Transitioning from Collegiate to Professional – Part III

April 14, 2018May 5, 2020 paulkfoxLeave a comment

The Final Leap from Pre-Service to In-Service:

The Metamorphosis and Integration of Philosophy, Maturity, and Teacher Preparation

To “wrap-up” our final segment, we will review the development of a professional “marketing plan.” This is blog #3 out of 3. (Be sure to also check out #1 and #2, too.)

These are three critical skills you need to foster in the search for a school music position, marketing yourself, interviewing, and landing a “good” job:

Personal branding (who are you, what makes you unique, and what do you have to offer?)
Story telling (anecdotes) of your positive attributes and personal brand, including a record of your habits of “engagement” in music education, and
Networking (associating with other professionals and getting your positive stories “out there”).

Personal Branding

“Personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. While previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal-branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging… Personal branding is essentially the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual, group, or organization.”

– Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_branding

What is the difference between marketing and branding? According to some, “marketing is what you do, branding is what you are.” (www.tronviggroup.com/the-difference-between-marketing-and-branding/)

Shama Hyder posted “7 Things You Can Do to Build an Awesome Personal Brand” at http://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2014/08/18/7-things-you-can-do-to-build-an-awesome-personal-brand/, including the following outlined summary:

Start thinking of yourself as a brand
Audit your online presence
Secure a personal website
Find ways to produce value
Be purposeful in what you share
Associate with other strong brands
Reinvent

During these waning months for college music education seniors, now is the time to finalize the preparations for personal branding and beginning the employment search! Personal branding is critical to help you “stand above the rest,” showing that you have what it takes and would be a major asset to a prospective employer, and defining and marketing your own unique qualities that would make you “a good fit” for the specific job openings.

The branding process involves first developing your philosophy of music education, archiving your awards and accomplishments, documenting your grades and experiences, and collecting stories/personal anecdotes of your strengths. The next steps include the creation of a written and electronic portfolio, business card, resume, and website. Finally, you must compile/assemble everything together and practice (and self-assess) your “story-telling skills” to answer those important questions at well-rehearsed “mock interviews.”

You will likely not have enough time to complete all of these tasks during methods classes or student teaching seminars. That’s okay. If you are serious about prepping yourself to find a great music teaching job, the valuable links (see below) and articles are out there… just manage your time and start reading.

Networking

According to the article “Network Your Way to Secure a Teaching Job” at https://resumes-for-teachers.com/job-search-help/teacher-network/, many people are unaware of the basics of networking and how to use them it to their advantage in securing a job:

“Networking simply refers to finding job-related contacts. Most teachers who are just beginning their careers may feel that they have few, if any, networking contacts in the teaching field. It is important to consider the many different areas of networking as you create your own group of networking contacts to help you secure a teaching job. It is interesting to note that many of the teaching positions that are filled each year are filled by those who came to the attention of personnel managers by recommendation.”

“Always think about adding to your teaching network. When meeting new people, be certain to add them to your network. Talk to them about your skills, education, experience, and learn about their jobs. Make sure that you always ask for a business card.”

Do you have a business card? Is your résumé updated and available online on your professional website?

As I laid out in a previous blog “Networking Niceties: The ‘How-To Schmooze’ Guide for Prospective Music Teachers” at https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/networking-niceties/, the concept of networking is two-way communications. Just like collective sets of nerve synapses, two-way connections are expected to fire repeatedly in all directions. That’s actually the science behind memory. For professional networking, it is your “charge” to create multiple pathways to/from school HR managers and secretaries, administrators, music supervisors and department heads, and music teachers… and YOU – your skills, accomplishments, unique qualities, experience, education, and personality traits.

The above blog-post also explores setting up a good organizational system to manage your professional contacts.

If you are a Pennsylvania collegiate member (PCMEA), I heartily recommend the article “Networking 101” by Dr. Kathleen Melago, PCMEA State Advisor and Associate Professor of Music Education at Slippery Rock University, published in the Summer 2017 issue of the state journal PMEA News (pages 40-42). Here are several quotes from her work:

“One of the most common ways music educators can plan to network is at conventions. First, try to avoid interacting only with people from your school or people you already know from other schools. Go to sessions that interest you and look for opportunities to meet people there. Before the session starts, introduce yourself to people sitting around you. Use your social skills to assess whether they seem like they want to engage in a conversation or not. After the session, go up and meet the presenter.”

“Of course, social media is another great way to build your network. Networking with professionals already in the field can help you see what they are doing and help you build ideas of what you would like to do in your program someday.”

“Sometimes, you might find yourself networking unexpectedly. For example, you might go into school to work with their clarinet section during band camp and just happened to meet the choir teacher. That is networking!”

“To help your networking be most effective you need to have good communication skills. When interacting with others in a networking situation, be sure to focus on the person with whom you are speaking. Avoid looking off into the distance as if you were to anticipating someone else more important coming by. But your cell phone away and be present to the conversation.”

“Be yourself in your networking interactions. If you pretend that you are someone you are not, you will either end up unhappy or you’ll be discovered is someone who is not genuine.”

Dr. Melago goes on to provide a myriad of excellent examples of networking skills and opportunities.

Another resource specifically for networking at music teachers conferences is posted at https://nafme.org/getting-music-conferences/.

Engagement

Here is an excellent definition of “professional engagement” from “Domains of Teaching” of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership at https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/understand-the-teacher-standards/domains-of-teaching.

Teachers model effective learning. They identify their own learning needs and analyze, evaluate and expand their professional learning, both collegially and individually.

Teachers demonstrate respect and professionalism in all their interactions with students, colleagues, parents/carers and the community. They are sensitive to the needs of parents/carers and can communicate effectively with them about their children’s learning.

Teachers value opportunities to engage with their school communities within and beyond the classroom to enrich the educational context for students. They understand the links between school, home and community in the social and intellectual development of their students.

Engagement for prospective music teacher may include synonyms like “participate,” “enroll,” “join,” “be active,” “volunteer,” “seek experience,” and “make a difference!”

Are you a member of your professional music education associations?

NAfME National Association for Music Education
PCMEA Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educators Association, or another state’s local NAfME collegiate chapter
PMEA Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, or another state’s NAfME-affiliated MEA
ACDA American Choral Directors Association
ASTA American String Teachers Association
NBA National Band Association

Did (or will) you attend your state music teachers’ conference and local workshops on music education and professional development?

To prove you are “professionally engaged,” I would expect to see a consistent record of modeling in the following areas:

Self-reflection of the professional’s teaching practices and modification of these as needed to match changes in the environment and circumstances
Self-assessment of the professional’s methods and approaches, as well as the progress of the students’ learning, using both formative and summative methods for constant and ongoing improvement
Identification and planning of professional learning needs.
Unsupervised (or unplanned by school administration) goal-setting and self-guided implementation of opportunities for professional development
Association with professional learning communities, school and community meetings, and other collaborative projects
Volunteer service in music and music education
Membership and subscription to music education journals and participation in online professional community discussion groups

Many have said that aspiring to be a music educator is a lot like a calling. One school superintendent I know said he expected prospective new recruits to show high energy, enthusiasm, sense of purpose, and dedication during the interview… even a supposed willingness to “lay down in front of a school bus” or “do what ever it takes” to make the students (and the educational program) successful. That’s engagement!

In summary, becoming a music educator is about finding your inner confidence, a mindset that you know what you’re doing, and that you’re ready for that real world experience. You’ve learned those essential skills in conducting, piano accompaniment, arranging, student behavior modification and discipline, music diagnosis and remediation, and even how to market your professionalism. Now… drum roll, please! Here’s… a master music teacher!

In closing, here are supplementary materials to help you to “get your feet wet,” all free and available online. The following lists, although not comprehensive, are a good place to start (courtesy of https://www.pmea.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Collegiate-Communique-No11-022218-2.pdf):

Good luck!

Personal Branding, Marketing, and Networking

Business Cards

Résumés

Portfolios and Websites

Interview Questions, Techniques, and Skills of “Story-Telling”

PKF

Photo credits (in order) from Pixabay.com: “tutor” by nrjfalcon1, “trumpet” by congerdesign, “skills” by diwou, “phone” by Robin-Higgins, “OK” by Robin-Higgins, “feedback” by geralt, “young” by Robin-Higgins, “music” by ricardo-vasquez, “excited” by Robin-Higgins, and “classical-music” by pexels.

Transitioning from Collegiate to Professional – Part II

March 11, 2018May 5, 2020 paulkfox1 Comment

The Final Leap from Pre-Service to In-Service:

The Metamorphosis and Integration of Philosophy, Maturity, and Teacher Preparation

This segment, Part 2 of the series, and will continue with an examination of ongoing music teacher preparation (much of it “direct instruction”) and mentoring programs.

Moving from “Book Learning” to “Practical Application”

It is a challenge to squeeze everything necessary into a college curriculum for music education certification: mastery of your major instrument/voice, music theory, music history, sight-singing/ear-training, conducting, piano proficiency, instrumental and vocal methods, etc. The school from which I matriculated (Carnegie-Mellon University) had a five-year-plus program guiding me towards the degrees of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music and Masters of Fine Arts in Music Education. Even with the extra year of classes, time over the summers, and practical “on-the-job training,” many things were overlooked.

NOW IS THE TIME to fill in these gaps!

First off, how well do you know common educational jargon? Prior to your interviews, it would be good to review the terms (and even abbreviations) in frequent use. My music education methods courses never got around to detailed definitions and applications of…

The Common Core
Whole Child Initiatives
21^st Century Learning Skills
Flipped Classrooms and Blended Schools
Multiple Intelligences
Depth of Knowledge (DOK) and/or Higher Order of Thinking Skills (HOTS)
Customization, Differentiation, and Individualization
Formative, Summative, Diagnostic, and Authentic Assessments

Just for fun (a crossword puzzle), how many of these acronyms can you identify? https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/the-alphabet-soup-of-educational-acronyms/

One of the tasks in “year one” of my first position was to write a course of study for junior high school music appreciation. I had received no training in writing curriculum. The “hurry-up” self-tutoring was stressful, and occupied many long nights and weekends. However, by December, I had satisfied my principal’s instructions and then began preparation over winter recess to teach that course for the coming second semester.

Since then, I have written dozens of course curriculum. Most of them required familiarity with the national and state standards in music, and a backwards-design approach introduced by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (UbD) in the planning of curriculum “maps,” setting goals before choosing instructional methods and forms of assessment, and formulating essential questions (EQ), enduring understandings (EU), etc. (See: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/.)

Bottom line: Start now and assume the role and responsibilities of a professional music educator. Begin researching (even practicing) writing lesson targets, lesson plans, and even curriculum. Seek resources like the PMEA Model Curriculum Framework: https://www.pmea.net/resources/pennsylvania-music-standards/.

Other areas on which you may need to “catch-up” are:

Behavior management, disciplinary procedures (especially preventive practices) and posting class or ensemble rules
Valid assessments, scoring/rubrics, and use of the school’s grading system
Provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other confidentiality policies
Individual education plans (IEP) and accommodating students with disabilities
Management of a proverbial “sea of paper” required of all music educators: purchase and repair requisitions, absences reports, student attendance records, conference requests, induction/in-service program assignments, etc.
Public relations and communications with parents and the community

It would not hurt to purchase and read cover-to-cover at least one book like The Everything New Teacher Book by Melissa Kelly (Adams Media, 2004) or The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools and Activities for Meeting the Challenges of Each School Day by Julia G. Thompson (John Wiley & Sons, 2013).

In addition, take advantage of the outstanding free resources on the NAfME “Music in a Minuet” blog-site, like the following articles:

Artist vs. Teacher

The transition from a collegiate musician and pre-service educator to becoming an in-service “master teacher” involves the balance of two distinct skill sets: depth of knowledge vs. methodology. Both are absolutely essential!

In the first several years of classes like music theory, solfeggio, eurhythmics, and lessons on your major instrument or voice, most college programs focus on developing your own deep understanding and musicianship.

No one should become a music teacher who has not previously achieved a near-virtuoso level of playing/singing on their own part. The profession demands a high degree of technical mastery and artistry… which you will need when you stand in front of a school choir, band, or orchestra to prepare repertoire rated above a level 3 or 4.

However, in the methods classes that come later (perhaps in the second through fourth year?), the basics of “how-to teach” will come. Of course, as you sit in a class teaching you to “cross the break” on a clarinet or play a scale on the flute with good tone, you must also absorb (and remember) the finite steps required in the lesson to pass on this knowledge and skill, not just honk or squeak a few times to master the proficiency exam for yourself.

In addition, your studio teacher may help you to grasp the pedagogical concepts of these abstract but important foundations:

Assessment of student needs and diagnosis of problems and solutions to learning
Application of brain theory to “making connections” in order to recommend solutions to problems and in planning lessons
“Scaffolding of learning” techniques (interrelated “building blocks” of curriculum)
Creation of stories and analogies to introduce specific learning objectives such as the principles of breathing, embouchure, pitch, steady beat and rhythm, bowing or moving with a natural and efficient follow-through, etc.
Team building and collaborative learning
Leadership and the cornerstone of trust

One of the best courses I took at Carnegie-Mellon University was “repertoire class,” offered for no credit and no grade, but required by my string professor. We sat in a circle Monday afternoon for two hours and played solo selections assigned by our studio teacher, after which one-by-one we commented on each other’s performance. We learned the art of listening, prioritizing areas for improvement, and how to give constructive criticism and positive remediation without “crushing” the feelings of the player… probably among the most valuable lessons I later carried with me to my job as full-time string teacher in grades 5-12.

