Last summer, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) focused a major portion of its conference on a new initiative, Why We Play. The content in Why We Play transcended coaching to challenge those present to become better life educators to those they teach. The lessons learned at this seminar go far beyond the confines of the court or playing field. They are applicable to all, including music educators and the music rehearsal rooms in which they teach. It is beneficial for music educators to take an introspective view of their teaching and, at times, re-evaluate perceptions of success, purpose, and how we teach students.

The main points of the presentation revolved around three questions:

1. How do we, as educators, define success?
2. Why do we coach or teach?
3. How does it feel to be coached or taught by me?

What is Success?
In defining success, the presenters asked attendees to look at more than just the final outcome. In music, is the final performance our main objective? Or are there concepts and life skills that we can teach students in the several weeks leading up to the concert? Dr. Jeff Duke from the University of Central Florida contends that teachers should see success through the "lens of joy". Using this idea, teachers should focus on the aspects of coaching that are controllable - such as improvement, creating a safe and nurturing environment for learning, and making our students better people, not just better musicians.

Why Do We Teach?
The second question suggests that educators should teach with a purpose and be aware of that purpose on a daily basis. Joe Ehrmann, author of InSideOut Coaching, states, "Coaching should not start with the X's and O's, but with the Y's. This WHY should be a clear and concise statement defining the impact we are trying to make in our players' lives." This belief crosses over to music education. Music educators often fall into the cycle of demanding perfection from their students. The focus is often on the music, rather than the performer. Ehrmann's argument takes the opposite view. In his opinion; the most important thing is to focus on the students. This intentional concept of teaching provides many teaching and learning opportunities with our students.

How Does It Feel to be Taught by Me?
Finally, "How does it feel to be taught by me?" This is a difficult question for music educators to ask themselves. The answer may not always be what people expect or want to hear. The Why We Play conference presented two distinct ways of looking at teaching: transactional versus transformational. A transactional teacher is concerned with procedure, ego, and results that are typically defined through social norms, such as winning and losing. A transformational teacher, on the other hand, is concerned with human development, being a mentor, and creating life-long learners. It is difficult for music educators to be just one type of these teachers. Our large class sizes and limited rehearsal time dictate that we must be, to some degree, transactional. However, our personal relationships with our students over long periods of time, our emotional ties to our art form, and our concern with the human experience can lead us to the transformational side of the teaching continuum.

Music educators will benefit from using this valuable information in their teaching practices.