“We cannot simply strive for a majority of adequacy … leaders must know what better is and motivate people to break the mold.” – @pisanojm
The #MusEdChat held on July 12, 2010 discussed the advantages and opportunities for student leadership in the music classroom. The discussion included suggestions of how to appoint leaders, or how to go about leadership-role elections.
Benefits of Student Leadership
At the beginning of the chat, participants relayed that some leaders are born with the skill of leadership, but others can be taught leadership. One of the benefits of leadership is that the leaders end up learning as much as the people they are leading. @thomasjwest said, “The best way to learn something is to have to teach it to someone else. Student leaders get to do that.” Multiple teachers said that a big benefit is that leadership instills a sense of responsibility in students, which includes taking ownership of the ensemble.
How to Choose
While discussing the many benefits of student leadership, some participants wondered how to fairly select student leaders. As stated earlier in the chat, student leadership can be an extrinsic motivator for the students who are chosen, but could have a negative effect on the students who are not. Many suggestions were offered for this. Some stated that students should vote for which student they want in leadership positions. Many had confidence that the students know who would make the best leaders. Depending on the position, some teachers had different ways of choosing, such as holding auditions and interviews. Despite the method of choosing, not everybody can be a leader. To this, @pisanojm responded, “Everyone cannot have a leadership role all the time, but they all should have equal opportunity to try for those roles.”
Chair Placement
The #MusEdChat participants had differing opinions on using chair placement and section leaders in ensembles. Many of the participants felt that chair placement developed unnecessary divides in the group, and that it only motivated first-chair players to practice, while others may go to extremes such as quitting or not cooperating. Other chat participants did like and use chair placement in their ensembles. Their reasoning was that those who didn’t cooperate, or quit the ensemble wanted to be a boss, not a leader. If they quit or don’t participate, then they don’t hold the ensemble higher in importance than their title, and probably shouldn’t be in a leadership position anyway.
Music teachers were adamant about making section leader assignments based on chair placement. Many felt that if a student is the best player in a section, that doesn’t mean they are the best leader.
Other Leadership Opportunities
The #MusEdChat participants also discussed other opportunities for leadership other than section leaders and chair placement. @justine_robin suggested that teachers do in-class assignments that give every student the chance to be a leader. Others suggested allowing students to run rehearsals when the teacher is absent. @richardmccready stated that he gives opportunities for leadership in his Music Technology classes through kids who like to tutor and help others in the class. Multiple participants had experience with allowing older students in an ensemble to direct a song. The idea of student-lead small ensembles was also discussed briefly (Check out the previous #MusEdchat on Small Ensembles!) Regardless of the role, it is important for teachers to create an environment that supports the efforts of leadership in the classroom. @jimfrankel shared,” I created officer positions with specific roles trying to foster leadership. Kids couldn’t handle responsibility or resentment.” He went on to say,”I believe students can really shine in a leadership role, but the teacher has to create the right environment.”
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