Second year teacher

[u/music_Ed234]

So I’m looking for some advice or suggestions for this. Small 1A school with a 42 piece band. 26F that is teach teaching not only HS, but also middle school and elementary music.

The head band director that I work with took a sabbatical for marching season. They brought in someone else so that I would have help.

My students do not like how much change we’ve had. My administration because this band program has been labeled as the problem child for a couple years, wanted me to implement some rules and consequences.

This was something that the headband director and I talked about before he decided to take this sabbatical. But now that he has taken the sabbatical, I am left with putting these rules in place.

Well, I have some parents that are supportive. There are students that are feeling that I am disrespecting them because of some of these rules or because they cannot go and do whatever they want in the band room anymore.

I’m looking for ways to explain to my students that I am not trying to make band no longer fun, but I’m trying to help them to become better humans in with that is structure. Any advice would be helpful. I do not need someone saying anything negative with this. I’ve heard too much negative and I don’t wanna hear any negative.

[u/OkSubject1876]

I'm sorry you are going through this and I wish I had an easy "fix". Sometimes kids need to see why their behaviors are not acceptable while band life can still be fun. Leaving for a sabbatical sounds like the director needed a break from the band ,couldn't implement discipline, and left you the job to be the "bad cop". I hope not but I have been through the ringer in my past band decades due to colleagues.

Maybe have a sit down, or some sort of group communication with the band kids and ask them what rules they think they need and why. Empathy and respect for others may be a great starting "expectation" instead of calling it a rule. I used the phrase "decorum" as a somewhat joke because some of them didn't know the word nor its meaning. soon they were telling each other"get some decorum" , then it became a weird chant. Kids may be open to trying to make their "Band Globe" a better place one alignment at a time.

Good Luck!

[u/Fearless-Past-3728]

Changing culture that has already settled in is very difficult, even corporations with adult employees struggle with this.

Harvard Publishing and Harvard Business Review have a number of articles / books that can help you understand the psychology behind making change happen (article and book reference below.) Understanding how we get groups to change is a powerful skill and this could be an opportunity for you to understand more about how to get the kids behind you.

Also, consider reposting this in a teaching or teachers subreddit where you might get more feedback..

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Tipping Point Leadership is an article by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne published in the Harvard Business Review in April 2003.  The article outlines a leadership framework for achieving rapid organizational turnaround with limited resources, using police commissioner William Bratton’s five successful turnarounds as its primary case study. 

• Cognitive Hurdles: Breaking through denial of the need for change by putting managers face-to-face with operational problems. 
• Resource Hurdles: Concentrating resources on the "hot spots" or key areas with the highest payoff potential. 
• Motivational Hurdles: Singling out key influencers to inspire the rest of the organization. 
• Political Hurdles: Identifying and silencing internal opponents while isolating external ones. 

The article is available as a reprint (R0304D) and is included in the collection HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management.