Banded Educator Panel: Educators Helping Educators Week 6

We hope you found the viewpoints presented last week by our panel educators to be helpful. If you are taking your first look this week, welcome!

In an effort to provide some additional tools to aid in your success, we have posed questions to educators from across the country; each with different experiences, focuses, and student demographics. We will post new questions and responses each week, so continue to check back.

We also hope that you will contribute ideas born of your own experience by commenting and continuing the conversation. If you have a question you would like to submit, please message us with “Music Ed. Question” as the first line in the question.

Please see the attachment to “Meet the Panel”

We have a pull out program for lessons in our school. The regular classroom teachers are always fighting me when the band kids have to leave for lessons. They either send them, after making the student feel bad about leaving, or they deny the request to send them. How do I get my colleagues to jump on board with what I do, and show them that we are on the same team?

Dr. Jeff Phillips: I’ve heard of pull out programs, but we don’t do those in this area. Personally, I’d have a problem if other teachers pulled band kids from my rehearsal for tutoring in their subjects.  To pull any student out of class sends the message that one subject is more important than another.  If we want to be on an equal footing with math, science, language, then we have to respect their class time also.

John Bingaman: Usually, pull outs for lessons only take place in band class in my experience. It is a tall order for administrators to have someone missing a core class once a week for the entire year. Another angle to consider is the possibility of pull outs from your band class. If the administration decided that you should reciprocate and allow your students out consistently to do any number of things, it could become a rather significant issue.

Ryan Moseley: The first step is to talk to your administrator and get their support. If the teachers know that the school principal will not back you up or does not support the pull out program, the teachers are not likely to make your program a priority. See what your principal’s stance is and ask if he/she would be willing to send a note to the staff letting them know of the school expectations for the instrumental program and that it is supported by the school and district.

The second step is to talk to the teachers and see if there is a better time to send the students to you for their lessons (i.e. Recess time or a time in class when they are doing independent work). By opening up the lines of communication, each of you will be more willing to find a common time that works best for both parties, rather than you dictating a time to the staff.