early childhood education
Are You Teaching Outside Your “Comfort” (Read: Content) Area? Corynn Nordstrom, WMEA State Chair, Early Childhood Education
In recent years I have encountered many music educa- tors teaching outside their content area. This trend appears to be growing in Wis- consin as the state continues to broaden licensing in teaching
shortage areas. Most often, instrumental or choral teachers are being tasked with teaching at the elementary level and are most uncomfortable teaching lower el- ementary and Kindergarten students.
The above scenario is exactly how I found myself teaching general music. My
undergraduate studies were in clarinet performance and music education, and my student teaching placements were in middle school and high school band. My first teaching experience out of college was a long-term, traveling sub position teaching beginning strings and percussion. At the time, this “stretch” was much more palatable than teaching general music! When the same district offered me a long- term general music sub position after my position ended, I almost turned it down. One of my colleagues gently persuaded me to give it a try. I will forever be indebted to his advice because since taking that posi- tion, I fell in love with elementary general music and haven’t looked back.
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Of course, I understand that not everyone will change their career path, but I do believe that if you ask for help and gain access to quality resources and education, you will find yourself in a teaching posi- tion where you are comfortable and confi- dent. I will never forget walking into that general music classroom on the first day of my long term sub appointment, looking at the shelves of egg shakers, scarves, rhythm sticks, ribbons, bean bags, boomwhack- ers, jingle sticks...and thinking to myself, “What do I DO with all of this?” Asking for help is the first step.
The first people I reached out to were the other elementary music teachers in the district, and they were more than willing to give advice, materials, and direct me to resources. I found time to observe their teaching. Also, the elementary classroom teachers in the building were invaluable resources, helping me to understand the different developmental stages in young children as well as learn classroom management strategies. Ask your district for time to observe classroom elemen- tary teachers as well as general music teachers. If you are the only elementary music teacher in your district, ask for professional development time to observe another music teacher outside of your district. If you do not have one, ask your district to provide you with a mentor. The best case scenario would be to have a building mentor who helps you navigate your school culture and norms, and then a content mentor to guide and support your music teaching.
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April 2018
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