By Jon Bubbett
Teaching music is fun! As music educators, this “lights us up!” Teaching music is our professional existence! But it isn’t only about the music; it’s about relating to people and helping young minds become the best versions of themselves. Music is our medium, and the reward is seeing our students experience the joy of making music. “The Job” is everything we must do to teach music. Dealing with administration, parents, challenging students, conflicts, other teachers, staff members, endless administrative duties, communications—the list is endless.
Countless volumes of books, articles, and podcasts have been produced on how to be better music teachers. However, not enough resources exist to explore what causes us the most stress.
If there were one book educators wish administrators should read, it would be this one! If there existed one book administrators would want educators to read, it would be this one! The authors offer several scenarios to illustrate and guide the reader. These scenarios apply to all educators, not just music educators!
Part One – Communication, Responsibility, Community, and Culture
“Communication—the glue that holds the ever-changing landscape of education together.”
Chapter one deals with the intricacies of interacting with other people. The goal is to “develop a toolkit” of communication practices.
“…the ultimate beneficiary of all of our actions and decisions should be the student.”
“…let your guiding principle be the greater good of your students.”
Chapter two explores responsibility and how it manifests itself. It explains the importance of being trustworthy and reliable to all stakeholders in education. How do we deal with enforcing school rules and the contradictions that arise when they are not implemented consistently? We can better deal with these inconsistencies by building trust, setting clear expectations, and promoting unity.
“…caring comes in many forms, and sometimes, the best care we can offer is insisting that our students adhere to the guidelines and rules that will keep them safe.”
Community and culture are the focus of chapter three.
“Without getting to know our students and their communities, it becomes challenging to provide them with the best educational experience.”
Focusing on relationship building, tuning into their language, and understanding their world is more than how they combine words. Understanding factors that shape community dynamics, such as local festivals and events, family situations, and mobility, are all issues we should be aware of. Those cultural complexities are also present in our classrooms. We must understand the importance of building rapport with students, parents, and co-workers.
The chapter on BBR: A Three-Step Framework for Conflict Resolution may be the most crucial chapter any teacher could read. This step-by-step guide on how to respond to conflicts is pure gold! When conflicts arise, understand how to respond by breathing/breaking, reflecting on the situation without emotion, and reacting calmly and positively.
Part Two – Exploring the Ambiguities
Decision-making can be nerve-racking and exhausting in any profession. It is significant when the outcome potentially affects the well-being of several people. Your decisions extend to the students and their families.
A definitive process or “checklist” ensures you make the best possible decisions. Keeping positive relationships with colleagues, parents, and administrators is critical. Understanding the need for personal boundaries and self-care is also vital.
Part Three – Scenarios in Music Education
Now, we get to the heart of the book! These words are pure gold! This section focuses on real-life scenarios these veteran educators have experienced, and now they are sharing their wisdom with you!
Here is “The Job” part of what we do.
We say, “We didn’t learn that in college…” because you must learn it in life.
Careful consideration of these scenarios will save you thousands of hours of worry and hundreds of sleepless nights!
Topics covered in this section include chapters on:
Student Scenarios
Parent Scenarios
Administrative Scenarios
Colleague and Other Party Conflicts
Each scenario is presented based on the authors’ experiences and how they managed it. Sometimes, the authors disagree, and those disagreements are explored as well. While some of these solutions may seem “iron-clad,” these “The Job” scenarios are seldom clear-cut.
Part Four – Sample Communications
Often, the hardest thing to do when communicating with others is simply getting started. Here, you will find samples of communications covering a variety of areas, including:
Welcome Emails
Communication Home
Financial Scripts
Each section has several examples to help you get started. Your personalized “templates” can be saved and used again, increasing productivity and saving hundreds of work hours.
Unfortunately, no book or resource covers everything you need to know as a teacher. However, this book is a “must-read” for dealing with daily interactions with people of different backgrounds and cultures.
2024 • GIA Publications, Inc • 219pp • $23.95
JonBubbettMusic.com
