types of prescribed collaborative activities can simultaneously build relationships, evaluative skills, and confidence.
Notes. Start with short, limited-option, low-stakes feedback opportunities to foster trust and monitor peer interactions. Using “we” and “us” in goal setting builds team rapport and group motivation and tends to make individuals feel more supported by both their leaders and peers.
Be Focused & Responsible. Great leaders coordinate collaboration and facilitate cooperation; in other words, the spotlight is on people achieving a goal, not the leader. This takes intelligent planning, consistent focus, and tenacity. To practice, zoom in and out on a goal (e.g., fundraising, costume mapping, performance) to predict where challenges and time-consuming tasks might arise. Scaffold smaller sets of tasks with frequent deadlines and prepare support and resources in advance. You know you have planned well when everyone is able to stay on task and motivated to achieve the goal.
Notes. One common misconception that leads to peer resentment is that group work should be shared equally. Practice choosing or creating sets of goals or projects that will allow variability in students’ levels of contributions (e.g., project 1 focuses on composing; project 2 focuses on marketing) and then explicitly describe, model, and monitor communication acknowledging differences in group members’ responsibilities, needs, and growth. This can promote buy-in while providing students with practice in professional intelligence.
YOU ARE A LEADER
Remember: You are not preparing to be a leader, you are becoming a successful leader. This means you are deliberately practicing leadership skills whenever opportunities arise. Start in safe places with behaviors that come more naturally to you: perhaps use attentive listening skills with friends, greet people at a family reunion by name, or ask an on-task question when your study group loses focus. As you gain confidence with successful leading experiences, push yourself to practice in more formal settings. Ask professors or cooperating teachers if you can lead additional discussions or sectionals and consider applying for a camp counselor or summer school aide position. Practice! And when you take a breath to reflect on your habitual and deliberate behaviors, you will discover that you are a leader.
Dr. Katrina Cox began her career as the Director of Choral Activities and Drama at Centralia High School in Southern Illinois. Over the past decade, she has created and implemented a wide array of music course curricula (e.g., class guitar and piano, choral methods, world music pedagogy).