You will be required to seek additional research, study, and at times “re-tool” outside what was presented in your methods courses. Some of these new “best practices” will be presented by the induction or in-service training of your school district. When I was hired by the Upper St. Clair School District, a big three+ year professional development program was the Madeline Hunter Model of Mastery Learning. Grudgingly (at first I did not see the purpose), I came to realize that labeling and defining the “eight steps of effective lesson plan design” improved my overall skills as an educator, especially in many of her strategies of “anticipatory set,” “modeling,” “checking for understanding,” and “guided practice…” none of which were ever mentioned even briefly in my five-and-a-half years in college. (For more info, read https://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/turnaround-principles/8-steps-effective-lesson-plan-design-madeline-hunter.pdf.)

Finally, I have said this before in past blogs: “You may be the best musician this side of the Mississippi, someone who has perfect pitch, can conduct Orff’s Carmina Burana or Shostakovich‘s Festive Overture blindfolded, play an extremely fast and even paradiddle on the snare drum, and sing a high “A” with perfect intonation and tone, but if you cannot inspire students, work with coworkers, and communicate effectively with the parents, your chances for success in the public schools is doomed from the start.

Generalist vs. Specialist

Whenever presenting at college chapters of NAfME or music education methods classes, I always try to ask the students several things on a one-to-one basis:

What is your focus or main subject area?
What would be your ideal job?
Do you see yourself as a band maestro… choral director… string teacher… jazzer… general music instructor… or early-childhood specialist?

Of course, these are “trick questions.” The answer should be “I want to teach music,” or even better, “I want to teach children.” In most of the school districts across the country (with a few exceptions in the Midwest and places that accept teaching specialty certification by grade level or subject area), you are licensed to teach music in grades Pre-K to 12. At no point in any conversation with a potential administrator (or colleague who may become a member of the screening committee for a music opening) do you want to be “pigeon-holed,” or give the impression “I can only teach_____.”

It is important to “apply your skills” and become a well-rounded “generalist,” while embracing the concept of unity in education, which includes the following philosophy (shared at college seminars):

The needs of “The Whole Child” are a priority.
All course offerings are equal in importance.
Most school districts do not design and administer their curriculum solely on one approach like Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze, or Suzuki.
Avoid being labeled and “branded” to an exclusive subject area or grade level.
Multiple certifications and skills may be helpful to land a job (although later they may become liabilities if you never teach them).
Utilize your college resources now to “broaden your training” and lessen your insecurities.
Figure out your worse area – work on it now! (Get lessons, join ensembles, ask help from your peers, etc.)
Develop resources – people and programs to get and keep your job!

I ask, imagine what would be your worst assignment?

Coach a primary student to match pitch or maintain a steady beat.
Teach beginning or advanced guitar.
Introduce jazz improvisation for the first time to middle school instrumentalists.
Start a string program.
Accompany the chorus (any grade level) and be able to play simultaneously some or all the vocal parts in rehearsal (demonstrate altos and tenors only, soprano 2-alto 1-bass 1, etc.).
Accompany, direct/teach the drama, and choreograph the middle school musical.
Adjudicate and coach a high school instrumental or vocal ensemble.
Set-up a keyboard lab and instruct students in composition and A.P. Music Theory.
Arrange the music and chart the halftime show for the high school marching band.

If you think you are a “miserable” pianist, take a few extra lessons. Or conquer your other “fears” such as learning to sing better, playing a new string instrument, crossing the break once again on the clarinet, practicing jazz , etc.

Cultivating a Mentor or Two

Ego and arrogance has no place in the teaching profession. Where did I hear this saying? “The more you think you know, the less you actually know.” Joining a mentoring program or finding a formal or informal veteran teacher “buddy” will go far to insuring your professional success and dodging those first-year teacher “pot holes” (dumb but common blunders) and “rookie blues.”

Your state MEA may have a mentoring program. Go to their website. A quick (non-comprehensive) Google scan of “music teacher mentors” fetched links for the following:

California: http://www.calmusiced.com/index.php/cmea/cmea-mentorship-program
Michigan: http://mmeamichigan.org/professional-development/mentoring/
North Carolina: https://www.ncmea.net/programs/mentoring-program/
Oklahoma: http://okmea.org/mentorship/one-to-one-mentoring-program/
Pennsylvania: https://www.pmea.net/specialty-areas/mentor-program/
Texas: https://www.tmea.org/programs/mentoring-network
Wisconsin: http://wmeamusic.org/pro-development/mentoring/

A well-defined description for the benefits of first-year teacher orientation and connection and assignment to a “senior advisor” comes from TMEA:

These blog-posts are also excellent resources:

Retired music teachers are another excellent resource. For example, if you live or work in Pennsylvania, many post-employed PMEA members have placed their name and contact information on the Retiree Resource Registry to serve as willing, capable, and informal consultants for pre-service, novice, or other members recently transferred into a non-major specialty “outside their comfort zone.”

R3 documents the amazing record of contributions of some of the still most active albeit retired PMEA members while it allows needy members access to “expert advice” on a number of essential topics:

Although it is free, the advice and experience of these retirees may be considered “priceless.” In addition, retired music teachers may have more time available to confer in person or by phone, respond to your concerns more quickly, and have a few “quick fixes” or share their “bag of tricks” to solve the problems of “newbie teachers.” It’s all about, “been there, done that!”

All you have to do? Just ask for a little help! You won’t be sorry.

Please feel free to comment on this blog-post. What are your thoughts?

The “finale” (Part 3) is coming soon and will devote discussion on these concepts, significant issues about marketing your abilities and getting a job as a music teacher:

Personal Branding
Networking
Engagement

PKF

Photo credits (in order) from Pixabay.com: “tutor” by nrjfalcon1, “woman” by RobinHiggins, “microphone” by KimKin, “excited” by RobinHiggins, “boy” by Silverfuchs, “thinking” by RobinHiggins, “board” by geralt, “birds” by Dieter_G, and “listen” by RobinHiggins.

Transitioning from Collegiate to Professional – Part I

March 2, 2018May 5, 2020 paulkfoxLeave a comment

The Final Leap from Pre-Service to In-Service:

The Metamorphosis and Integration of Philosophy, Maturity, and Teacher Preparation

Are you ready to assume the role of a music teacher? Besides the completion of your coursework and field experiences, have you acquired the necessary attitude and personal skills? Do you “have what it takes” to become an ethical role-model, leader, and “fiduciary” responsible for the welfare and special needs of your students?

Before long, you will shed the label and function of a “college student” (although still remaining a life-long learner… and never stop the quest for new knowledge and self-improvement!). The focus will shift from YOU to YOUR STUDENTS. The prerequisites for a career in education are unique and do not resemble the same challenges as success in business, manufacturing, retail, service industry, or becoming an entrepreneur, blue-collar worker, or even a composer or professional musician. The sooner you realize these are world’s apart, the better, and now is the time to finish your major and life-changing transformation to… a professional music educator.

This series for college music education majors will explore perspectives and definitions involving the evolution and (dare we say?) “modulation” to a productive and successful career in music teaching.

Professionalism

What does a “professional educator” look like? Do you belong as a member of this group?

Succeeded in and continues to embrace “higher education”
Updates self with “constant education” and retooling
Seeks change and finding better ways of doing something
Like lawyers/doctors, “practices” the job; uses different techniques for different situations
Accepts criticism (tries to self-improve)
Proposes new and better things “for the good of the order”
Can seemingly work unlimited hours (24 hours a day, 7 days per week?)
Is salaried (does not think in terms of hourly compensation, nor expects pay for everything)
Is responsible for self and many others
Allows others to reap the benefits and receive credit for something he/she does
Has obligations for communications, attending meetings, and fulfilling deadlines
Values accountability, teamwork, compromise, group goals, vision, support, creativity, perseverance, honesty/integrity, fairness, and timeliness/promptness
Accepts and models a very high standard of behavior, etiquette, appearance, language, and ethics.

In addition to mastery of their subject matter, skills in collaboration, communication, critical thinking (problem solving), and creativity (also known as “the four C’s”), according to “The California BTES – Overview of the Ethnographic Study” by David Berliner and William Tikunoff, effective teachers regularly demonstrate these traits:

Accepting
Adult involvement
Attending
Consistency of message
Conviviality
Cooperation
Engagement of students
Knowledge of subject
Monitoring learning
Optimism
Pacing
Promoting self-sufficiency
Spontaneity
Structuring

However, effective teachers DO NOT score high on the negative attributes of abruptness, belittling, clock punching or counting hours, defiance, illogical views or statements, mood swings, oneness (treating the whole group as “one”), or self-recognition. Human resource personnel and administrators look for candidates who model (and can confirm their history of) the habits of the first group, with no evidence of the latter behaviors.

The bar is raised even further. In addition to holding oneself up to the highest standards of the education profession, teachers also exemplify “moral professionalism” in their daily work. As cited in the chapter “The Moral Dimension of Teaching” in Teaching: Theory Into Practice by E.A. Wynne, teachers must

Come to work regularly and on time;
Be well informed about their students and subject content-matter;
Plan and conduct classes with care;
Regularly review and update instructional practices;
Cooperate with, or if necessary, confronting parents of underachieving students;
Cooperate with colleagues and observe school policies so the whole institution works effectively;
Tactfully but firmly criticize unsatisfactory school policies and propose constructive improvement.

Ethics

Have you viewed your state’s teacher expectations, code of ethics, and code of conduct? It may surprise you that a number of seasoned professionals have never seen these documents. You may be ahead of the game if educator ethics were even mentioned briefly in a methods class, as indoctrination to student teaching, or orientation within the induction program of your first job.

The “code” defines the interactions between the individual educator, students, schools, and other professionals, what you can and cannot do or say, and the explicit values of the education profession.

No excuses! Better go look this stuff up. If you reside in Pennsylvania and plan to become employed there, go immediately to http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx. If your state does not have a code of ethics or state-specific conduct standards, download and consume this excellent reference: http://www.nasdtec.net/?page=MCEE_Doc. The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification proposes these principles:

Responsibility to the Profession
Responsibility for Professional Competence
Responsibility to Students
Responsibility to the School Community
Responsible and Ethical Use of Technology

After reading all of this, what would be on proverbial “ethics test?” Well, can you answer questions like these?

How do ethics inform a teacher’s personal and professional actions?
What does it mean to be a “moral exemplar” or “role model” in the community?
What are the professional expectations for working with diverse populations of students, parents, and colleagues?
How should teachers handle social media and other electronic interactions with students?
Do you see yourself as a potential “friend” or “confident” of the music students in your classes?
Is it okay to accept personal gifts from students, their parents, or music vendors who do business with your school… or to give presents to students for no educational reasons?

For the last two questions, the response should be a resounding NO!

Here’s another query. What five groups of people are both “professionals” and “fiduciaries…” and have a legal responsibility to serve the best interests of their “clients?” The answer is… doctors/nurses, lawyers, counselors (both mental health and investment), the clergy, and… teachers.

Although teachers seem to be the only one of these who DO NOT have formal pre- or in-service ethics training, and our “charges” represent a “captive audience,” our duty is clear: to act as a fiduciary for our students’ best interest, and to create and maintain a safe environment for them at all times.

The keystone of “right or wrong” and what your mother always said was “behaving appropriately when no one is watching you” are all about professional ethical standards that guide decision-making. The work of Troy Hutchings (among other leaders in this field) helps to further clarify these sometimes-blurred definitions:

Personal Morality: “Personal values and beliefs derived from one’s life experiences… subjective and may/may not align with community mores.”
Regulations of Law: “Policies, statues, and judicial activity that articulate conduct absolutes.”
Professional Ethics: “Professional ethical standards that assist practitioners within situation and systemic contexts in choosing the best course-of-action.”
Professional Dispositions: “Agreed-upon professional attitudes, values, and beliefs to be held by educational practitioners.”

For a comprehensive review on “Ethics for Music Educators,” please visit these links:

All of these are available at https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/category/ethics/.

At this point, if most of this makes you feel uneasy or uncertain, then perhaps it is time to switch majors and look into pursuing another line of work!

Philosophy

Have you written your personal philosophy of music education?

Regina Zona wrote in her article, “For Teachers: Writing a Music Teaching Philosophy Statement” that a music education philosophy statement is “a way to connect on a personal level to your students (current and potential) by stating who you are as a teacher (your beliefs and ideals), how you do what you do, and how that positively impacts the study of music.” If you have not completed your philosophy, here are her essential questions to guide your thoughts:

What do you believe about teaching?
What do you believe about learning? Why?
How is that played out in your studio/class?
How does student identity and background make a difference in how you teach?
What do you still struggle with in terms of teaching and student learning?

She adds, “If you are having a hard time answering these questions, maybe because you haven’t been teaching very long, think on a teacher who made an impact on you (positive or negative), your education, your life. How did they communicate? Did they have passion for their work and if so, how did they express that passion? What were their methods of imparting the information?”

Read Zona’s entire blog-post at http://musiclessonsresource.com/writing-a-teaching-philosophy-statement.

Borrowed from the esteemed colleague and CEO of MusicFirst, Jim Frankel, is the introduction to many of his music education technology sessions, the foundation for teaching music in the schools:

What is your personal mission? Why?
What is the role of music in a child’s education?
Are we creating performers, theorists, teachers… or lifelong music lovers?

If you are looking for sample philosophical statements, there are many “out there” on the Web. Here are several of my favorites:

Take time to peruse these and others. Most of these sites also offer excellent examples of personal branding and marketing of the prospective job hunters’ experiences, skills, and achievements… material for our next blog on this topic.

