Valuing our teachers

I’ve been teaching music for around fifteen years. I love my job with a passion. What a delight to go to work and help children make music. It is especially rewarding when children who might struggle in other areas of learning, experience success in music. Making music and singing together releases endorphins which can help children with self-regulation and enhances the feeling of belonging to the group, which is so important for children who have experienced trauma.

But teaching has become so much more incredibly difficult than when I first started in the early 90’s. The range of complex needs children bring to school with them can at times feel overwhelming. Our schools lack the appropriate number of trained professionals that are needed to support our vulnerable students, whether those needs be physical, emotional, or mental.

I worry about the low number of teachers training in music and that those who are will be drawn to the private school system because of better wages, conditions and because music education is highly valued in that system.

Music teachers, all teachers, need to be valued, respected, and celebrated. We cannot expect talented young people to pursue teaching as a career if they feel they will not be respected and valued by the community. Music is such an important part of our culture and I’m proud to be helping the next generation to see themselves as music makers, not just music consumers.