Director vs. Teacher

I was fortunate to have great music teachers from age 5 on. Starting with my first piano teacher who taught me the music staff, to my children's choir director who shared his love of making music, to my middle school band teacher who emphasized understanding music theory and sight-reading. As I got older in high school in college these teachers turned into directors, it was more student management and the rehearsal grind. Now there were moments I again saw their passion and love of music; in those moments we as a group really shone.

In this era of complex evaluation, merit pay and the slow death of tenure do we need to reconsider the role of band director? I have always thought of myself as a band teacher. This is probably why I gravitated towards elementary band, but if high school had happened I feel I would have gone in the same direction.

It is a fine line to consider when working with music students. Is our goal great concerts and/or top contest ratings? Is our goal students gaining a love and respect of music? Is our goal greater musical understanding?

I think great teachers don't have to choose. When we teach to the whole student, go deep into the music: learning the theory, history and meaning of the music, we accomplish all of those goals.

I think is this era of accountability we are given the opportunity to really shine, to prove how beneficial music really is. We can use these new challenges to our advantage.

Ideas to consider:

1. Taking rehearsal time to learn more theory.

2. Taking rehearsal time to have students learn the history of the songs and/or the composer's intent.

3. Having students compose and do projects related to music they are working on.

4. Discuss real life applications/careers in the music field.

We need to keep what we do relevant. As a music teacher we KNOW what we do is benefiting students but sometimes we need to go beyond just the notes and rhythms and playing well to prove it.

I'm going to wrap up this slightly rambling post with a plug. I believe in Comprehensive Musicianship, teaching with intention and proper planning. If you want to discover more about this philosophy of teacher check out one of these sites:

http://www.wmea.com/CMP/

http://www.ilcmp.org/

http://www.iowacmp.org/