Future blogs in this series will continue with a focus on these concepts:

Moving from “Book Learning” to “Practical Application”
Cultivating a Mentor or Two
Personal Branding
Engagement
Networking

PKF

Photo credits (in order) from Pixabay.com: “tutor” by nrjfalcon1, “music” by brendageisse, “idea” by RobinHiggins, “woman” by RobinHiggins, “young” by RobinHiggins, “singer” by BEP, “ying-yang” by Printoid, “music” by davorkrajinovic, “isolated” by RobinHiggins, and “orchestra” by ernestoeslava.

Help! How Does One Keep Up?

December 1, 2017May 5, 2020 paulkfox1 Comment

Time, Task, & Media Management for Pre-Service/New Music Educators

This article is in memory of the late Thomas Labanc (October 1946 – November 2017), my friend, colleague, Upper St. Clair School District social studies teacher, curriculum leader, and assistant to the superintendent, school historian, brilliant visionary and fellow risk-taker, who taught me the basics of Priority Management and collaborated on many of our school district’s communications and public relations projects, including the establishment of the highly successful community publication UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY magazine. PKF

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400.
It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!
Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the “tomorrow.”
You must live in the present on today’s deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
Treasure every moment that you have! And reassure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
Remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift.
That’s why it’s called the present! – Pratheek Naidu

Philosophies of Time Management

Even though it is from a book on post-employment transitioning (Purposeful Retirement: How to Bring Happiness and Meaning to Your Retirement), the author Hyrum W. Smith suggests several thought-provoking questions on prioritizing time:

Does your management of time reflect your governing values?
Are you giving the most time to that which matters most?
What can you do tomorrow to ensure your time aligns with your priorities?

A similar perspective but providing much more detail, I recommend consuming from cover-to-cover First Things First by Stephen R. Covey, who succinctly defines this conundrum about using time wisely.

“For many of us, there’s a gap between the compass and the clock – between what’s deeply important to us and the way we spend our time. And this gap is not closed by the traditional “time management” approach of doing things faster. In fact, many of us find that increasing our speed only makes things worse.” – Stephen Covey

The four sections of Covey’s book dive into these concepts:

The Clock and the Compass
The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
The Synergy of Interdependence
The Power of and Peace of Principle-Centered Living

In addition, I found additional insight and inspiration in the philosophy of managing time from these links:

For those of you who have already begun your career in music education or even working as a day-to-day music sub, try these classroom and time management tips (thanks to NAfME):

The 4 D’s

Have you ever heard of a system called Priority Management (PM)? PM proposes methodology and business tools to immediately route every piece of paper and your daily “to-do tasks” that come into your life to one of the four D’s:

Do it! (now)
Date it! (assign it to the future)
Delegate it! (give it to someone else to do) or
Dump it! (into the trash)

PM’s “WorkingSm@rt method” promises to help you “gain control over your day, find balance, prioritize your work, and reach your goals,” giving you time to focus on the tasks that are important to you. The bottom line – every digital or printed post-it-note, piece of mail, receipt, publication, email or other communication – must be “put in its place” on the spot – either completed instantly, deferred to another time, given to someone else to do, or THROWN OUT!

time-management-2323612_1920-mohamed1982eg

Yours truly, a “late baby boomer,” never enjoyed that prophesied and romanticized revolution of a “paperless society.” Did you? PM recommends the creation of a “future reading” file, a subcategory of “date it.” Experts on Google Mail will extol the merits of creating a folder and categorizing/storing messages such as emailed issues of MEJ, Kappan, SB&O, and other digital editions of professional newsletters. I have found that this doesn’t work very well, even in retirement. The file folder just fills up, and I never seem to get around to reviewing the things I thought were so important to save. Nor did the practice of our grandmothers’ generation clipping articles (and coupons) out of newspapers. You would think you could solve this media overload by just printing a small excerpt of what you want to peruse later and putting it in a letter tray near your desk? Nope. It just piles up! However, probably the ideal solution would be to designate a specific 15 minutes or more every day for something they used to give to the middle school students I taught: “silent and sustained reading.”

“Pros” Wrestle Control of Their “Free Time!” You Can Do That, Too!

“When you get right down to it, intentional living is about living your best story.”

– John Maxwell, Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters

How many times have you heard it? Make your plans and goals “intentional!” Besides all of the upcoming deadlines and appointments to which you are committed, include in your daily and weekly schedule opportunities for individual reflection and growth.

Plan 30-60 minutes of professional enrichment every day, throughout the year. The list below is based on an hour, but when time is really at a premium, just divide everything in half.

Read an article in a professional journal or digital newsletter (15 minutes)
“Keep up your chops” in ear training, sight-reading, and score reading. Have you ever used something like Elementary Training for Musicians by Hindenmith and practiced exercises that make you sing in syllables, tap a different rhythm independently with your left hand, conduct the beat pattern with your right hand, and beat your foot to the pulse? Revisit your college solfeggio assignments, and of course, sight-singing anything is also most beneficial. (10 minutes)
Perform on the piano, rotating weekly to different styles and forms of music. If you’re not a piano major or an accomplished choral accompanist, include playing at sight several different voice parts simultaneously from choral octavos. (10 minutes)
Research and add professionals to update your contact file. Did you run into any new music teachers or school administrators this week? Search school district websites for the names of music department chairs and supervisors. (5 minutes)
Practice your story-telling skills (organized and “polished” telling of anecdotes about your achievements, teaching experience, “personality pluses,” and problem solving. Role play answering job-screening questions in video-recorded mock interviews, and allow time to assess your “performance.” (10 minutes)
Work on personal branding and marketing projects: making, refining, and customizing your e-portfolio, business card, professional website, and resume. (10 minutes)

The last three bullets above are covered extensively within this blog. Try these links:

If you “think” you are ready for the job search process, complete the self-assessment at https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/intereviewing-the-situation-and-jobs/.

What about vacations or academic breaks when it seems there’s more time to spare? With some repetition to the above, in the December 2017 issue of Collegiate Communique, a digital publication of the PMEA Council for Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Retention (in support of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educators Association and Society for Music Teacher Education), these recommendations were offered for college music majors who are leaving school for their winter or summer recesses.

“After you finish your semester finals, juries, concerts, writing assignments, and other projects, you may have several weeks before you have to return to full-time classes at the university. Besides catching up on your sleep and visiting your family and friends, how many of these enrichment activities can you accomplish?”

Share your musical gifts.

Sit in with a church or community choir, orchestra, or band.

Learn something new about music… even outside your specialty.

Spend a lot of time sight-reading.

Improve your score reading and analysis.

Volunteer to coach/conduct music rehearsals at the local public school.

Attend as many concerts as you can.

Compose a short seasonal, folk, jazz, or classical piece.

Record video/audio excerpts of your major instrument/voice in preparation for placement in your e-portfolio.

For upcoming employment prep and practice of mock interviews, review the marketing professionalism articles at https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/becoming-a-music-educator/.

– Collegiate Communique #8

Of course, from a 35-year veteran teacher now retired, a snide remark in response to feeling a little “stressed over the schedule” could be to “get used to the 24/7 nature of the job.” A music teacher works from sun-up (and before) to sun-down (and after), and constantly has to juggle multi-tasking on a wide variety of to-do’s, all landing at the same time: writing lesson plans, arranging music or drills, preparing scores or accompaniments, planning and rehearsing ensembles, managing the grade book and attendance records, attending faculty meetings and parent conferences, writing curriculum, student assessments, and lesson targets, preparing for extra-curricular activities like marching band, chorus, or the musical, finishing your own homework for graduate courses, district inductions, or professional development assignments, ETC.

But, if you “get organized,” you will love it! There is nothing better (albeit hectic) than the “calling” of serving your students and the profession as a music educator, inspiring creative self-expression, artistry, music appreciation, and life-long learning.

PKF

Photo credits from Pixabay.com: “hourglass” by annca, “children” by mochilazocultural, “stopwatch” by geralt, “parade” by Marmiche, “time management” by mohamed1982eg, “choir” by intmurr, “time” by geralt, “box” by rawpixel, and “businessman” by Fotomek.

Ethics Follow-up

October 19, 2017May 5, 2020 paulkfoxLeave a comment

Part IV: More Perspectives and Resolving a Few “Loose Ends”

Prior to this article, I recommend reading the following:

Part I (Back to Basics),
Part II (The Nitty Gritty), and
Part III (Case Studies) of this series, available at: https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/category/ethics/.

Just when you thought it was safe to read another of my blog-posts… you bump into another one on ethics and music education!

When my colleague and friend James Kimmel, PMEA District 7 Professional Development Chair, approached me to consider doing an “ethics workshop” for his annual in-service conference (October 9, 2017 at Ephrata Middle School), two questions immediately popped into my mind: “Why is this necessary?” and “Who would want to attend a session on ethics?”

Of course, being retired and having a little more unassigned time on my hands, I took it as a challenge and began some preliminary research.

The first thing I discovered is that almost no one in the public-school music education sector has had formal ethics training (myself included), unless you count a couple thirty-minute segments at a teacher induction or staff in-service program on sensitivity training, nondiscrimination and diversity awareness, anti-bullying or workplace sexual harassment policies, or a review of FERPA (family educational rights and privacy act) and HIPAA (health insurance portability and accountability act) as “ethics!”

Okay all you Pennsylvania music teachers: Before this blog series, did any of you ever see a copy of the Pennsylvania Code of Professional Practices and Conduct for Educators? Prior to working on this project, neither did I, nor did a single band director to whom I spoke at two large fall marching band festivals and several football games! Do you know that earning a teaching certificate from your state and becoming eligible to be hired as an educator means you automatically agree to be legally bound by the prevailing government’s “Code?” The ethical or discipline code of your state will define the proper interactions between the individual teacher, students, schools, and other professionals, and make explicit the values of the education profession as well as regional standards and expectations. Wouldn’t you agree that NOW would be a good time to learn the details of these inherent responsibilities?

What is a Fiduciary?

Educators are among the singular professions which have a “fiduciary” responsibility. The term “fiduciary” can be defined as “a person or organization that owes to another the duties of good faith and trust, the highest legal duty of one party to another, and being bound ethically to act in the other’s best interests.” Joining doctors, lawyers, clergy, and mental health therapists, educators ascribe to the highest standards of training, moral decision-making (“code of ethics”), behavior (“code of conduct”), and self-regulation and assessment of the “best practices” regarding the mastery of skills and subject areas necessary to their field. However, unlike these other professionals, teachers do not receive regular and systematic pre- and in-service training on ethics, and our “clients” are a “captive audience.” Regardless, the duty of all teachers is to act as a fiduciary in their students’ best interest and to create and maintain a safe environment for them at all times.

Ethics Violations in the News

You must have seen the news stories! In a word, the trending statistics of state and USA teacher ethics violations and misconducts are abominable! For example, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) where I taught and currently live, in the year 2015, there was a 200 percent increase in PA educator misconduct investigations (768 reports) compared to the number of complaints filed in 2011 (256). Within PDE disciplinary case resolutions in 2015, 41% resulted in job loss and a permanent revocation or surrender of the teaching certificate.

If your curiosity is a little on the morbid side, you can look up on the PDE website and find the names of more than 1740 educators (“offenders” and their “offenses”) who have violated their ethics and received discipline and/or criminal prosecutions or civil proceedings from March 2004 to June 2017.

Well, we don’t have to just pick on Pennsylvania “bad-boys” (and girls). According to https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/20/more-teachers-are-having-sex-with-their-students-heres-how-schools-can-stop-them/?utm_term=.6ee23703b040, the following statistics give teachers everywhere a black eye from shore to shore!

Texas had a 27% increase over 2015-17 of alleged inappropriate teacher-student relationships
Kentucky schools reported more than 45 sexual relationships between teachers and students in 2011, up from 25 just a year earlier.
Alabama investigated 31 cases during the year ending July 2013, nearly triple the number it had investigated just four years earlier.

Eric Simpson shared more bad news in the Journal of Music Teacher Education. His study, “An examination of the relationship of teacher certification area to sexual misconduct: Florida as a case study,” analyzed 383 samples of FL teacher discipline cases in 2007-2010 and their area(s) of certification, with these results:

Teachers with multiple-certifications = 35.51%
Music teachers ~5%
Most frequent offense = sexual misconduct 25.77%

But, 60% of the offending music teachers in the sample were disciplined for sexual misconduct!

Can the data get any worse? In 2004, the U.S. Department of Education released the results of the Shakeshaft national study by the American Association of University Women, with 9.6 percent of students reporting that they had suffered some form of sexual abuse during their school careers. According to http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/02/is_sexual_abuse_in_schools_very_common_.html “the list of such conduct included lewd comments, exposure to pornography, peeping in the locker room, and sexual touching or grabbing. Around one in 10 students said they had been the victim of one or more such things from a teacher or other school employee, and two-thirds of those reported the incident involved physical contact.”

If these numbers are accurate and truly representative of the student population nationwide, 4.5 million students currently in grades K-12 have suffered some form of sexual abuse by an educator or school staff member.

Mandatory Reporting

Another area I did not dive into during the last three articles is our legal mandate to report colleagues who violate “The Code,” especially for sexual misconduct. My own state’s regulations (similar to most) are as follows:

“All educators who know of any action, inaction or conduct which may constitute sexual abuse or exploitation or sexual misconduct are now required to file a mandatory report with the Department and shall report such misconduct to his or her chief school administrator and immediate supervisor.”

