still our students. They have not had the experiences we have had in our careers. Our successes and failures have brought us all to become the teachers that we are today. More successes and failures are still to come. Allowing our student leaders to take the reign in situations where we know they will succeed is very important to building the confidence of a young leader. As they mature in the leadership experiences, hopefully failure will occur on a small scale so they can understand how failure can also teach us how to become a better leader.
We should be flexible with our methods of guiding the student leaders. I have noticed that some of the most influential teachers are on a continuous learning curve to meet the needs of the students. As teachers, they remain teachable (Goodstein, 1984). In many cases, the content does not change, but the methods may because the students are different every year. The inexperience may be one of the greatest difficulties facing student leaders. They are not always aware of what should be taught and how to teach the same content in multiple perspectives. This is all the more reason to be provide them with experiences that can build their confidence while remaining patient.
Finally, it is okay for student leaders to make mistakes. It is actually something that we should expect if we place them in a true leadership role. As music teachers, we do not want to hear mistakes. We want the sounds our students produce to blend, be in tune, and be perfectly in time. However, if we allow young leaders to be the influential students that can benefit our programs, we must allow them room to make mistakes. If we decide to allow them the opportunity to conduct on a concert, rehearse the band, lead chamber ensembles, or if we just want to try something new with the students as the leaders, mistakes will occur. Just as we desire to see progress in every rehearsal, we should want the same from the young leaders. Our goal is to get near and achieve perfection in the smallest areas so the whole is as close to perfect as we can get, but this is a process and we should allow young leaders to go through the process knowing we are there to support them. In fact, if we do not prepare
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them to lead and improve as leaders, we have made a mistake by giving them a title without any responsibility or the ability to complete tasks expected of their title. We should plan with the student leaders to keep them involved as student influencers throughout their time as leaders in the program. As we are patient with our developing student leaders, we can make plans to engage them in the best leadership experiences in our programs.
References
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper &Row, New York.
Goodstein, R. E. (1984). An investigation into leadership behaviors and descriptive characteristics of band directors in the United States (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (UMI 8424644)
Lautzenheiser, T. (2005). Music Advocacy and Student Leadership: Key Components of Every Successful Music Program. Chicago: GIA Publications.
Phillips, C. R., Trainor, J. E. (2014). Millennial students and the flipped classroom. Journal of Business and Educational Leadership 5(1), 102-112.
Benjamin C. Posey is a Birmingham resident highly involved with local and state music instruction. He served as the Director of Bands and Music Education degrees at Birmingham-Southern College for five years. Currently, Mr. Posey works in the Hoover City School system with Josh Lynch in the R. F. Bumpus Middle School and Brock’s Gap Intermediate School bands. He has earned music education degrees from Samford University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and is pursuing a Ph. D. in Music Education from Auburn University. Mr. Posey lives in the Birmingham area with his wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters.
February/March 2017
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