Winning Isn't Everything

Lessons learned from two high school band directors who said no to competition.

Since public schools first began to integrate band into high school curricula nearly a century ago, student musicians have performed at school, civic and athletic events. More recently, high school bands have also begun to go toe to toe in adjudicated festivals and competitions, fueled by the promise of glory. However, research has shown that competition can actually intensify existing structural inequalities among students. Although scholars have called on music teachers and band directors to resist competitive performance norms, the complex public school ecosystem often makes such resistance impossible.

When Robert C. Jordan, EdDCT, assistant professor of music and coordinator of music education at Adelphi University, heard about two high school band directors who had successfully resisted competition, he was intrigued. Along with two colleagues, Olivia G. Tucker, PhD, assistant professor at the University of New Mexico, and Christopher Hathaway, DMA, professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Dr. Jordan dove into the story of Dave and Darin, who taught in neighboring Michigan school districts. As colleagues and friends, the two routinely discussed their dissatisfaction with the state's school music association. During the 2003-2004 school year, Dave withdrew his bands from all forms of competition and turned the marching band into a pep band. Darin simplified his marching band's programming and minimized competitive involvement. Then, together, they founded a noncompetitive festival for other high school bands in the area.

"We don't have many accounts of instrumental music teachers taking ownership of competitions and festivals the way Dave and Darin did," Dr. Jordan and his colleagues said. "Their mitigation of competition in music education represents one story of how two teachers came together to create a solution." What led these band directors to divest from competition, the team wanted to know, and how did they do it? They began by conducting an oral history of students, parents and staff who had been connected to Dave's and Darin's bands in 2003-2004. Because participants were asked to speak at length about events that had occurred 20 years prior, Dr. Jordan and his colleagues used a theoretical framework that reflected the evolution of meaning-making over time. Their work was later published as "Two Music Educators' Resistance to Competition" (Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 2023).¹

Building on prior scholarly research, the team conceived of teacher agency as "an emergent phenomenon rather than an action, personal trait, fixed variable, or opposite of structure." In other words, agency is a live process that takes into account a teacher's past, present and future experiences and relationships. "When agency is framed as emanating from an individual, we risk putting too much emphasis on the individual in both positive and negative ways," co-author Dr. Tucker explained. Dr. Jordan and his colleagues said that understanding agency as the product of multiple actors' interactions with each other, however, can provide a more holistic perspective.

After reviewing the interview transcripts, the team concluded that Dave and Darin's agency emanated from several unique factors, including their "disillusionment with state organization contests, their personality traits, and the trust that students, parents and colleagues had in them from years of quality music instruction and positive rapport." While this perfect storm may not be replicable, Dr. Jordan and his colleagues believe educators have much to learn from Dave and Darin.

Finding ways to circumvent structural constraints and create new, inclusive practices is key. "Rich theoretical frameworks, such as a dialogical view of agency, will help us discover patterns and factors that support progressive curricular change within and beyond Western forms," Dr. Tucker said. Even when educators act alone, the sum of their collective actions can make a long-lasting impact. "Sharing stories like this may give teachers the courage to come up with their own solutions. The power of Dave and Darin's story is that, yes, what they did was unusual, but it doesn't have to be."

Biography

Robert C. Jordan, EdDCT

Robert C. Jordan, EdDCT, assistant professor of music, focuses his research on music teacher education and pedagogical approaches to teaching undergraduate courses in vocal and instrumental methods. He is interested in music teacher agency as well as democratic, student-centered and culturally responsive approaches to music education that are both academically rigorous and practical with the potential to undergird a lifelong engagement with music.

^{¹Tucker, O. G., Jordan, R. C., & Hathaway, C. (2023).Two Music Educators' Resistance to Competition. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, (235), 30-45. doi:10.5406/21627223.235.02}