It’s People, Not Programs

By Kari Moskal

While thinking about what this article should be about, I tossed around several ideas but ultimately decided to go to my bookshelf and remind myself what topics have interested me throughout my career. Several books on my shelf dealt with the content of what we teach, however, I found myself being drawn back to books that focused more on the inspiration surrounding how and why we teach.

One book in particular caught my eye, What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most, by Todd Whitaker (2004). I date my books when I read them, and the last time I spent any time with this book was in June 2010. I wondered how this book might hold up 14 years later, especially considering the first time I read it I had only been teaching for five years. Now in year 20, would I still agree? Do his “things that matter” still matter in 2024? 

For the sake of saving you some time, I won’t take you through all 14 things, but two of his chapter topics, the first and the last, caught my attention and I decided to look back on them more closely. Whitaker’s (2004) first topic is “It’s People, Not Programs.” (p.7). As a music educator myself I assumed that this chapter would be about building a successful music program. However, as I quickly remembered, this is not a music-specific book but rather a general education publication, so his focus was more on the things teachers are required to implement in their classrooms from the top down, like school-wide classroom management programs, or state testing initiatives.

However, the title of this chapter got me thinking. In our music programs, are we all putting our students first so that our programs succeed, or are we standing atop the program afraid we might fail if we put our students’ needs first? With all of the demands placed upon us, how do we keep our students at the forefront of our minds and make sure that what is best for students comes through in what our programs represent? I realize I’m just posing questions, but it’s because I don’t have the answers. I just know that the mantra, “It’s People, Not Programs” (Whitaker, 2004) is something I strive to embrace. I want all of my students to feel represented in our music programs. I want them to feel included and to feel as though they have a voice. I want them to realize that I care more about them as a person than just as a body in a seat meeting the musical requirements I put before them. 

How you do this in your classroom is personal to you, and if you are thinking about it, you are already on the right track. I have found that little things like greeting my students in the hallway as I take attendance before class, celebrating individual birthdays with the class, following and recognizing non-musical accomplishments, and allowing students some choice in our repertoire selections have helped my students have the feeling that they are the most important part of the music program. Of course, the program, our reputation and traditions are important, but it’s the people who carry out those traditions that matter most. This thought led me to jump to the last topic Whitaker (2004) discussed, “Make it Cool to Care” (p.113). 

Everyone knows we care about our subject matter, we’ve dedicated years and countless hours to perfecting our musical mastery. However, the craft of teaching music is multifaceted and we need several different skill sets to be effective in the classroom. We all know that even the best musicians sometimes make only mediocre teachers. So how does the care we show for our subject matter translate to our students? How do we “make it cool to care?” (Whitaker, 2004)

Whitaker (2004) states: 

“The best teachers are able to achieve this in their classrooms. The students care, and they care deeply. They care about learning, they care about the teacher, and they care about each other. Once it is cool to care, anything becomes possible … The real challenge, and the real accomplishment, is to get all the students to care about what happens in the classroom. Once we achieve that, anything is possible. Until we achieve that, any obstacle can seem insurmountable” (p.116).

It’s a nice thing to say, but making this a reality isn’t as easy as it seems, and what about those “insurmountable obstacles?” I think we’ve all had moments where we’ve thought that the students just don’t seem to care and maybe it’s just not worth it. 

Whitaker (2004) has some ideas, and it comes back to his first topic, “It’s People, Not Programs” (p.7). Oftentimes the care and excitement we show within our programs radiates to our students, especially when students are at the forefront of every decision we make. It also comes from other topics he shared such as, having high expectations for yourself and the students (p.31), taking a positive approach (p.35), modeling how to treat others (p.43), treating everyone with dignity and respect (p.63), and making every decision based on the best people (p.87).

There is no magic pill that will make this happen, but I can say that with time, hard work and diligence, it can happen. I’m working through this right now with my high school choir. We brought in some new students who haven’t been in the program before and don’t have the same relationship with me as most of my other students. They also don’t know, or at this point care about what our musical legacy is. One quarter in, I think we are making progress, slowly they are seeing that it is “cool to care” (Whitaker, 2004). However, we have had setbacks and have had to have moments of reteaching and soul-searching (myself included). I hope that the more time they spend in my classroom, they will see how powerful it can be to be in an ensemble where every voice matters, every voice can be heard, and yes, we care about each other.

So, does Whitaker’s (2004) book, What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most hold up in 2024? Yes, I think I can safely say that it does. In fact, I think we can say that these fourteen things matter even more. The students of 2024 are yearning to be heard, longing to find a place where they belong so they can share what they have to offer with the world. In my twenty years of teaching, I can say that I’ve thought about student voice and overall belonging in my ensembles more with each passing year of my career. It took me time and confidence in my abilities to realize that though the musical skills we need to have a successful program are important, how a student feels when they leave my room and eventually my program is how I want to be remembered. 

“Great teachers impact others in more ways than they can ever know. The legacies we build last far beyond our years. Students care about great teachers because they know great teachers care about them” (Whitaker, 2004, p.122).

 

Reference:

Whitaker, T. (2004) What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most,
Poughkeepsie, NY: Eye on Education.