How to Follow a Well-Loved Predecessor
As a first-year teacher, you’re going to get compared to whoever came before you. Don’t take it personally—this situation happens to nearly every new teacher who follows an established teacher, especially if that person was well liked.
According to MENC member and mentor Steve Raybould of Richmond, Virginia, “It doesn't really matter that the guy before you was there for six years or one, you’d get the same reaction, and it really has nothing to do with you as a person or a director.” Your predecessor faced the same situation when he or she first started.
“Having been in this situation twice before, I learned very quickly not to make incredibly drastic changes right out of the gate,” says member Chad Criswell, veteran teacher and creator/webmaster of the Music Education Magic Web site. It’s important to trust yourself and your own methods and to show confidence in the classroom, but it may help you to learn from and incorporate some of the past traditions of the program. Criswell notes that it’s important to follow through on any changes you do decide to make so you can be consistent in your methods.
When students start saying, “But we liked the old way better!” Raybould recommends staying positive and responding with a statement like, “I am sure there are a number of things that may seem new to you, but if you never tried anything new, you never would have learned to walk, to ride a bike, or to sing/play an instrument.”
The longer you stay in the position and the more new students join the program, the better things will get. “You are going to be amazed at the difference next year,” says Raybould.
For more help, read an article by member Chad Criswell on “Teaching in the Shadow of a Legendary Teacher” from MusicEdMagic.com.
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Steve Raybould is the executive director of BNC Education and the director of bands at Pocahontas Middle School in Richmond, VA.
Chad Criswell is the elementary band director for the Southeast Polk Community School District in Altoona, Iowa.
--Anne Wagener, May 28, 2008, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education