― Pennsylvania Department of Education: http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Educator-Discipline-System-and-Reporting/Mandatory-Reporting/Pages/default.aspx

If you are an administrator, the statute is more wide-ranging:

“Specifically, whenever you believe that an educator is involved in misconduct that implicates his or her fitness to serve children in the schools of Pennsylvania, you should report the misconduct to the Department…”

“Reporting to PDE does not relieve [the administrator] of any other duty to report to either law enforcement and/or child protective services.”

― Pennsylvania Department of Education: http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Educator-Discipline-System-and-Reporting/Mandatory-Reporting/Pages/default.aspx

Another moral obligation is to simply look out for our student’s welfare and keep our eyes open for any unusual behavior, conflicts, or inconsistencies.

Always looking for the signs of…

Physical abuse
Self-abuse or thoughts of suicide
Sexual abuse
Signs of neglect
Patterns of abuse

Teachers are required to report any suspicions of child abuse, neglect, drug or alcohol use, and mental health problems.

Most school districts have an internal mechanism of reporting to school counselors or administrators any observations (or suspicions) of these issues… everything from falling asleep in class, being “accident-prone” (lots of unexplained injuries), confirming a high absentee rate, exhibiting mood swings (up and down), and coming to school with blurry or blood-shot eyes, etc. No accusations! You just handover your comments to the authorities, and report on what you see, not necessarily what your interpretations are for the causes of the problems.

Music teachers often work with students in close proximity before or after-school hours, and sometimes on weekends. As a marching band assistant, musical producer, festival chaperone, or trip sponsor, I always had the personal or cell phone number of my building principal in case I needed to reach out for help.

Confidentiality

These are the regulations on protecting student privacy rights, and violations of which (even unintentionally) are “breaking the law.” (Sources: www.pc3connect.org/otherdocs/confidentiality%20and%20the%20law.pdf and http://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/definition/HIPAA.)

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 sets parameters on accessibility and disclosure of students records.
Grassley Amendment (1994) details privacy of student participation in surveys, analysis, and evaluation.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information.
Drug and alcohol treatment records of students kept by any institution receiving federal assistance are protected under Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act (1976).
Records of students in special education are affected by the above laws plus Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997).

Here are few additional ethical “conundrums” on which to reflect:

Discussing student information in open or common areas
- How many times have you walked through a busy hallway discussing news or concerns about a student with another colleague or family member?
- Avoid inadvertently disclosing any personal information about students and staff members “in public.”
- Also, one should resist speaking to students in these areas as it could become violation of student confidentiality if overheard.
Sharing information with other colleagues who are not directly related to the student’s situation.
- You might be tempted to reveal interesting cases or anecdotes to colleagues… DON’T!
- FERPA regulations state that school officials must have a “legitimate educational interest” when sharing information.
- Just because someone is employed in the district with you does not mean they have lawful access to student info.
- There is a great risk of others passing on this information… like gossip!
- Rules of thumb: Ask yourself, “Why am I sharing this information?” and “How will it benefit the student?”
However, you should be aware of exceptions to student privacy concerns.
- Reporting of physical abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or sexual violence.
- Suspicion of serious mental health issues that may result in danger to the student (such as suicide)
- On the occasion when a staff member working with a student is unsure how to proceed (e.g. seeking advice on disability)

The “Grandma Litmus Test”

We have talked about many principles in this series on “Ethics for Music Educators.” Here is something about the “process,” an “ethical decision-making model” based on…

“What would grandma think about my action, behavior, or decision” and
“How would I feel if my actions are tomorrow’s breaking news?”

Answer the following questions about the contemplated activity or decision:

Is it legal?

Is it consistent with the profession’s values?

Is it consistent with the teacher’s code of conduct?

Is it consistent with your district’s policies?

Would you be comfortable if this decision was published online or in the newspaper (or made known to your “grandma”)?

Does it feel right? (Is it the right thing to do?)

If you answered “NO” to any one of the questions (1, 3, and 5), do not engage in the contemplated activity and seek additional guidance.

If you answered “YES” to all of the questions (2, 4, and 6), then you may proceed with the contemplated activity. However, if you have any lingering doubts, do not hesitate to seek additional guidance.

― http://www.royceassociates.com/the-grandma-litmus-test-for-ethical-behaviour/

Final Thoughts

“It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.”

– Rear Admiral Mary Brace Hopper, an early computer programmer

Proponents of this belief will tell you to go ahead and stick your neck out, feel free to do something “for the good of the order,” and later “beg for forgiveness” if/when it goes south and your administrators say they do not approve.

This may or may not work, and I cannot label this orientation as “ethical!”

Music teachers are usually the “lone rider” in their building when it comes to doing their job. Music directors, especially those who are involved in extra-curricular activities, are deluged with making many decisions every day… sometimes even on the hour. Few people (models or mentors) will be there to help guide you in your content area.

My advice: Less experienced teachers, run everything through your fellow colleagues (informally) and principal (formally). Don’t fall back on the lame “oops” and “beg for forgiveness.” I may have felt differently when I had twice as many years of experience than the building administrators who were assigned to “supervise” me… but, even then, “venturing out without a paddle” usually did not serve the best interests of the students… There’s no reason to place “the teacher’s convenience” over the safety/welfare of the students, without first obtaining the legal and political “backup” of your bosses. “Better safe than sorry!” (I am running out of cliches!)

“Perception is reality.”

– Lee Atwater

Perceptions/appearances vs. motivation and reality: It means that your behavior and its results matter infinitely more than your intentions.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to control his or her “public brand” – how he or she wants to be perceived by students, parents, colleagues, and the public. One’s public brand can and does impact perceptions, which in turn can impinge upon effectiveness.

My advice: “Forget your rights” and be more aware of your image and how your actions will look to the public. Reputations are hard to restore. Being an effective teacher is all about trust and integrity, and (sorry, one more cliche) “your actions speak louder than words!”

Teaching is the most honorable and rewarding career on this planet. The rewards far outweigh the challenges and additional responsibilities. “Making a difference” in the lives of our music students has always inspired me, and the fact we have to uphold the highest standards in moral professionalism and behavior does not phase me in the least.

The purpose of these blog-posts on ethics, sort of a “refresher” course to reflect on our internal decision-making compass, was to reinforce Lawrence Kohlman’s sixth stage of moral development – principles of conscience – and the “best practices” of professional attitudes, values, and beliefs that guide the problem-solving we face in their daily work. Hopefully this content will promote thought-provoking discussion about doing what’s right when no one is looking… because, your mother would say, “You know better!”

Please feel free to comment… I would appreciate hearing from you!

PKF

Photo credits (in order): from FreeImages.com: “Ethics” by Olivier Le Moal; from pixabay.com “Ethics” by 3dman_eu, “Club” by qimono_eu, “Cube” by 3dman_eu, “Questions” by geralt_eu, “Confidential” by HypoArt, “Woman” by geralt_eu, “Board” by geralt_eu, “Males” by 3dman_eu, “Business” by Maialisa.

Ethics for Music Educators III

September 1, 2017May 5, 2020 paulkfoxLeave a comment

Part III: Case Studies

If you have not previously read them or need a review, please revisit Part I: “Back to Basics” and Part II” “The Nitty Gritty” in this series on Ethics for Music Educators.

Like professionals in other disciplines, music educators are expected to observe certain behavioral standards. In addition to teaching musical skills, concepts, and context, music educators are also expected to protect the welfare of children, serve as trustworthy stewards of public property, and generally behave responsibly and professionally within the context of the school and local community. Despite these expectations, many music educators have engaged in unprofessional, unethical, or illegal conduct.

― Joelle L. Lien, “Ethical Dilemmas of In-Service Music Educators” in Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 2012.

Music teachers often have busy professional lives, many spending large amounts of time back at school for extra-curricular activities, individual practices, ensemble rehearsals, events from marching band to musicals, and travel to/from festivals, conferences, concerts, adjudications, and itinerant school assignments. Also unique is the fact that some music educators participate in after-school programs and see their “charges” as much or more often their parents. These once-in-a-lifetime musical opportunities inspire the growth of student artistry, leadership, creative self-expression, and teamwork. They also expose music teachers to more frequent contact with potential ethical issues ― inconsistencies, dilemmas, and problems.

From a “crisis of conscience” to political nightmares, there are no easy right or wrong answers to many of these ethical “conundrums!” Full discussion and disclosure with the goal on addressing “the needs of the students” are mandatory with the quick educational sketches depicted in the following scenarios.

Pedagogical Problems

Administrators, parents and public’s interpretation of “separation of church and state” or “perceived emphasis” on Holiday vs. Christmas music (with sacred text) at December concerts e.g. Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, Hatikvah, and/or John Rutter’s Oh Come All Ye Faithful & Joy to the World as the finale
Defending a music educator’s grading criteria: daily performance evaluation vs. lesson or concert attendance (pass/fail?) and other non-musical requirements
Identification of the poorest singers or instrumentalists in our ensembles and limiting their enrollment or participation in ensembles that regularly attend adjudications or competitions: “Do the needs of the few less proficient performers out-weigh the benefit of the many?” or “Are our ethical obligations met if a large non-auditioned ensemble is open to all and an auditioned group is provided for exclusive use of the best students?”
Rationale for the unbiased selection of solos, leadership positions, drum majors, leads in the musical, etc. for the music program: perception of teacher favoritism or the “rights of seniority” vs. “best one for the job!”
Incidents relating to a music teacher’s struggle over whether to be “blatantly honest” regarding a student’s chances at a music career: “Is it ethical to allow a private music student to continue the study of music performance based on their desire, when it is clear they do not have the talent, work ethic, or overall aptitude to succeed in the music profession?” The other side of this issue, can we ever say, “You do not have enough talent to go into music.”
Maintaining balance between the pursuit of competitive performance excellence (repetitive programming of a limited number of major works) with appropriate teaching practice (survey, reading, and performance of a wide variety of selections in the folder)

Enforcement Problems

Quandary whether it is ever in the students’ best interest to ignore an existing policy or rule, for example, staff noncompliance of “no smoking on campus” or other school regulations.
Holding a student accountable for breaking a law or rule, when doing so would jeopardize a musical group’s performance: “My drum major was suspended because she smoked pot and was caught. I needed her to run the half time show we had been practicing for months and so I convinced administration that she had to participate because it was part of my curriculum and part of her grade. I decided the other kids shouldn’t be punished because of her idiocy so I worked hard to keep her in the show. In my heart, I would have preferred she not participate, but not at the expense of the other kids’ performance.”
“Fair use doctrine” and photocopying music

It should be mentioned here that there are a number of misconceptions regarding the Copyright Law:

Copyright law does permit copying music in the emergency of an imminent concert date, but it also requires that the same music be purchased regardless of whether it is needed after the performance.
The law prohibits purchasing music but then making copies to preserve the original scores.
The law does not permit photocopying more than 10% of a complete work, even for educational purposes.
Out-of-print music may not be photocopied without explicit permission granted by the publisher of the work.
Compositions with an expired copyright or that never had a copyright are considered “public domain” and are free to copy.

Finances and Resource Allocation Problems

Competition for the enrollment of the same students (band/string/choir) within the music department
Private lesson prerequisite for participating in an honors ensemble, music director giving them, and charging a fee for his/her “off-school” time
(Lack of) equity in school budget allocation (inconsistencies within different academic areas and within the music department itself, not defending per-pupil costs and enrollments, etc.)
Receiving special favors or kickbacks from the music industry (touring companies, riser/music stand distributors, instrument rental companies, etc.): “If you choose our travel agency for the Orlando trip, we will throw-in the purchase of a new conductor’s podium and music stands for your band room!”

Scrutiny and sample audits of music educators and other school professionals in this category have included the following:

Accuracy of teachers’ absence reports and itinerant staff sign-ins to their daily building assignments: “I saw the music teacher eating lunch at a local restaurant.”
Balancing of school purchase orders and activity fund invoices with existing instrument, equipment, or music inventory
Management of school activity funds (tickets, marching band shoes/accessories, honorariums, and “under the table” compensations)
Inspection of music libraries for evidence of illegal photocopying

Problems in Relationships

Perception of “being knifed in the back“ by colleagues teaching other academic subjects (advising students to drop music)
Disagreements with administrators on “the right thing to do” (everything from grading to attending PMEA workshops)
Incidents involving gossip or divulging confidential information about students
THE BIG BOO-BOO: Dual or conflicting relationships and inconsistent maintenance of clear, responsible, and professional boundaries between teachers and students. Most of the incidents in violation of “crossing the line” of “student-teacher boundaries” would be complications that arose when the teacher-student relationships became “too close.”

Was Mr. Holland a hero or a villain in the 1995 movie Mr. Holland’s Opus? Certainly, many would agree that the acclaimed motion picture starring Richard Dreyfuss as “Glenn Holland” depicted a struggling composer who reluctantly becomes a teacher and eventually learns the value of his profession and his family. However, many say he is a model example of the “slippery slope” of blurred student-teacher boundaries and that he seriously breached the ethical standards of teachers.

It wasn’t Mr. Holland’s in-class performance that concerns Troy Hutchings, director of Student Services in Northern Arizona University’s College of Education and a faculty member in the college. It’s his relationship with Rowena, one of his students. In a famous scene at a bus stop, Mr. Holland and Rowena kiss.

“He should be fired,” Hutchings said. “That’s sexual misconduct—a violation of his fiduciary position.”

Mr. Holland’s situation isn’t atypical. The Richard Dreyfuss character had a troubled marriage and a difficult home life. “Right or wrong, he found something with his students that he felt he didn’t have at home,” Hutchings said.

― http://www.newswise.com/articles/ethics-training-is-key-to-fighting-teachers-sexual-misconduct-professor-says32

Imagine if one of us drove our “star pupil” to the bus stop on her way to “make it big on Broadway” without the direct support of her parents!

