Your Years of Experience
Does your expertise and success match the number of years you’ve been teaching? A friend once quipped to me: That director thinks everyone should listen to him because “he has 30 years of experience.” But everyone know that he doesn’t have 30 years of experience, has has ONE year of experience repeated THIRTY times!
No matter how long you’ve been teaching, you have to keep growing. Are you repeating the same techniques year after year? This may be great if they really work, but there is always something to learn.
I’ve had the great privilege to talk to many of the most successful people in our activity and they often share that they are always excited to learn from the other top designers and instructors. They have great interest in the work that others are doing, not from a concern about competition but because they genuinely want to see the new innovations and ideas that others are bringing to the field.
Keeping this interest in the new and better, constantly striving to learn new things and improve one’s knowledge, is the best way to keep your group improving. It also helps to keep you engaged and excited about your work. The drudgery of repetition can wear us down! Keep adding new tools to your tool belt, and keep your existing tools sharp and ready.
There have been a number of times in my career when a director has contacted me to work with them as an arranger or show designer and they have said that “they needed to do something different.” They often realize that their group needs to progress, be more current, and try new things. But as you might suspect, they often have a very hard time accepting and implementing these new ideas when I deliver them. I’ve even had directors say “I want to do something new” but then when they get really uncomfortable as the season progresses, they will end up changing the show back to what they know and are comfortable with.
It takes great courage to move away from the comfortable and familiar, but it’s the best way to grow and improve. Take your students on this adventure with you! Let them know that you’re trying something new, share that you’re uncomfortable but willing to try it, and then work on it together. They’ll support you and together you can learn and grow. (And your being authentic gives them permission to be authentic also.)
Don’t go through another year doing exactly the same thing. There are hundreds of hours of webinars and podcasts here at Marching Arts Education to help you find those new ideas! Consider signing up your staff for a membership to take full advantage of these resources! Take chances and your program will benefit.
Tim Hinton
March 20, 2021
