Five Minute Read: Make Time and Space for your Student Leaders
Greetings! It’s been quite a while since I wrote a new “Five Minute Read.” This is partly because I’ve been so busy, partly because I’ve still been engaged with many educators regarding the previous articles I’ve already written, and mostly because I hadn’t thought of a new topic that could be succinctly explored in this format. However, my recent clinics with multiple bands have provided just such an opportunity!
I doubt any of us have as many instructional staff as we want or need for our marching bands. Whether the limitations are budgetary or we are simply too geographically isolated to be able to reliably find consistent visual and musical techs, most of us face the challenge of teaching and cleaning music and drill to dozens of students on our own throughout the summer and fall. But we all have a junior staff that we can leverage within our program: student leadership.
Developing Your Student Leadership
I have no doubt that all of my readers select their student leaders carefully and according to the criteria that best suits their program. But, I consistently hear band directors tell me that their drum majors, field commanders, section leaders, captains, etc. do not provide the desired amount of engaged, effective assistance to their rehearsals and programs. Much of this gap between expectation and need can be chalked up to youth and inexperience. They are, after all, kids, with a range of lessons to be learned about dedication paired with discretion, lessons we’ve all learned the hard way over years of experience.
However, we can provide these students with the know-how to start learning these lessons earlier and applying it to their role as peer leaders. It’s a tough job telling anyone what to do, as human beings just plain dislike being bossed around. But we really don’t like someone our age, or younger, giving us marching orders. That’s why we should consider giving these student leaders some techniques and processes that can help them build social capital with their peers that can be spent on their less pleasant duties of giving redirection and critique to their fellow ensemble members.
Praise Exemplars Publicly, Redirect and Critique Privately
Shame and embarrassment are massive incentives for human beings. We avoid them at all costs, but especially in our adolescent years. So no matter how gently a student leader may deliver corrective information to a peer regarding their performance, if it’s in public where many students can hear it that can lead to embarrassment for the student who is the target of this information. Unfortunately, young student leaders often compound the problem by trying to motivate their charges, using language and tone that can be misconstrued as berating or belittling. That’s why we need to provide a framework and skill set for student leaders delivering critique and redirection: praise publicly, critique privately.
One of the strongest tools in our arsenal is to find those students who are demonstrating exemplary achievement, visually and musically, and publicly draw their peers’ attention to them. “I wish that everyone in this ensemble looked like Chris here. Every time I watch Chris, every rep, he’s got the best posture and marching technique. Everyone, kneel down and look at Chris while he demonstrates for us.” In that moment, so many things are accomplished. Chris feels a sense of accomplishment and will work to continue being exemplary. Whether they believe it or not, deep down, other students will wish to emulate Chris in the hopes of being recognized publicly. And students who may be struggling to grasp a concept may suddenly have a flash of understanding upon watching a peer demonstrate for them.
Conversely, individual correction of musical precision, marching technique, and disruptive behavior by a peer leader should be done up close and personally, or broadcast to the other members of the ensemble. A lowered voice and close proximity reduce the chance that the comments feel aggressive or belittling, remove the embarrassment or shame a student may feel, and improve the uptake of information that the student leader is providing.
Make Time and Space for Student Leaders to Work
“The road to ruin is paved with good intentions,” goes the old saying. Often, student leaders’ over-eagerness to help is counterproductive. They hope the solve every problem they see and hear, then and there, and their zealous love of band can lead them to try to “motivate” their peers. This can be off putting to other students, and it can often lead to a lot of talking on the field as student leaders try to fix problems.
Designating specific times during rehearsal for student leaders to provide feedback to their peers is a wonderful tool to manage and direct these energies in a more productive way. Try specifically telling your leaders not to provide feedback and just be good modelers for the first 3-5 reps of any new rehearsal segment. Then provide a “field” moment where you give thirty seconds to a minute to these young leaders to give feedback in a calm, information-driven manner, praising publicly, redirecting and critiquing privately. Your leaders can solve dozens of problems for you in these moments, problems that maybe you haven’t even noticed yet. It’s important in these moments that we, the people with the microphones, don’t provide any feedback. We don’t talk over them, so they won’t talk over us. If our student leaders know that their “field time” is coming, they are far more likely to wait patiently for their opportunity to help, rather than talking over us.
Specify a Process for Conflict Resolution
No matter how carefully your leaders work to apply the concepts above, there will always be conflict. Some students just stubbornly don’t want to be told what to do. Others may have emotional issues specified in an IEP, or there may simply exist a personality conflict that leads to friction. It’s important that student leaders understand that these issues are both inevitable and not an emergency. It’s also vital that they comprehend that students don’t discipline students, teachers do. Peer leaders are in the business of quietly and privately redirecting undesired behaviors before they can become a problem for the section and ensemble at large, and hopefully before the director(s) have to intervene.
I suggest having a student leader who is dealing with a recalcitrant or antagonistic member ask that student to step to the back of the field with them, and that they ask a drum major or other student leader to accompany them. This way, the issue is isolated from distracting other members of the ensemble, removing the audience that may cause the student to act out even more performatively. The addition of a silent third party ensures that the meeting is conducted safely and will usually cause the unhappy student to behave more cautiously. This provides a chance for information. not emotion, to be delivered to the student being redirected.
Of course there are always exceptions. Despite our best efforts and all of the steps taken, sometimes a director must be called in immediately to resolve an issue. But we can greatly reduce those incidences by applying the techniques described above. In the end, we aren’t just teaching our students about music and marching: I think we all agree we’re giving them important skills to help them navigate their lives. If we work together with our student leaders to teach them these skills, and provide the time, space, and framework for them to employ them, it can be a win for student leaders, the rank and file membership, and director alike. Happy banding, all, and best of luck in the coming season!