Problems in Diversity

Sensitivity in meeting the needs of ALL students: no discrimination on the basis of race, gender & gender identity, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, socio-economics, etc.
Balanced representation of lesson targets and course material on multiculturalism
“Many of our students see music education as ‘white privilege’ and we have to do a lot of convincing to get the kids to participate…”

For all music teachers, it is recommended you peruse the position statement on the NAfME website: “Equity and Access in Music Education” https://nafme.org/about/position-statements/equity-access/.

More Issues in Music Education

If you have not had the occasion to read Case Studies in Music Education by Frank Abrahams and Paul D. Head, it would be a valuable aid to “facilitate dialogue, problem posing, and problem solving” among pre-service (and current) music teachers. Using the format of Introduction, Exposition, Development, Improvisation, and Recapitulation known by all music professionals, each chapter presents a scenario with a moral dilemma that many music educators face in the daily execution of their teaching responsibilities.

How should a music teacher balance learning and performing? What is the best way to handle an angry parent? What are the consequences of the grades teachers assign? What are the best ways to discipline students? How should teachers relate to the administrators and to other teachers? The emphasis here is not on the solution, but on the process. There are many viable approaches to nearly every obstacle, but before any meaningful long-term solutions can be made, teachers must identify their own personal philosophy of music education and recognize those traits that are admirable in another’s style.

―Excerpt from back cover of Case Studies in Music Education, Second Edition, by Frank Abrahams and Paul D. Head

Scenarios: How Would You Judge These “Misconducts?”

For additional examples of ethical issues in education, try these links. Personally, many of these fictional video reenactments are hardcore and very painful to view… but may shed some light in any discussion of teacher (mis)behavior: actions from simply inappropriate, unwise, or “bad for appearances” to a range (from bad to worst) of unprofessional, immoral, unethical, and illegal conduct. Some of these stories you will agree should be instantly labeled as the highest degree of unethical practice ― actual “crimes against children” and should invoke punishment if found guilty ― while others may lack clarity and make it difficult in arriving to a consensus.

If you are sharing this article within a group (induction, staff meeting, in-service, etc.), besides selecting the degree of misconduct, you may also want to reflect on the following questions (and also peruse the “essential questions” following the conclusion below.)

What possible issues/concerns might this scenario raise?
How could this situation become a violation of the law, the “Code” or other school/district policies?
In this situation, what are some potential negative consequences for the teacher and the student?

From the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission Ethics Toolkit:

Other sources:

The Ethics Equilibrium Perspective

Keep in mind, discussions about any scenarios of possible educator misconduct should be viewed through the lens of an ethical framework for professional decision-making, not just violations of regulatory policies resulting in the consequences of disciplinary action, revocation of teaching certificate, and/or criminal penalties. As mentioned before (“Ethics for Music Educators – Part I and Part II”), please review Troy Hutchings work:

Conclusion

After culling through a myriad of research (see below), I summarize with a few of my quick “common sense” recommendations which I offer at music teacher conferences or in-service workshop presentations. What are your thoughts on these?

Never put anything in email, text, writing, or anywhere on the Internet that can come back to haunt you.
Do not engage in gossip about other students or professionals.
Avoid unofficial/unsupervised meetings or off-campus personal fraternization with students.
Do not transport individual students.
Do not share photos or personal information on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Gab, etc.).
Avoid physical contact with a student (never touch, hug, hold, push, etc.).
In your presence, allow no harassment or speech/language that is of a sexual nature or can be misinterpreted.
Do not provide closed-door counseling.
Do not give gifts to your students.
Report serious medical issues to the authorities (bulimia, abuse, alcohol-use).
Report any suspected professional ethics violations of colleagues to administration.

The purpose of this three-part blog-post on “Ethics for Music Educators” and studies like “Ethical Dilemmas of In-Service Music Educators” by Joelle L. Lien in Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, was to investigate the kinds of ethical problem-solving music educators face in their daily work and to promote thought-provoking discussion about these matters. Now it is your turn to face these critical issues and/or incidents, openly investigate and illuminate philosophical inconsistencies within your institutions, associations, schools, and/or colleagues, and develop your own “iron-clad” professional code of ethics that truly addresses the daily work of your music education practice.

Additional Discussion: Essential Questions for All Educators

What are the ethical responsibilities of teachers?
How do ethics inform a teacher’s personal and professional actions?
How does the PA Code of Professional Practices and Conduct (or your state’s educator code of conduct) communicate standards for appropriate behavior for teachers?
What does it mean to be a “moral exemplar” or “role model” in the community?
What are the expectations of educators with respect to accumulating either personal or financial gain or advantage (other than their contractual compensation package) through their work in the school system?
How can a teacher foster positive, professional relationships with students?
How is the appropriate teacher-student boundary defined?
What are the professional expectations of teachers with regard to their “electronic” interactions with students?
Why and how should teachers control their public “brand” or persona?
How do teachers’ use of emerging technologies such as social networking, cell phones, etc., present challenges to maintaining appropriate student-teacher boundaries?
What are the professional expectations for working with diverse populations of students, parents and colleagues?
How does your classroom environment promote respect for your students’ individual needs and backgrounds?
What are the professional expectations of teachers regarding their relationships with colleagues?
How can a teacher foster positive, professional relationships with colleagues, parents, and the community?

Special Thanks and Credits for This Three-part Blog-Series

Pennsylvania’s Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit by Dr. Oliver Dreon, Sandi Sheppeard, PA State System of Higher Education, and the PA Professional Standards and Practices Commission
Nebraska Professional Practices Commission
Connecticut’s Teacher Education & Mentoring Program
Lien, Joelle L. (2012). Ethical Dilemmas of In-Service Music Educators. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education

References for Further Research

Abrahams, Frank and Paul Head. (2005). Case studies in music education (2nd ed.). Chicago: G.I.A.
Allan, J. (2011). Responsibly Competent: Teaching, Ethics and Diversity. Policy Futures in Education, 9(1), 130-137.
Assaf, L., Garza, R., & Battle, J. (2010). Multicultural Teacher Education: Examining the Perceptions, Practices, and Coherence in One Teacher Preparation Program. Teacher Education Quarterly, 37(2), 115-135.
Barbieri, Susan M. (2002). An elegy for ethics? Strings 16(8): 62–67.
Bowman, Wayne. (2001). Music as ethical encounter. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education 151: 11–20.
Brandenburg, Judith B. (1997). Confronting sexual harassment: What schools and colleges can do. New York: Teachers College Press.
Brooks, David (April 17, 2015). When Cultures Shift. New York Times.
Campbell, E. (2003). The Ethical Teacher. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Dreon, Dr. Oliver, Sheppeard, Sandi, and PA State System of Higher Education. Educator Ethics and Conduct and Toolkit. Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission. Online: http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Promoting-Ethical-Practices-Resources/Ethics-Toolkit/Pages/default.aspx
Ehrensal, P., Crawford, R., Castellucci, J., & Allen, G. (2001). The American Melting Pot Versus the Chinese Hot Spot. in J. Shapiro & J. Stefkovich (Eds.), Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Elliott, David J. (1995). Music matters: A new philosophy of music education. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fibkins, W. L. (2006) Innocence Denied: A Guide to Preventing Sexual Misconduct by Teachers and Coaches. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Flusser, Victor. (2000). An ethical approach to music education. British Journal of Music Education 171(1): 43–50.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In A Different Voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Golann, Stuart E. (1969). Emerging areas of ethical concern. American Psychologist 24: 454–459.
Goree, K., Pyle, M., Baker, E. & Hopkins, J. (2007). Education Ethics Applied. Boston: Pearson Education.
Gregg, Jean W. (1997). From song to speech: On the ethics of teaching voice. Journal of singing: The official journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing 54(1): 55–57.
Hutchings, Troy (2015). “Ethics in Education” Vimeo https://vimeo.com/126979216.
Hutchings, Troy and Thompson, David (2016). “Ethical Equilibrium.” AACTE Professional Development https://secure.aacte.org/apps/rl/res_get.php?fid=3005&ref=ets.
Johnson, L. S. (2012). Guidelines for Dealing with Educator Sexual Misconduct. National Association of Independent Schools. Retrieved from https://http://www.nais.org/Articles/Documents/Educator_Sexual_Misconduct_12_finaledits.pdf
Johnson, Tara Star (2008). From Teacher to Lover: Sex Scandals in the Classroom. New York
Jorgensen, Estelle R. (2003). Transforming music education. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on Moral Development: The Philosophy of Moral Development. New York: Harper Collins.
Krause, J., Traini, D., & Mickey, B. (2001). Equality versus Equity. in J. Shapiro & J. Stefkovich (Eds.), Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lecroy, Hoyt. (1992). Imparting values: A challenge for educators. Music Educators Journal 79(1): 33–36.
Lien, Joelle L. (2012). Ethical Dilemmas of In-Service Music Educators. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education. Online: http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Lien11_1.pdf.
Mark, Michael L. and Madura, Patrice (2010). Music Education in Your Hands. Routledge.
MENC. (2003). The United States Copyright Law: A Guide for Music Educators. Online: http://www.menc.org/resources/view/united-states-copyright-law-a-guide-for-music-educators. December 4, 2010.
MENC. (May 1973). Music Code of Ethics Music Educators Journal Vol. 59, No. 9.
Milner, H. (2010). What Does Teacher Education Have to Do with Teaching? Implications for Diversity Studies. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 118-131.
Murray, Dave. (December 23, 2010). Are teachers role models outside the classroom? Unions, courts say educators deserve privacy. M Live Media Group. Online: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/12/are_teachers_role_models_outsi.html.
Myers, K (2005). Teachers Behaving Badly. New York: RoutledgeFarmer.
National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. Model Code of Ethics for Educators. Online: http://www.nasdtec.net/?page=MCEE_Doc.
Nourse, Nancy (2003). The ethics of care and the private woodwind lesson. Journal of Aesthetic Education 37(3): 58–77.
O’Neill, J., & Bourke, R. (2010). Educating Teachers About a Code of Ethical Conduct. Ethics & Education, 5(2), 159-172.
Pope, Kenneth S. and Valerie A. Vetter. (1992). Ethical dilemmas encountered by members of the American Psychological Association: A national survey. American Psychologist 47(3): 397–411.
Pring, R. (2001). Education As A Moral Practice. Journal of Moral Education, 30(2): 101-112
Regelski, Thomas A. (2011). Ethical implications of music education as a helping profession. Nordic Research in Music Education. Yearbook Vol. 13 2011, 221-232.
Richmond, John W. (1996). Ethics and the philosophy of music education. Journal of Aesthetic Education 30(3): 3–22.
Roberts, Brian A. (2009). Ethics in Music Education. The Canadian Music Educator. Excerpt online: https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P3-1923294611/ethics-in-music-education.
Rodriguez, Carols Xavier. (2012). Ethics in Music Education. Action, Criticism, & Theory for Music Education. Online: http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Rodriguez11_1.pdf.
Simpson, R. Eric. (2010). An examination of the relationship of teacher certification area to sexual misconduct: Florida as a case study. Journal of Music Teacher Education 20(1): 56–65.
Staratt, R. (2004). Ethical Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Stein, Nan D. and Lisa Sjostrom. (1994). Flirting or hurting? A teacher’s guide to student-to-student sexual harassment in schools (Grades 6 through 12). Washington, DC: National Education Association. (ED 380 415)
Stufft, William D. (1997). Two rules for professional conduct. Music Educators Journal 84, 40–42.
Szego, C. K. (2005). Praxial foundations of multicultural music education. In Praxial music education: Reflections and dialogues, ed. David J. Elliott, 196–218. New York: Oxford University Press.
Volk, Terese M. (1998). Music, education, and multiculturalism: Foundations and principles. New York: Oxford University Press.
Woodford, Paul G. (2005). Democracy and music education: Liberalism, ethics, and the politics of practice. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press
Wynne, E.A. (1995). The moral dimension of teaching. In A.C. Ornstein (Ed.) Teaching: Theory into practice. (pp. 190-202). Boston: Alyn and Bacon

Special thanks and credits go to Dr. Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor at Millersville University (in Pennsylvania), and one of the authors of the Pennsylvania’s Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit, the source of much of the research, quotes, and perspective of this three-part series.

PKF

Photo credits (in order) from FreeImages.com: “Ethics” by Olivier Le Moal, “Colorful Xylophone” by Henk L, “Listening to Music” by Ned Horton, “Music 3” by Carol Kramberger, “Music” by Ricardo Vasquez, “Parade Band” by Sarah DeVries, “Girl with Guitar” by Stacy Brumley, “Kids Singing Christmas Songs” by Ned Horton, “Playing Harp” by Gerrit Prenger, and “Brass Tubas” by Aron Kremer

Ethics for Music Educators II

August 30, 2017May 5, 2020 paulkfoxLeave a comment

Part II: The Nitty Gritty

(This blog-post is the second in a series of three articles. For an introduction to this topic, you should first read “Part I: Back to Basics” at https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2017/08/28/ethics-for-music-educators-i/)

A good teacher is a doctor who heals ignorance and an artist who inspires creativity. ― author unknown

Societal Changes Promoting Ethical Disputes

Many have suggested that there has been a decline in moral standards that have contributed to ethical disputes in modern society (and in the public schools). Some say that this is attributed to a breakdown or lessening of the influence of organized religion and family values. “When Cultures Shift,” an excellent article in the New York Times (April 17, 2015), David Brooks explores some of causes and effects of this “slip” to our value systems, ethics, and renewed focus on self:

Cultural shift in personal mores
Consumerism
Self-esteem movement, narcissism, and “the big me”
Trends towards acceptance of informality and casual behavior
Social media and other technology

Brooks remarked, “The big shift in American culture did not happen around the time of Woodstock and the Age of Aquarius. It happened in the late 1940s, and it was the members of the Greatest Generation that led the shift.”

