Do you remember your first year as a Music Educator? The excited expectancy of instilling the love of music into young minds. The brilliant idea that you get to play instruments and sing all day and get paid for it. All those grand ideas of shaping students and providing a space to feel safe, valued all through the power of music.

They say (I don’t know who ‘they’ is) ‘choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life’. Whoever said that has never worked in a classroom before, right?

How I became a Music Educator

My first position as a Music Educator came four years after starting my teaching career as a classroom teacher. I had lived and breathed music for as long as I could remember and it was often how others knew me. The girl who played the piano at church. The girl who sings and leads worship. I had completed my piano exams outside of school and jumped head first into the high school music program by studying piano and trumpet.

My mum was a music teacher and started me on my journey when I was four years old and my whole life I have thoroughly loved music. Somewhere along the way though, I think I needed to know that I was good at other things as well. So, when I went to university, while I was accepted into the Bachelor of Music, I chose to study a Bachelor of Primary Education instead.

God has a funny way of directing our steps though and after four years of study and another four years of teaching, he stirred up a desire in me to apply for a Music Specialist position.

The reality of a specialist teacher

I was successful with my application and started the position part way through the school year. In I went, fresh as a daisy, armed with grandiose ideas, lofty dreams and a heart filled with anxiety. Those kids could smell my fear and naivety a mile away and tried to walk over me at every possible opportunity!

I was ready to teach the subject of music, but I was nowhere near ready to be a specialist teacher.

I no longer had one class of students for the whole year to connect and build rapport with. I had every student in the school. The strategies I had built as a classroom teacher no longer worked the same way as a specialist teacher. The rules were different. The game had changed.

I had never been a specialist teacher before, no one was there to take me under their wing and starting part way through the year, I was the only new staff member and everyone else had formed a strong connection with each other.

To add more crazy to the chaos, the Music Room was so far removed from any other classroom in the school and was on the opposite side of the school to the admin office.

As a classroom teacher, I had a teacher next door teaching the same year level. We could wave each other down if we needed help with a student and there were many colleagues in the staff room to brainstorm with on planning, assessing and reflecting on lessons.

For the first time in my teaching career I found myself physically, professionally and emotionally isolated from the teaching community.

Baptism of fire

There were so many positive experiences that I had in my first position as a Music Specialist and I am so thankful for it, but it was definitely a baptism of fire.

I am a short woman. Prior to this Music Educator position, I had been teaching a year 2 class. In comparison, I now had thirteen year olds walking into my classroom sprouting facial hair, towering over me and refusing to engage with me or the lesson, as I had replaced their favourite teacher.

In my interview I had been encouraged to come in and bring a new and fresh perspective to the music program, but in reality, the existing staff (some who had been there for 30 years) pushed back on any minute change I suggested.

In between the initial hostility coming from some staff and students, outbursts from students with trauma that had me evacuating students from furniture being thrown across the room, the miracle I needed to learn so many different names, and the sense of overwhelm trying to keep my head above the water programming for multiple year levels – some how, inch by inch the start of my journey as a Music Educator forged a path forward.

We all have to start somewhere though, right?

Small victories

A month or so after I started in this position, I walked into a year six classroom to talk with their teacher. As I walked in I noticed some boys singing. Those giant, man-like boys who I was quietly intimated by were singing the song I had been teaching in class. We locked eyes, and I quietly said, ‘Nice singing, boys.’. The tough demeanour cracked and they cheekily smiled and said, ‘It’s actually an ok song, miss.’

Not long after, I had a year five class come to my room for their lesson. A group of girls came up to me and said they were really glad that I was teaching music there as I let them play the instruments. This puzzled me, so I questioned what they meant by that. I was informed that they had not been given the opportunity to play the instruments for many years as the previous teacher’s style of teaching had them sit their while he played to them.

Slowly, I tucked these little victories inside my heart to strengthen me when the next hurdle came.

Do you remember?

My first year was rough. Looking back, I realise just how much I didn’t know. We all have to have a starting point though.

What was your first year as a Music Educator like? Was it a baptism of fire like mine was? Did you feel you had support or someone to guide you along the way?

Join the conversation

A problem shared is a problem halved. I would love for you to join me in the comments to share your reflections and experience.

• If you could travel back in time and give yourself one piece of advice for your first year, what would it be?
• If this is your first year teaching, what things do you want support or advice about?

Let me know below! I would love to hear from you and I know your advice could help new educators today.