Parent Power - School Music's Biggest Asset

Parent Power

Leveraging your biggest assets in a school band program

Sydney is overwhelmingly a community-minded city. For most people, living here means understanding that the success of your existence rests on some investment in a shared franchise with your neighbours, friends, colleagues and associates. Within schools, parents can be powerful progenitors of lasting, enriching community cohesion. 

In a typical Australian school, we can easily acknowledge that the largest active cohort of the community are the students themselves. It would follow that those with the most authority are the teachers and executive. And then we arrive at the Parents.

In our 2015 demography, Parents are the group uniquely large enough, educated enough, and ideally, motivated enough to radically enhance our school communities. I say ideally motivated because even though statistics point overwhelmingly to the fact that children with actively involved parents are more likely to succeed at school, many Parents still will not, or unfortunately, can not be active members of their child’s school community.

For a school music program to be successful, particularly in schools where resources may be already be scarce, parental involvement is undoubtedly essential. In Queensland, where instrumental music in public schools is mandated and managed via the public education bureaucracy, there is perhaps less room for Parents to be involved in the management and functioning of a school bands or orchestras program. I’ve taught in both Queensland and New South Wales, but have had my greatest experience working with school bands in the “free-market” system that has produced the typical Sydney school band.

One of the great challenges parents in a school community face is the simple lack of definition of what role they should play. This is not likely to change soon, as no school should enforce a code on a group with such diverse needs and circumstances. Teachers have their roles clearly defined both in law and through experience, as do students. Indeed, schools wouldn’t function effectively otherwise. Parents however can not possibly enjoy this clarity or security of purpose, particularly when arriving new to a school. Sure, some schools engage with parents better than others, and some communities are simply more welcoming to newcomers, but the fundamental challenge of identifying and extracting the potential from Parents to better our schools remains.

Since I started working as a school band director, I’ve always been fascinated by the parent communities I’ve worked with. I can’t help but be on the look out for “talent” within Parent ranks. Who can bring what to the table? Does Mr. Jones have some fundraising experience? Does Mrs. McDonald understand corporate governance better than most? Would Mr Taylor be interested in using his skills as a builder to re-fit the rehearsal room?

School band directors are no doubt always striving to build better bridges within their communities. What though, are some concrete ways in which we might better leverage the rich and varied resource that is our parent communities?

At school and in the office…

 Actively choose to be interested in Parents

No educator could possibly argue that being interested in your students as people isn’t critical for classroom success in the 21st century. You can take this a step further though. Be interested in their parents as people as well. Find out what they do and take an interest in the character traits and inclinations that got them where they are. Observe the positive tendencies in your students that may be a result of their parenting. Note them, and mention them back to the parent.

 Always call first

You can get to know someone much quicker if the conversation is in person. Sure, we often need to make sure things are in writing, but when you need to discuss something with a parent and can’t see them face to face, call before you email. It comes back to trust. Parents know you’re busy, and even though a phone call is a shorter operation than a detailed email, people will feel it a much bigger undertaking and have confidence that you have their best interests at heart.

Make people aware of the strengths around them

So many parents miss the opportunity to add something to the community because of trivial circumstances. Some don’t feel confident, some don’t have friends in the “right” places, others simply assume every thing is under control because no one’s asked them to help out. It’s not enough to publicly ask for volunteers. Get to know everyone, talk up the strengths and positive traits you see in people. I often spend hours on the phone to the president of one band I work with, constantly investigating and learning about the people we might be able to work with and recruit to help out. Talk about people positively and word will get around.

Educate the whole family, not just the child

Use any opportunity you get to inform and educate parents musically. Tap into what ever source of inspiration you can identify within them, so you can fundamentally improve their knowledge of music as well. I like to maintain a diary of concerts and suggest them, personally, to students families, based on what I know will and won't work for different people. Again, it's the personal touch that counts - just telling people en-masse you want them to go to concerts won't work. You need to give parents a personal insight into how music might work for their family.

In Performance…

Don’t do the packing up!

Your job after an event must be to debrief your stakeholders. If that sounds horrifically corporate, then try “chatting to the crowd”. Get out and enquire of people. Remember their names and the last conversations you shared. You might only see some of them once or twice a year. Make them feel welcome and part of the community, talk directly to them, and give them a personal insight into how their kids are going. Ask for honest, adult feedback, away from student ears if necessary. Get the kids to do the chairs, or if you’ve got facilities staff to help with that - even better!

Don’t be afraid to do the talking

Concerts are your chance to build a rapport and connection with parents. If they’re going to invest in your work, you need to let them see who you are through a direct engagement with them. Whilst it’s important to let students compere things on occasion, it’s more important to show kids how to engage verbally with an audience, and it’s crucial to effectively use every minute you get whilst directly addressing your parent community.

Know your audience

Research and prepare what you’re going to say to parents at concerts. You can ad-lib once a solid foundation has been prepared. Remember that your time in the rehearsal room is the place to speak so that your students can better understand how the music is performed, whilst the microphone on stage is for your audience to better understand what is being performed. Don’t be afraid to tackle complex musical concepts and break them down for your audience to understand. If someone in their 40’s can walk away from each concert going “Wow, I really learnt something there”, chances are you’ll have earned their enduring support and respect to teach their kids in perpetuity! 

Most of All… 

Have a vision, and take people with you

Politicians rise or fall not on the quality of their vision, but on whether or not they can weave the threads of that vision into a saleable story. Likewise as a music director, your success at moving a community to value and pursue music as artistic expression is dependant on your ability to inspire people to join you on that journey. Just as I talk regularly to students about the aims and ambitions we set and achieve together, so to do I see it important to bring parents in to this process. If your school allows, try things like Open rehearsals, breakfast concerts and parent workshops as ways to bring parents with you on the journey. Take every opportunity to ask and evaluate the opinions of others. The community will come with you and work towards your vision when they feel you enfranchise them with a legitimate input into your decision making.

Ben Crocker

September 2015

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Ben Crocker is Head of Bands at The King's School, Sydney. He is a three-time winner of the NSW State A Grade Band championship, as conductor, consecutively between 2013-2015. Ben works throughout Australia and overseas as a guest conductor and workshop clinician, in both performing arts and educational sectors.