We now live in a world in which commencement speakers tell students to trust themselves, listen to themselves, follow their passions, to glorify the Golden Figure inside. We now live in a culture of the Big Me, a culture of meritocracy where we promote ourselves and a social media culture where we broadcast highlight reels of our lives. What’s lost is the more balanced view, that we are splendidly endowed but also broken. And without that view, the whole logic of character-building falls apart. You build your career by building on your strengths, but you improve your character by trying to address your weaknesses.

So perhaps the culture needs a re-balance. The romantic culture of self-glorification has to be balanced with an older philosophic tradition, based on the realistic acknowledgment that we are all made of crooked timber and that we need help to cope with our own tendency to screw things up. That great tradition and body of wisdom was accidentally tossed aside in the late 1940s. It’s worth reviving and modernizing it. ― David Brooks

Read his entire piece at https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/opinion/david-brooks-when-cultures-shift.html.

The Role of Education in Upholding Standards of Behavior

Do schools, not necessarily families, serve as the “safety net” for socializing its citizens, and teaching morality, manners, and the values of human relationships? Are teachers held to a higher standard of behavior in order to model these principles and charged with the responsibility of indoctrinating the meaning of “right and wrong” and how to get along with each other? Many would seem to agree, including sample codes of ethics for teachers and this from Robert Fulghum (https://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/842.html):

Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sand-pile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life –
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work everyday some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

― Robert Fulghum in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Philosophies in Moral Development

According to Jacques S. Benninga in “Moral and Ethical Issues in Teacher Education” from Eric Digest (https://www.ericdigests.org/2004-4/moral.htm), “Though codes of ethics may not have played a significant role in teacher preparation programs in the past, professional ethical dispositions of teachers must now be addressed as part of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accreditation process (NCATE, 2002).” He describes the Four-Component Model of Moral Maturity, a program of ethical education first developed for dental professionals at the University of Minnesota since adapted to other professional training programs including the training of teachers. The program assumes that moral behaviors are built on a series of component processes (Bebeau, Rest, & Narvaez, 1999). “Each component is clearly defined, and educational goals, teaching strategies and assessment methods can be derived from those definitions.”

Moral sensitivity, the awareness of how our actions affect other people.
Moral judgment about complex human activities (Piaget 1965 and Kohlberg 1984)
Moral motivation, a prioritization of moral values over personal values
Moral character (acting on one’s convictions)

In Essays on Moral Development: The Philosophy of Moral Development (New York: Harper Collins 1981), Lawrence Kohlberg illustrates his “Six Stages of Moral Development” from ethical decisions based on adherence to rules/regulations and avoidance of punishment to acceptance of universal principles of justice and respect for human life.

Here is a brief outline of Kohlberg’s six moral stages:

Obedience and punishment orientation
Naively egoistic orientation (satisfying self-needs)
Good-boy, good-girl (approval/conformity) orientation
Authority and social-order-maintaining orientation
Contractual/legalistic orientation (social contracts)
Individual principles of conscience

However, Carol Gilligan proposes a contrasting theme, “Three Evolving Steps of Caring,” in her book, In A Different Voice (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1982).

Decisions based solely on care for their needs.
Decisions based on care for the needs of others.
Decisions based on care for themselves and others.

The Professional Standards and Practices Commission of the Pennsylvania Department of Education resolved these apparently incompatible philosophies:

Despite their contrasting lenses on moral development, when applied to the teaching profession, these two ethical perspectives complement each other. Teachers should be motivated by a universal respect for human life and also be guided by principles of caring. In fact, teachers have a fiduciary duty to act in a way that is in the best interest of their students. Inherent in a fiduciary relationship is an imbalance of power where the students place their trust /confidence in the teachers, who are responsible for caring for their students and respecting their needs. This overarching responsibility of teachers provides an ethical standard of professional practice to which professional educators must abide and has powerful practical and legal implications for their personal and professional lives.

― http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Promoting-Ethical-Practices-Resources/Ethics-Toolkit/Unit1/Pages/The-Ethics-of-Teaching.aspx

Sample Code of Professional Practices and Conduct

As I said in Part I of this blog series, one of the first acts of a new or transferred teacher upon being hired to a specific school district is to visit the website of his/her state’s education department, and make a thorough search on the topic of “code of ethics” or “code of conduct.” There is no defense for ignorance of the codes and statutes relevant to the state you are/will be employed.

A few quotes and material from the Pennsylvania “Code of Professional Practices and Standards for Educators” are listed below. For a complete listing, go to http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Statutes-Regulations-Policies-Forms/Code-of-Professional-Practice-Conduct/Pages/default.aspx or download the PDF file from http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Documents/Statutes%20Regs%20Forms/Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf.

In addition, if you live and work in Pennsylvania, I would strongly recommend you peruse the comprehensive Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit produced by Dr. Oliver Dreon, Sandi Sheppeard, and the PA Professional Standards and Practices Commission, a multiple-week induction program with coursework, essential questions, scenarios, and researched sources on teacher ethics (for which permission was given to share segments of their text below in professional development forums and workshops). Go to: http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Promoting-Ethical-Practices-Resources/Ethics-Toolkit/Pages/default.aspx.

Professional educators shall abide by the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. § § 1-101 – 27-2702), other school laws of the Commonwealth, sections 1201(a)(1), (2) and (4) and (b)(1), (2) and (4) of the Public Employee Relations Act (43 P. S. § § 1101.1201(a)(1), (2) and (4) and (b)(1), (2) and (4)) and this chapter.

Professional educators shall be prepared, and legally certified, in their areas of assignment. Educators may not be assigned or willingly accept assignments they are not certified to fulfill.

Professional educators shall maintain high levels of competence throughout their careers.

Professional educators shall exhibit consistent and equitable treatment of students, fellow educators and parents. They shall respect the civil rights of all and not discriminate on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, culture, religion, sex or sexual orientation, marital status, age, political beliefs, socioeconomic status, disabling condition or vocational interest. This list of bases or discrimination is not all-inclusive.

Professional educators shall accept the value of diversity in educational practice. Diversity requires educators to have a range of methodologies and to request the necessary tools for effective teaching and learning.

Professional educators shall impart to their students principles of good citizenship and societal responsibility.

Professional educators shall exhibit acceptable and professional language and communication skills. Their verbal and written communications with parents, students and staff shall reflect sensitivity to the fundamental human rights of dignity, privacy and respect.

Professional educators shall be open-minded, knowledgeable and use appropriate judgment and communication skills when responding to an issue within the educational environment.

Professional educators shall keep in confidence information obtained in confidence in the course of professional service unless required to be disclosed by law or by clear and compelling professional necessity as determined by the professional educator.

Professional educators shall exert reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions which interfere with learning or are harmful to the student’s health and safety.

― Section 4: PA Code of Professional Practices and Standards for Educators

The Teacher-Student Relationship

Trust has evolved into the operative foundation of the relationship of students with their teachers. The duty of teachers is to act as a fiduciary in their students’ best interest and to create and maintain a safe environment for their students derives. When a teacher enters into an inappropriate relationship with a student, the teacher violates the recognized student-teacher boundary and thereby redefines the boundary inappropriately. Some unintentionally fall prey to the “slippery slope” of misconduct. The inappropriate relationship shifts to serving the needs of the teacher and not the needs of the student.

When teachers become confidants, friends, or counselors of students, a dual relationship is created which creates an ambiguity in the student-teacher relationship where roles are less defined. This ambiguity helps to foster inappropriate actions and educator misconduct.

In addition, in almost every state education system, there are “mandatory reporting” regulations. Teachers are held responsible to ensure that their colleagues conform to the appropriate standards of ethical practice as well. In other words, if you know something is wrong and you do not report it to an administrator, you could also be liable and subject to hearings, discipline, and even prosecutions for negligence of your duty to protect the best interests, health, and safety of the student(s) involved.

Vulnerabilities

Teachers who are experiencing difficulties in their personal lives or are socially or emotionally immature may be particularly susceptible to the “slippery slope” of blurred teacher-student boundaries. Typical vulnerabilities include the following:

Viewing students as peers
Suffering from adult relationship issues
Immaturity
Need for attention
A sense of invulnerability
Absence of a developed personal moral compass
Lack of personal crisis management skills

New or inexperienced teachers, those near their students’ ages, educators who look or act “cool” or “trendy,” or share common interests or an overlapping circle of friends, may be tempted to share inappropriate feelings or become “too close” with their children.

Every behavior or decision made by a teacher with respect to his or her students should be prefaced with the question: “Whose needs are being met by my course of action?” There can only be one acceptable answer to this question: “The needs of the student!”

Social Media

In terms of teacher ethics, communicating digitally or electronically with students may lead to a blurring of appropriate teacher-student boundaries and create additional challenges to maintaining and protecting one’s privacy. Texts, emails, and social media postings are not private, and may be seen by others, forwarded, and/or copied or printed. Out of context, they may be misinterpreted, appear to be inappropriate, and/or lead to a violation of “The Code.”

When I started teaching in 1978, we did not have “social media.” (Actually, if you can imagine this, there was no Internet yet, most of us did not have computers, and flip or smartphones and tablets were only the subject of science fiction or Star Trek.) Guidelines for use (or abuse) of social media were not even a “seed” in our imaginations.

When MySpace and Facebook came upon the scene in 2003-2004, most school administrators recommended “stay away from these.” The online sharing and archiving of photos initiated the adoption of many other social media apps (Flickr and later Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, etc.), which provoked new challenges in maintaining privacy, appropriateness, and professionalism. However, soon after, school leaders started rolling out “teacher pages” and school web-pages, online bulletin board services, interactive forums, virtual learning environments like Blackboard and Blended Schools, and other educational tools that encouraged two-way communications among students in a class and the teacher. Technology is here to stay… so how should we use it safely?

The American Board for the Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE), a non-profit organization dedicated to placing qualified teachers in the classroom, released its “10 Social Media Rules for Teachers,” appropriate tips for protecting educators:

Know your school district or state’s policies on social media.

Never “friend” or “follow” students on your personal accounts.

Keep your profile photos clean.

Do not affiliate yourself with your school on a personal profile.

Do not geo-tag your posts with your school’s location.

“Snaps” are forever! Anyone can take a screen shot of your posts.

Never mention your school or the names of staff or students in any post.

Set your Instagram account to private.

Never complain about your job online.

Never post photos of your students on social media.

―Summarized from https://www.americanboard.org/blog/?p=249

To be continued…

Part III: Issues and Scenarios in Music Education… will review:

Pedagogy
Enforcement
Finances and Resource Allocation
Relationships
Diversity
More Scenarios – How Would You Judge These Incidents?
Bibliography

Special thanks and credits go to Dr. Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor at Millersville University (in Pennsylvania), and one of the authors of the Pennsylvania’s Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit, the source of much of the research, quotes, and perspective of this three-part series comes.

PKF

Photo credits (in order) from FreeImages.com: “Ethics” by Olivier Le Moal, “Three Frogs with a Message” by Gerla Brakkee, “Eye See You” by Donald Cook, “School” by Elias Minasi, “Headphones” by Benjamin Earwicker, “That’s Lame, Bad, and Stupid” by Daino_16, “Computer and Apple” by Ales Cerin, and “Girl With Smart Phone” by Eric Gross.

Ethics for Music Educators I

August 28, 2017May 5, 2020 paulkfox2 Comments

Part I: Back to Basics

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you’re mine, I walk the line. — Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash sang his love song, “I walk the line…” but for teachers in the education profession, it is a “fine line” to maintain the standards and appearances of professionalism, morality, and ethical codes of conduct in the school workplace.

The purpose of this blog series is to explore an introduction to the definitions, philosophy, and practices of teacher ethics, integrity, professional standards, and behavior “codes,” and some of the available resources, perspectives, and “legalese” on proper relationships among students, parents, and other professionals, appropriate student-teacher boundaries, warnings of vulnerabilities and dilemmas at the workplace, and tips to avoid the problems of unacceptable appearances and actions.

However, the disclaimer is that I am not an attorney, human resource manager, nor scholar on school ethics, nor was I ever trained in a single workshop, college class, teacher induction or in-service program on this subject. After reading this article, you should immediately visit the website of your state’s education department, and search on the topic of “code of ethics” or “code of conduct.” A few examples of the “real deal” are listed below, and yes, you must study “every word of” the entire document and applicable rules from the state you are/will be employed.

Connecticut: www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/cert/ethics/code_teachers.pdf
Nebraska: https://nppc.nebraska.gov/
New York: www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/pdf/codeofethics.pdf
Pennsylvania: http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx
Texas: https://www.uta.edu/coed/_downloads/fieldexperience/elps/supt_code_of_ethics.pdf

Teacher Rules — The Good Old Days?

According to Snopes (see http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1872rule.asp), the following “rules of conduct for teachers” — one of the similar “the way we were” documents of questionable origin — may have been circulating since at least the 1930s.

“Nobody has ever been able to verify the authenticity of this list of rules. It has been reproduced in countless newspapers and books over the last fifty years, and copies of it have been displayed in numerous museums throughout North America, with each exhibitor claiming that it originated with their county or school district.”

However accurate, one can only marvel at the real or perceived grimness of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century American schoolteacher’s lot: “the profession was lowly regarded, the work was physically demanding and involved long hours on the job, the position paid poorly, retirement benefits were non-existent, and teachers were expected to be among the most morally upright members of their community.”

