Resultados transitorios

Sharing a professional space with other music leaders can be an important site for music leadership development. This may be in school contexts such as students on teaching practicum and their associate teachers, or in non-school contexts as members of musical groups or cast members for a musical show. When I interviewed Rosie, she described gaining the courage to step out as a music leader beyond the safety of her own school by progressively identifying with community music leaders. She reflected on applying similar principles through being an encouraging role model to beginning teachers who were interested in taking on music leadership roles, referring to two young teachers, one of whom was Fiona. Quite independently, Rosie and Fiona both acknowledged the importance of the other in their journey as school music leaders. Rosie described Fiona as a very talented musician and spoke about how they had worked together in the senior school setting up a range of workshops for children to learn guitar, ukulele and recorder. In a subsequent interview, Fiona gave her perspective as a beginning teacher:

[I] started at [name of school], which in some ways was really good because I was on a staff where they specifically appointed a beginning teacher. At the time that I was there they didn’t have any other younger staff, and that was neat because I could play the guitar, I love music, and there was someone there to take the school production, and all that kind of stuff, that’s kind of how it happened.

Int: So right from the start you were doing music things?

I was there, Rosie was there as well when I was there and so it was neat because she was my tutor teacher, so she kind of took me under her wing as well and so we collaboratively did a lot of stuff.

Int: She knew that you liked music?

I must have had, I would have had it on my CV so I think it must have been picked up from the start that ‘oh this girl’s obviously got a few skills in this area’, and I’m pretty sure when I applied for the job that was one of things they were looking for and I ended up being in the senior school with Rosie as well, which was a real bonus, because you were able to do a lot with the kids. (F Int1:2)

These two teachers, one young and embarking on her career, the other experienced and well-placed to hold onto the leadership reins, provided congruent accounts of a

supportive and collaborative musical relationship.

Rosie also spoke of the young teacher she was currently mentoring and alluded to the complex emotions associated with relinquishing a role she enjoyed:

We’ve got another particularly strong person who loves singing on the staff and she is going to help lead with the production this year. We’ve given her that responsibility. That’s something too that because I’ve had so much experience leading a production for so many years I think it’s really important for me to pass on my skill to someone else and that’s starting to happen now, so it’s really, really promising to see and she’ll do it too.

Int: Are there challenges for you in terms of building up other people’s skills? I mean it takes more time to work alongside someone else than to just get in and do it yourself doesn’t it?

Yes, yes and that’s been, you can be a really patient teacher, you need to be able to stand, or sit back and just wait for it to happen but at the same time provide a

role model, a good model for them to use so that they can develop themselves professionally as well. It does take time and it does take patience. It doesn’t happen straightaway.

Int: And you see the benefit in passing on your skills and experience. Is there a letting go in that too? You know in terms of the control, well I would do it this way but…

Yes, yes I’m going through that process right at this very moment because our wonderful colleague who has decided that she wants to write it. I said “that’s fantastic”. I’ve let her go, I’ve let myself go from that because I would have loved to have been part of that too. But because she showed the motivation and creativity, because she is bouncing ideas off her so much, that ‘you go girl, you do it, and you create it and I’ll be there and I’ll sit down with you and we’ll go through it together before we share it with staff…’ So it is, I don’t find it that difficult because I realise that I’ve got to let go for them to develop and grow. You can’t be too possessive.

Int: But sometimes is it that sort of ‘I’m letting go of something that I really love doing myself’ to allow someone else to have that chance? So there is a generous spirit at work in Rosie?

Yes but you know when we get together and have a look at the finality of it you know in its final form before we share it with the staff, that can be my

opportunity then to add in, or ‘have you thought of this? Have you tried this idea?’ So I can add in my little 5 cents worth. (R Int1:7-8)

In addition to her work with less experienced teachers, Rosie also shared some of the music responsibilities with another teacher who was obviously a valued colleague:

I’ve got a music responsibility which means [other teacher] and I take it on board, we allocate money towards purchasing equipment and have a budget that we work under and… resource the school and keep it updated. (R Int1:4)

Later on, in response to a question about other teachers’ use of waiata, she referred again to this colleague:

I haven’t noticed a super great deal but [other teacher], down the way, she is amazing. She does things like the date in Te Reo Mā_{ori in the morning and the}

things that I do as well and it’s been nice to have her to work together and bounce ideas off because we’re teaching at the same level.

