Moving from industry to classroom
How music teacher Zoe Gardner is applying music industry know-how to elevate her elementary school’s music program.
For educators who find themselves in vocational teaching, it’s understandable why practical experience in the quote-unquote real world would be beneficial. However, while certain teachers who fit this description can bring a wealth of career knowledge into the classroom, it’s not uncommon to find others who might not have those same qualifications. It can be challenging for schools to find teachers with both in-the-field training and the special skill set required to be a great educator.
Fortunately, Hillsborough County Schools music teacher Zoe Gardner’s recent shift from the professional music industry into public teaching has given her the unique opportunity to directly bring lessons from her career into the classroom.
“I think it gives me a really big advantage coming from [the] different, outside view of the music industry,” Gardner said. “Having this outside view of not just being in the educational world, it gives me a little bit more of a perspective.”
Gardner started her career in professional music after graduating from Southeastern University with a bachelor’s degree in church music. She pursued live music production in various settings until January of this year when a desire for a career change pushed her to apply for music teaching roles.
“I feel I have a higher standard of excellence in school performances because I've seen the well-oiled machines of industry performances: of rehearsals, tech rehearsal, sound checks, all those things," Gardner said.
This shift from industry to classroom proved revolutionary for Gardner, who now teaches music to elementary school students in Seffner, Florida.
“Because I'm a new teacher, and I had outside experience before coming into it, I think I care a little more,” Gardner said. “I care about [student’s] needs and about their musical experiences.”
Not only was Garnder stepping into the classroom for the first time, but she was also doing it as a co-teacher with a more seasoned colleague.
“I have a co-teacher who’s been teaching for about 14 years,” Garnder said. “I didn’t expect to have this model of co-teaching, where you’re in the same classroom all five days, all of the time together.”
“The challenges are kind of in ‘I have my style, she has her style,’ and being okay with letting her have that style and vice versa,” Gardner added.
These experiences with her co-teacher also highlighted the newness of teaching for Garnder, who hadn’t expected to make the shift into teaching so soon in her professional career.
“I think if you just wanted to be a teacher, it comes more naturally to you,” Gardner said. “But some of the stuff I'm still learning through, like not feeling adequate enough or that I don’t know what I'm doing because I didn't have the educational experience in college.”
However, these setbacks have not stopped Gardner from supplementing her inexperience in the field of education with a desire to equip students with a love for music.
“The cross-training [in professional music] makes me care about making them want to be passionate musicians,” Gardner said. “Showing them that music is not just in the classroom, but it's about making them into musicians and taking it outside the classroom as well.”
This heart for the transformative nature of music has prompted Gardner to pour more thought and consideration into the school’s music program, including preparing students for district-wide events.
One of these events, called Fine Arts, is an annual music festival that allows local schools to audition students to participate in county-wide ensembles, culminating in a performance at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Tampa.
Gardner thinks that participating in Fine Arts would have a lasting impact on her students: “It’s a great experience, so I’m willing to put in the work so that the students can have them.”
“It's the kind of thing of making sure that my students have as many opportunities and experiences as possible, if that's what they're interested in,” Gardner added. “It’s about showing them that they can do it and feel confident in it.”
This ethos also extends to her own school's offerings, where Gardner has worked to foster the organic growth of after-school programs and ensemble performances.
“My principal told me that in the past that all of the concerts had only been after school ensembles and only lasted 20 minutes,” Gardner said. “I thought that didn’t make much sense, because we teach music to all the students. If we made a program for everyone, then at least [the concerts] would be longer since everyone’s involved.”
With this approach and a focus on expanding the school’s music program efforts, Gardner saw immediate results at the spring showcase after just a few months of teaching.
“The spring concerts had a great turnout,” Gardner said. “It was a great, really positive experience for everyone.”
The success of the spring music performances was in large part due to Garnder’s educational and professional background being different from that of a more traditional educator.
“I’ve done a lot of work with composing and arranging in my degree and in the music industry or church ministry part of it,” Gardner said. “I can take those skills and use them to tailor our music in the classroom to be what works for us.”
Gardner added, “My goal would be to make the next concert we do even better, and that more students would want to be involved because they saw the last one. We want to be leveling up in excellence every time, providing more positive experiences for the students and knowing that they’re having fun.”
It’s these moments with the students that ultimately guide Gardner’s approach to teaching, one that combines lessons from the stage with the daily curiosities of the classroom.
And for Gardner, the most important thing her students have taught her is not to take herself or her teaching too seriously.
“They've taught me it's okay to have fun in the classroom,” Gardner said. “Not everything has to be serious, especially not in specials, we can have fun and laugh. I think that's the place for it, in school.”