Sample Rules for (Female) Teachers 1915

You will not marry during the term of your contract.

You are not to keep company with men.

You must be home between the hours of 8 PM and 6 AM unless attending a school function.

You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.

You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have the permission of the chairman of the board.

You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man except your father or brother.

You may not smoke cigarettes.

You may not dress in bright colors.

You may under no circumstances dye your hair.

You must wear at least two petticoats.

Your dresses may not be any shorter than two inches above the ankles.

To keep the classroom neat and clean, you must sweep the floor at least once a day, scrub the floor at least once a week with hot, soapy water, clean the blackboards at least once a day, and start the fire at 7 AM to have the school warm by 8 AM.

— http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1872rule.asp

Professionalism

Like medicine and law, teaching is a “professional practice,” a “conservative” occupation with high expectations and close public scrutiny. Although many have considered the 24/7 nature of a career in music education a “calling,” the true qualities of the teaching professional include these values also embraced by doctors and attorneys:

Achievement of higher education, constant training and retooling, specific goals, and self-improvement
Adoption and refinement of “best practices”
Habits of creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills
Acceptance of criticism, peer review, teamwork, compromise, and group vision
High standards of behavior, etiquette, appearance, language, and ethics

According to “The California BTES – Overview of the Ethnographic Study” by David Berliner and William Tikunoff, “an effective teacher” is distinguished by exceptionally high standards:

Effective teachers score high on accepting, adult involvement, attending, consistency of message, conviviality, cooperation, student engagement, knowledge of subject, monitoring learning, optimism, pacing, promoting self-sufficiency, and structuring.

Effective teachers score low on abruptness, belittling, counting hours or “clock punching,” defiance, illogical statements, mood swings, oneness (treating whole as “one”), and recognition-seeking. — David Berliner and William Tikunoff

Referred to as “moral professionalism” (see Wynne, E.A. 1995. “The moral dimension of teaching.” In A.C. Ornstein Ed. Teaching: Theory into Practice. pp. 190-202. Boston: Alyn and Bacon), the bar is further raised:

Coming to work regularly and on time
Being well informed about their student-matter
Planning and conducting classes with care
Regularly reviewing and updating instructional practices
Cooperating with, or if necessary, confronting parents of underachieving students
Cooperating with colleagues and observing school policies so the whole institution works effectively
Tactfully but firmly criticizing unsatisfactory school policies and proposing constructive improvement

Ethics

Webster’s definition of eth·ics is “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” or “a set of moral principles.” Others have tried to clarify the meaning of these terms with more in depth interpretations:

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. — Potter Stewart

Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching – even when doing the wrong thing is legal. — Aldo Leopold

Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct. While they are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different: ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of conduct in workplaces or principles in religions. Morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong.

— “Ethics vs. Morals” at Diffen http://www.diffen.com/difference/Ethics_vs_Morals

According to Laurie Futterman, former Heart Transplant Coordinator at Jackson Memorial Medical Center and now chair of the science department and gifted middle school science teacher at David Lawrence Jr. K-8 Center, “ethics is a branch of moral philosophy.” Futterman wrote the following in the March 31, 2015 issue of Miami Herald about how ethics “involves defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.”

“In discussion however, ethics can become eclipsed by commingling concepts of values and morals. They all provide behavioral rules, so what are the differences?

Values are rules from which we make our personal decisions about what is right and what is wrong, good or bad. Values help direct us to what is more important and past what is less important. This helps guide us when making decisions.

Morals tend to be broad yet are more far reaching because of their strong link to good and bad. We judge others by their morals rather than their values.

Ethics, in contrast, are a set of rules that tend to be adopted and upheld by a group of people. This could include medical ethics, journalism and advertising ethics and educational ethics. So ethics or intent, tends to be viewed as something upheld and adopted internally, such as professionalism, while morals are ideals we impose on others.”

— http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/community-voices/article17030966.html#storylink=cpy

In addition, there are distinctions between “Codes of Conduct” and “Codes of Ethics.” Although they both provide self-regulation of (un)acceptable behaviors, frequently the Code of Ethics outlines a set of principles that affect/govern decision making, while the Code of Conduct delineates specific behaviors that are required or prohibited and governs actions.

For the sake of our discussion here about ethics in education, I will add the qualifier that a “violation of ethics” is usually associated with significant consequences or punishment, like charges of medical malpractice or lawyers facing an “ethics committee” hearing. Confirmed unethical behavior may result in censure, suspension of license or certification, or other discipline action. Most state education governing entities post legally-binding “educator discipline acts” or codes of professional standards, ethics, and/or behavior, with extensive penalties.

Discipline

The grounds for imposition of discipline are broad and far-reaching, and will be governed by the state or county education system to where you are employed. As an example, “the laws” defining infractions in Pennsylvania are:

Immorality

Incompetency

Intemperance

Cruelty

Negligence

Sexual misconduct, abuse or exploitation

Violation of the PA Code for Professional Practice and Conduct Section 5(a)(10)

Illegal use of professional title

Failure to comply with duties under this act, including the mandatory reporting duties in section 9a.

Actions taken by an educator to threaten, coerce or discriminate or otherwise retaliate against an individual who in good faith reports actual or suspected misconduct under this act or against complainants, victims, witnesses or other individuals participating or cooperating in proceedings under this act.

— PA Educator’s Discipline Act: 24 P.S. §§2070.1 et seq. Chapter 237/Definition of Terms: http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter237/chap237toc.html

For more discussion on these definitions, visit http://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Promoting-Ethical-Practices-Resources/Ethics-Toolkit/The-Commission-Professional-Discipline-and-the-code/Pages/Educator-Misconduct.aspx.

Violations range from exhibiting poor behavior or even the semblance of impropriety to “breaking the code” or criminal offenses. (Yes, “appearances” can get you in trouble, due to one’s interpretations of the above charges of “immorality,” “intemperance,” and “negligence!”) In short, from bad (unprofessional) to worse (illegal), this illustration defines misconducts.

The first two on the bottom of the figure (unprofessional or immoral incidents) may only (?) result in damage to one’s professional reputation, lowering the year-end teacher evaluation score, earning a “warning” or “write-up” by the principal/supervisor, or a job re-assignment, but unethical or illegal conduct usually results in further investigation and possible major (and often permanent) disciplinary action:

Private Reprimand
Public Reprimand
Suspension (temporary termination of certificate)
Revocation (termination of certificate)
Surrender (of certificate)
Supplemental Sanctions
Legal (Criminal) Action (fines, suspension, jail time, other penalties)
Civil Action

Ethical Equilibrium: Consequential “Codes of Conduct” vs. Professional Ethics

“From a decision-making standpoint, I tend to look at it from the perspective of Ethical Equilibrium (some work by Troy Hutchings). Teachers weigh the moral (personal) dimensions with regulatory ones (the law) with the ethics of the profession (ethics of teaching?). While focusing on consequences is important, I worry that teachers may interpret this to mean that as long as they don’t break the law, they can still be unprofessional and immoral.”

– Dr. Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor at Millersville University and author of the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission Ethics Tool Kit.

The foundations of “what’s right or wrong” and what your mother always said was “behaving appropriately when no one is watching you” are all about professional ethical standards that guide decision-making. The work of Troy Hutchings (among other leaders in this field) helps to further clarify these sometimes blurred definitions:

Personal Morality: “Personal values and beliefs derived from one’s life experiences… subjective and may/may not align with community mores.”
Regulations of Law: “Policies, statues, and judicial activity that articulate conduct absolutes.”
Professional Ethics: Professional ethical standards that assist practitioners within situation and systemic contexts in choosing the best course-of-action.”
Professional Dispositions: “Agreed upon professional attitudes, values and beliefs to be held by educational practitioners.”

See the slide below borrowed from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education webinar presentation “Beyond the Obvious: The Intersection of Educator Dispositions, Ethics, and Law” by Troy Hutchings and David P. Thompson.

In other words, the intent of these essays on ethics is not to emphasize the “lowest standards of acceptable behavior” or the consequences of misconduct for music teachers. We will strive to move from “obedience and punishment orientation” (stage 1) and “self-interest orientation” (stage 2) to “social contract orientation” (stage 5) and “universal ethical principles (stage 6) of Lawrence Kohlberg’s “Six Stages of Moral Development.” (See http://ww3.haverford.edu/psychology/ddavis/p109g/kohlberg.stages.html).

Sample Codes of Ethics

One of the best examples endorsed by many states, college education methods programs, and other institutions, the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification has published its “Model Code of Ethics for Educators” (see http://www.nasdtec.net/?page=MCEE_Doc) outlining the following principles:

Responsibility to the Profession
Responsibility for Professional Competence
Responsibility to Students
Responsibility to the School Community
Responsible and Ethical Use of Technology

In addition, it would be valuable to study the standards proclaimed by other organizations, such as

The latter “Music Code of Ethics” was revised and ratified in 1973 by the Music Educators National Conference (now the National Association for Music Education), American Federation of Musicians, and the American Association of School Administration (now the School Superintendent’s Association). It is worth reading mutual agreement of these parties regarding which performance events are sanctioned for music education programs and those that are only appropriate for professional musicians who make their livelihood in the field of “entertainment.”

To be continued…

Part II: The Nitty Gritty will review:

Societal Changes Promoting Ethical Disputes
The Role of Education in Upholding Standards of Behavior
Philosophies in Moral Development
Sample Code of Professional Practices and Conduct
The Teacher-Student Relationship
Vulnerabilities
Social Media

Special thanks and credits go to Dr. Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor at Millersville University (in Pennsylvania), and one of the authors of the Pennsylvania’s Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit, the source of much of the research, quotes, and perspective of this three-part series comes.

PKF

Photo credits (in order) from FreeImages.com: “Ethics” by Olivier Le Moal, “Piano Prodigy” by Crissy Pauley, “Old School House” by Vikki Hansen, “On the Phone Closing the Deal” by Michael Roach, “Balance” by Stephen Stacey, “Gavel” by Jason Morrison, and “Music” by Ricardo Vasquez.

The PMEA State Conference Primer

March 5, 2017May 5, 2020 paulkfoxLeave a comment

Getting the Most Out of Music Conferences… Suggestions for First-Time Attendees or New Teachers

Music conferences offer students as well as seasoned musicians a wealth of professional opportunities. They are motivating and help recharge your battery. They even help set future goals. Consider music conferences an essential component of your training and career…

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE – The original release of this article is at http://majoringinmusic.com/music-conferences/

Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. – Malcolm Forbes

The greatest benefits of attending an academic or professional conference are the opportunities to build your network and increase your awareness of new trends happening in your area of interest. – Emad Rahim http://www.coloradotech.edu/resources/blogs/june-2013/professional-conference

Networking with others in the field, getting new and innovative ideas, self-reflection and re-thinking of previous methods, and improving communication skills are just a few of the ways professionals can grow and develop. – Conferences and Professional Development by the Grand Canyon University Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching https://cirt.gcu.edu/research/developmentresources/research_ready/presentationready/prof_develop

For professional networking, it is your “charge” to create multiple pathways to/from school administrators, HR managers and secretaries, music supervisors and department heads, and music teachers… and you – your skills, accomplishments, unique qualities, experience, education, and personality traits. – Paul K. Fox https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/networking-niceties/

Welcome to the annual state conference! For Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Education Association (PCMEA) members and soon-to-be-hired music educator prospects, this guide will help you get the most out of attending the 2017 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Spring Conference (and future professional development events).

Reasons to “drop everything” and attend an in-service conference:

Conferences “grow” your professional network and opportunities for future collaboration.
Conferences build your knowledge base: to hear about potential job openings, stay current in the field, learn new ideas, music literature, classroom materials, curriculum initiatives, research, technology, and unique approaches to problems, and to see “state-of-the-art” (“model”) performances of student and professional music ensembles.
Conferences expand your resources.
Conference motivate (a.k.a. “recharge batteries”) and help you plan future goals.

People in academics cultivate exceptional resources—and they’re excited to share them with like-minded colleagues. During the conference, I had an opportunity to test out new technology, review upcoming publications, share teaching tools and techniques and obtain samples of textbooks, software and mobile applications. Conferences are full of people promoting new ideas, vendors selling new products, and consultants teaching new methodologies. I always take advantage of this opportunity to fill up my academic tool-shed with new techniques and technology to improve my career. – Emad Rahim

The annual PMEA Spring Conference will be held on April 19-22, 2017 at the Erie Bayfront Convention Center. These sessions may be “perfect for PCMEA!”

Opening General Session with Tim Lautzenheiser Thursday 8:30 a.m.
PCMEA meetings Thursday 10:30 a.m. and Friday 11:15 a.m.
Getting the Most Out of Your Student Teaching Experience Thursday 1:30 p.m.
Cracking the Graduate School Code: When, Where, Why, How, & How Much Thursday 3 p.m.
Starting with the End in Mind – or – You’ve Got Four Years, Use Them Wisely Thursday 4:30 p.m.
Music Education & Gaming: Interdisciplinary Connections for the Classroom Friday 8:15 a.m.
Ready for Hire! Interview Strategies to Land a Job Friday 9:45 a.m.
Planning Strategies to Develop a Responsive Teaching Mindset Friday 2:15 p.m.
Final General Session with NAfME Eastern Division President Scott Sheehan Friday 3:45 p.m.

For a complete conference schedule, consult PMEA News or this web-link: http://www.pmea.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2017-PMEA-Annual-Conference-Schedule-for-Winter-News.pdf.