(R Int1:9)

What can we learn about the ongoing work of a community of practice by focusing on Rosie? Firstly, her story illustrated that primary music leaders potentially operate alongside many other teachers and musicians in the course of their work, and that these relationships can have mutual significance and value. Rosie described three distinctive qualities of relationship which I will refer to as expert, collegial and mentoring, with similar relationships being alluded to by other participants, and evident during the observation sessions.

When describing her own development as a music leader, Rosie spoke about how valuable it had been for her to watch more experienced choral conductors and choir leaders at work. As the school choir director, she was the teacher who accompanied the children from her school to the rehearsals for combined choir events. By sharing a ‘musical place’ for a short time with these supposedly more expert leaders, Rosie was able to build her knowledge of what was required, picture herself in the role and, when the opportunity arose, step up to a new level of leadership and fulfil a dream that had been growing in her. Sue, when questioned about how her musical leadership skills developed, also commented on what she had learned as a chorister from different choral conductors.

Another key relationship is that of primary school music leader with colleagues who also share responsibility for music in the school. Although Rosie was the

acknowledged leader of music in her school, it was clear from her comments that she derived great pleasure from working with a like-minded colleague. Similarly, when I observed Bruce leading his large school choir, he had made space for another

experienced teacher with a love of singing to be very much a part of the group, not a ‘spare part’ but an active contributor to the musical outcome.

Madeleine’s experiences provided contrasting perspectives on the potential for collegiality among music leaders. On one occasion she was employed in a school where a strong music leader retained firm control of the extra-curricular music groups:

I was walking into a situation where I wasn’t in charge of music and I was the pianist, which isn’t really where I wanted to be. But she was a very competent choir director and, it’s different shifting into a position where you’re not doing it your way, like, she’s the musical director andyou’re second fiddle. And, you know, I enjoyed working with her but it was her choir and it always felt like it was her choir. (M Int1:6)

However in a subsequent teaching position, Madeleine took over the choir with Ian and the relationship formed between them was clearly collegial in nature. Ian, in spite of his strong performance background, had little experience of children’s choirs.

At least I assume he hadn’t, because he sort of put himself, expressed that he was learning things by being in that situation. So I took over that choir and it was great because Ian had some input and I had some input and we worked well as a team without him being dominated by me because he had so much musical background himself, and without me being dominated by him because I had a musical background and specifically children’s choirs, yeah, so we enjoyed doing that.

Int: So you were conscious that he was open, as a beginning school musician, to learning some of the skills that you had?

Yes, I think so. I don’t know specifically what he learned, but you can find out if there was anything there. And I, I learned some things from him. I think it was mutual, enjoying taking it together because we both had different skills. (M Int1:6)

Returning to Rosie and her mentoring of younger teachers, there were subtle differences between the way she worked alongside Fiona and her support of the second teacher. In Fiona’s case, Rosie’s assessment of her as musically talented resulted in a rapid shift from a mentoring to a collegial relationship. However in relation to the young teacher taking responsibility for the school production, Rosie was conscious of providing an appropriate level of support that would ensure the success of the venture and strengthen the new teacher’s developing self-efficacy as a music leader. David also raised the importance of mentoring, in his case, providing a model for a pre-service teacher education student who hadn’t seen music happening in a classroom:

I said “I’ll bringmy guitar in” so I went in and modelled some singing in his classroom so he could actually see somebody doing some singing with the kids in the classroom you know, while he was here on teaching practice.(D Int1:3)

When I observed Leanne at work with her school choir, she was assisted by a first year teacher. This presented an interesting snapshot of the early stages of music leadership: Leanne provided opportunities for this beginning teacher to ‘try on’ various facets of the role in a safe setting that allowed for the gradual acquisition of leadership skills and attributes. Closely aligned with the notion of shared learning contexts is that of connections that are forged through time and it is to these that we now turn.