Teaching Music As A "Tweener"

Taking over a teaching job on the heels of a retiree can be incredibly difficult. "Tweener," is the term often given to teachers who are brave enough to do it anyway.

Teachers are human beings. We yearn for acceptance and we will often change our lives and our actions to pursue it. When we fail to gain that instant acceptance we often become dissatisfied with our careers. Many will change professions as a result. No where is this more evident than in education. Enter the "Tweener."

Many teachers, especially music educators, will at some point in their career take over for a retiring teacher that has built up a program with significant prestige and visibility. When that experienced, well respected teacher leaves, the new teacher is left to fend for themselves in a difficult and often hostile environment. If this type of situation is the new music teacher's first job the likelyhood of success for that new teacher is 50/50 at best. In our profession I have often heard these poor, unsuspecting new teachers referred to as "Tweeners." This unflattering term signifies their predisposition to giving up and moving on to another school after a year or two rather than continue to deal with the constant reminder that they just are not doing things as well as the old, retired teacher did. The Tweener moves on to another position and is replaced again, this time by a person who luckily does not have to live up to the same high expectations that the students and parents expected of the first.

Dealing with the Tweener syndrome is not easy, but this cycle can be broken if the new teacher has the courage, self-respect, and determination to see it through. I have contributed an article to the education section of Suite101 on the topic of how to cope with the shadow of a former teacher, and my hope is that it may help other band directors, new or old, to ultimately succeed and prosper in their new programs.