First things first! Prepare yourself in advance. Grab your winter or spring issue of PMEA News. Review the program of sessions which is usually laid out in chronological order and also by content strands (e.g. advocacy, choral, classroom music, collegiate, curriculum development/assessment, higher education research, instrumental, music technology, World Music, and special interest topics), as well as the list of keynote speakers, guest clinicians, showcase (music industry) demonstrations, association meetings (like PCMEA), and performances. Using an “old-fashioned” 20^th century tool, mark up the conference schedule with two different colors of highlighter marking pens, first targeting “high interest” areas in yellow, and then “must attend” events in hot pink or other favorite color.

Next, download the PMEA Conference App (usually from Core-Apps.com). This is the 21^st Century technique for setting up your conference schedule (“where to go and what to do”), reading the bios of the presenters, locating the session rooms and exhibit booths, finding out who is attending, taking and storing your notes, and learning about last minute changes. Here is the picture of the 2016 PMEA app:

More DO’s and DON’Ts for effective conference attendance:

DON’T remain in your “comfort zone” by sitting exclusively with your friends or college buddies at every session and concert. DO socialize with your peers at meals, and DO attend meetings of your PCMEA. However, if you are trying to take advantage of networking opportunities, to get to know other professionals, possible job screeners, administrators, etc., DON’T just sit with people you know at every other event.
DON’T focus exclusively on attending sessions or concerts in your specialty or most proficient areas, such as band if you’re a woodwind, brass or percussion major, orchestra if you are a string player, general music/choral if you are a vocalist or pianist. DO go to sessions that are not directly related to your major. You might be surprised at the connections you discover or the new interests that arise. Imagine “they” want to hire you next year as the next middle school jazz coach, HS marching band show designer, choreographer for the elementary musical, conductor of the string orchestra, teacher of AP music theory, etc. Could you select music for an elementary band (or choral) concert, create a bulletin board display for a middle school general music unit, set-up a composition project, or lead folk dancing at the kindergarten level?
DO stay at (or near to) the hotel where the conference is being held… to see and DO more!
Learn and DO the best practices of networking, personal branding, business card creation and distribution, and record-keeping of conference notes, job openings, and contact information. DO read my blog-post on Networking Niceties: The “How to Schmooze Guide” for Prospective Music Teachers at https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/networking-niceties/.
DON’T be shy! A conference is no place for being timid or afraid to start up a discussion with a more experienced music teacher. PMEA is all about circulating and introducing yourself, exhibiting your “charming self,” exploring resources and who are the experts/leaders in music education, getting the “lay of the land,” and adding as many names and emails to your professional contact data base as possible. Of course, DO follow-up with anyone who suggests that there may be a future employment posting from their school district!
DO attend both general sessions, one usually scheduled on Thursday morning and the other on Friday afternoon. These will feature the keynote speakers and a special performance or award presentation. Since it is free and another opportunity to network, DO attend the Saturday morning awards breakfast and general membership meeting.
DON’T be the first person to leave a session, and definitely DON’T “hop around” from one clinic or concert to another. Many attendees consider leaving early disruptive and rude, and it does not allow you to get the “whole picture” of the presentation. DON’T run in and grab the handouts… they will not have much meaning unless you attend the entire one-hour workshop. DO interact with the clinicians and conductors. If someone gave a talk, introduce yourself and ask a thoughtful question on some issue about which you are curious or found interesting.
DO attend (and participate in) at least one panel discussion, music reading workshop, and technology session. DO search for special sessions held for college students on interviewing and landing a job. DO visit the displays of the PMEA Research Forums and the Exhibits.
DON’T expect to get a lot of sleep at the conference. DON’T miss the interesting concerts to attend at night as well as early morning breakfast meetings and evening receptions. But, whatever you do, DO have FUN at your first music teacher conference!

Actually, PMEA represents only one of a series of outstanding music education conferences offered to school music teachers. In addition, you should look at:

NAfME Eastern Division April 6-9, 2017 Atlantic City, NJ
NAfME Symposium on the History of Music Education May 31-June 3, 2017 Oklahoma City
PMEA Summer Conference July 17, 2017 State College, PA
NAfME National Conference November 12-15, 2017 Dallas, Texas

Hopefully, these tips on networking and taking advantage of the many professional benefits for attending an in-service conference will assist your successful pursuit for “landing” a job, discovering your own “calling” in the field of music education, and contributing a lifetime of meaningful work to our profession. See you in Erie!

Happy Thanksgiving, Newbies!

November 23, 2016May 5, 2020 paulkfox1 Comment

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.” — Plato

Things for Which Prospective Music Teachers and Students Majoring in Music Education Should Be Thankful… and on Which to Reflect Over This Holiday Season!

Music educators and those training for this honorable career have many reasons to feel blessed. This Thanksgiving 2016 blog is another one of my “pep talks” and an ongoing goal to share resources for pre-service professional development. Lets begin with a classic “top-ten” list — the fruits and cornerstones of our profession:

Music is one of life’s greatest treasures!
You will always have your music. Your future employment is also your hobby, and even after 35 or more years, you will inclined to continue your music throughout the “golden years” of retirement.
There are so many ways you can make a difference in the lives of children with music. Whether it is singing, playing an instrument, composing, listening, feeling, or moving in response to music, music fills a basic need!
Although music is an excellent vehicle for developing 21st Century learning skills (the four C’s of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication), participating in music for music’s sake is paramount. To find true meaning and personal artistry, you cannot review the arts without “doing” (or creating) the arts.
Your joy of creative self-expression and “making music” will sustain you through almost anything… and will transfer to your students’ success in life.
In many settings of school music courses and extra-curricular activities, your students make a conscious effort to choose you and the study of music in order to spend as much time together. “They may have to take math and English, but they also want their daily dose of music!”
Newcomers to this field, you do not have to be right or perfect all the time in class. During your student teaching and early years on the job, if you are enthusiastic, dedicated, and respectful of the feelings of your students, your mistakes (and there will be many) will be forgiven. Besides, there are usually no “single right answers” in music and art – only opportunities for divergent and flexible thinking, adaptability, and personal expression.
You’ll never forget your students… and when you bump into them after graduation, they will remind you all about “those good times!” Don’t be surprised when they tell you were the best part of their education.
Your band, orchestra, and/or choral director back home (school district and university) are rooting for you… and want you to succeed. If you have questions, go see them. They would appreciate you asking for their advice.
Good news! Help is on the way! On this blog-site, there is a single link to all of the articles, handouts, PowerPoint slides, etc., everything from branding yourself to a review of the interview questions you will need to answer at job screenings. To help you market your professionalism, develop a philosophy of music education, learn the basics of networking, dive into making a business card, professional website or e-portfolio, or practice taking interviews, go to the link above or https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/becoming-a-music-educator/.

Why Music? Why Do You Want to Become a Music Educator?

It never hurts to embrace and share the excellent voices of our music education advocates. Check out these interesting online sources:

Mrs. Amsler’s teacher website (Joan Martin EL, Hobart, IN): http://hobart.schoolwires.com/Page/3176
Music For All: http://www.musicforall.org/who-we-are/advocacy/tools-resources
Kindermusik: https://www.kindermusik.com/mindsonmusic/benefits-of-music/50-reasons-why-music-gives-kids-a-lifetime-of-opportunity/
NAMM Foundation: https://www.nammfoundation.org/why-music-matters
VH-1 Save the Music Foundation: http://www.vh1savethemusic.org/why-music/benefits-to-the-brain

Ten Goals for the Holiday Break

After you finish your fall semester finals, juries, concerts, writing assignments, and other projects, you may have several weeks before you have to return to full-time classes at the university. Besides catching up on your sleep and visiting your family and friends, how many of these enrichment activities can you accomplish?

Share your gifts. Play your instrument, accompany someone else, or sing solos at a local nursing home or senior center.
Sit in with a church or community choir, band, or orchestra. Just ask the conductor if you could participate in a few rehearsals over your break.
Learn something new about music… a different instrument, recent releases in sheet music or recordings, unique composer/arranger in your major area, music education article from a professional journal, innovative music software or interactive online programs (often free trials are available to future teachers), etc. For example, have you perused SmartMusic and MusicFirst?
Spend a lot of time sight-reading… especially on the piano. To take your ear-training training a step further, pull out your old folk-song sight-reading series or Hindemith’s Elementary Training for Musicians and practice musicianship exercises.
To improve your score reading, take a choral arrangement and play the individual vocal parts at sight (soprano + bass, alto + tenor, soprano + tenor + bass, etc.). Or, perform on the piano 2-4 parts of a string quartet score.
Volunteer to assist coaching a sectional or large ensemble at your local public school.
Attend as many local concerts as you can: school, amateur adult, and professional.
Compose or arrange a short holiday, folk, or classical song for unusual instrumentation (e.g. flute, viola, baritone sax, and tuba). Who knows? Someday you may have to conduct an ensemble with such unique membership.
Record video/audio excerpts of your major instrument/voice for placement on your professional website. Begin preparations on or update your e-portfolio.
Read all of the “marketing professionalism” articles on this blog-site. Take notes or print the things to which you want to refer back. Make a list of the possible interview questions, and put yourself through several “mock job screenings” (alone or with one or more college buddies) with you answering these randomized questions in front of a camera. Assess your performance. During your”free time” over the holiday break, assemble your “personal stories” – anecdotes revealing your skills, personality traits, teaching experiences, and accomplishments that could be shared at future employment interviews. Most important article on this subject? Look at https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/interview-questions-revisited/.

Best wishes for a healthy, peaceful and fulfilling holiday. Please enjoy lots of turkey with your loved ones, but if you can, “catch up” on your long term preparation for becoming a music educator. Make every day count over the recess. Reflect on why you are becoming a music educator, and be grateful for the multitude of benefits! Finally, never forget your own creative roots… make time for music every day!

PKF

	paulkfox on ‘Tis a New Year of Music…
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	paulkfox on The Get-a-Job Toolbox

The Final Leap from Pre-Service to In-Service:

The Metamorphosis and Integration of Philosophy, Maturity, and Teacher Preparation

Personal Branding

Networking

Engagement

Personal Branding, Marketing, and Networking

Business Cards

Résumés

Portfolios and Websites

Interview Questions, Techniques, and Skills of “Story-Telling”

The Final Leap from Pre-Service to In-Service:

The Metamorphosis and Integration of Philosophy, Maturity, and Teacher Preparation

Moving from “Book Learning” to “Practical Application”

Artist vs. Teacher

Generalist vs. Specialist

Cultivating a Mentor or Two

Photo credits (in order) from Pixabay.com: “tutor” by nrjfalcon1, “woman” by RobinHiggins, “microphone” by KimKin, “excited” by RobinHiggins, “boy” by Silverfuchs, “thinking” by RobinHiggins, “board” by geralt, “birds” by Dieter_G, and “listen” by RobinHiggins.

The Final Leap from Pre-Service to In-Service:

The Metamorphosis and Integration of Philosophy, Maturity, and Teacher Preparation

Professionalism

Ethics

Philosophy

Time, Task, & Media Management for Pre-Service/New Music Educators

Philosophies of Time Management

The 4 D’s

“Pros” Wrestle Control of Their “Free Time!” You Can Do That, Too!

Photo credits from Pixabay.com: “hourglass” by annca, “children” by mochilazocultural, “stopwatch” by geralt, “parade” by Marmiche, “time management” by mohamed1982eg, “choir” by intmurr, “time” by geralt, “box” by rawpixel, and “businessman” by Fotomek.

Part IV: More Perspectives and Resolving a Few “Loose Ends”

What is a Fiduciary?

Ethics Violations in the News

Mandatory Reporting

Confidentiality

The “Grandma Litmus Test”

Final Thoughts

Part III: Case Studies

Pedagogical Problems

Enforcement Problems

Finances and Resource Allocation Problems

Problems in Relationships

Problems in Diversity

More Issues in Music Education

Scenarios: How Would You Judge These “Misconducts?”

The Ethics Equilibrium Perspective

Conclusion

Additional Discussion: Essential Questions for All Educators

Special Thanks and Credits for This Three-part Blog-Series

References for Further Research

Special thanks and credits go to Dr. Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor at Millersville University (in Pennsylvania), and one of the authors of the Pennsylvania’s Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit, the source of much of the research, quotes, and perspective of this three-part series.

Part II: The Nitty Gritty

Societal Changes Promoting Ethical Disputes

The Role of Education in Upholding Standards of Behavior

Philosophies in Moral Development

Sample Code of Professional Practices and Conduct

The Teacher-Student Relationship

Vulnerabilities

Social Media

To be continued…

Special thanks and credits go to Dr. Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor at Millersville University (in Pennsylvania), and one of the authors of the Pennsylvania’s Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit, the source of much of the research, quotes, and perspective of this three-part series comes.

Part I: Back to Basics

Teacher Rules — The Good Old Days?

Professionalism

Ethics

Discipline

Ethical Equilibrium: Consequential “Codes of Conduct” vs. Professional Ethics

Sample Codes of Ethics

To be continued…

Special thanks and credits go to Dr. Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor at Millersville University (in Pennsylvania), and one of the authors of the Pennsylvania’s Educator Ethics and Conduct Toolkit, the source of much of the research, quotes, and perspective of this three-part series comes.

Getting the Most Out of Music Conferences… Suggestions for First-Time Attendees or New Teachers

Suggested Additional Readings:

Photo credits: saxophone 24youphotography, harpist Gerrit Prenger, and computer/music keyboard LeslieR at FreeImages.com

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.” — Plato

Things for Which Prospective Music Teachers and Students Majoring in Music Education Should Be Thankful… and on Which to Reflect Over This Holiday Season!

Why Music? Why Do You Want to Become a Music Educator?

Ten Goals for the Holiday Break