Students First - continued from page 36
that moves learners–and learning–forward. These teachers model what is to be seen and heard through their language, gestures and clearly articulated high expectations. They are not “Pollyanna” when it comes to discipline; rather, their disciplinary actions are inspired by the overall goal of learning: to change behavior.
Change is a good thing! Really great teachers have clearly refined what a 100% participatory group of students looks like and sounds like. They teach with that in mind. They share that vision with their classes. They refine it as needed and provide feedback to help students regulate and adjust as well. The classroom climate is one of “shared responsibility” where the opportunities for profound learning can occur due to mechanisms that build self- worth, self-discipline and inclusiveness.
I’ve often wondered whether the really great teachers I know were “really great” at the start of their careers, or whether behaviors, attitudes, dispositions and perceptions of students-first can be learned. I’d like to believe the latter! Wouldn’t it be something if every entering music educator started his/her career with the first question, “Who am I teaching?” Followed by a second, “Now that I know who I’m teaching, what do they need to know that I can teach?” With the third question, “Now that I know who I’m teaching, and what they need to know, how will my students best learn this information?”
This topic, and these questions, came to me in a recurring nighttime dream. In it, I stood among people gathered at the Seattle Center fountain, waiting for the spray of water to shoot straight up in the air and fall in an arc back to the asphalt. Each time the water blasted into the air, the droplets would take on human form, growing bigger and bigger as they dropped toward the ground. Each “drop” landed on the cement as a young adult, standing eye to eye with those in the crowd, looking healthy, ambitious, enthusiastic and ready to engage the professional-looking folks assembled around them.
People in the crowd, noticeably surprised by this event, asked, “Where did all these great new music teachers come from?” “Have you ever had so many new music teachers?” “Look at all these new music teachers! Where did they come from?” In my dream, I was always the least surprised of those in the crowd, somehow knowing that these “droplets from the sky” were not just new to the profession, but highly capable, highly qualified and already at the peak of their greatness. There was something about these pre-professionals: their
energy, their intelligence, their
excitement to announce, “We’re here and we can’t wait to teach!” That was magnetic and memorable.
In my wide-awake vision of new teachers, all enter with that same excitement and eagerness to get started. All are looked on as having amazing potential and are guided to become great. In my vision, a full entourage of mentors makes themselves available to these eager novices, providing advice, guidance, insight, resources and a listening ear. In other words, these new teachers begin to recognize the signs and the benefits of positive human relationships. They begin to hear, feel and see the tangible pay-off when connections– one person to another–are made a priority.
With so much to teach, so many deadlines and responsibilities to adhere to, so many festivals, concerts and programs to plan, priorities
can get skewed. When I’m
running on adrenaline from one stressful engagement to the next, I’m afraid my choice to “prioritize-students-first” takes a back seat. This fact becomes obvious in the amount of discipline issues that crop up, in my inability to remember interactions with students, in my line of first asking, “What comes next?” next?”
instead of “Who comes
The really great teachers I know are not perfect. They are likely to state that their path toward becoming highly effective teachers is ongoing. They are present among us. I’ve seen them. I’ve heard them. I’ve watched their students as they’ve walked in and walked out, (usually) feeling
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stronger and more capable exiting than they did entering. These real people, in real classrooms across the country, model what I believe to be the most important traits of exemplary teachers:
1.Valuing
and developing teacher-student relationships
2. Acknowledging, through words and actions, the presence and importance of every single student classroom
in the
3. Asking first, “Who are my students? What do they need? How do they best learn?” when developing instructional plans
4.Creating a vision–a very clear and describable vision–for what a civil and responsible learning environment looks like and sounds like, and leading students toward that vision through carefully feedback
constructed practice and
5.Speaking of one’s students with compassion and pride, with clear levels of high expectations and well- deserved amazement at what they can do when given opportunities to lead
As we experience the pendulum swing of testing, standards-based curricula, “one-size-fits-all” instruction and criteria- based teacher
evaluation systems, let’s
all remember what really matters most: human connection.
Reprinted with permission: Originally Published by Washington Music Educators
Association in VOICE © October 2014 Patricia
Coordinator Education
positive
Bourne is of
Music at Western
Washington University in Bellingham WA. Previously, she taught general music at Canyon Creek Elementary in the
Northshore School District and at Central Washington University. She has served on the Washington MEA Board as Higher Education Officer, Elementary Curriculum Officer, and state collegiate adviser (CWMEA).
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