The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of yoga as a mindfulness practice on music educators’ stress and stress management. We designed this multiple-case study through the conceptual framework of practicing yoga to reduce teachers’ stress because yoga reduces stress in some populations. Participants attended a weekly virtual yoga class for 45 min and answered weekly reflection questions from the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale. Findings indicated that yoga positively impacted participants in terms of improving mood, reducing stress, feeling more relaxed, remembering to breathe, and maintaining more focus while teaching. Participants also indicated that they were bringing yoga and mindfulness practices into their teaching and focusing on their breath to help with stress management.

The purpose of investigation was to examine the perceptions of elementary music teachers concerning the preparation of elementary music performances and the impact on their perceived stress. Participants were practicing elementary general music teachers ( N = 3) representing three different elementary schools from a metropolitan area in the Midwest. All participants were interviewed twice over a period of two months via Zoom. Data were analyzed through an open coding process (Gibbs, 2007), which yielded three themes: time management, control, and isolation. Facets of time management included strategic planning, organizational techniques, and instructional time; control concerned scheduling, repertoire selection, equipment, and performance venues; and isolation pertained to relationships with colleagues and administrators and an overwhelming amount of responsibility. These findings indicate the importance of acknowledging various stressors affecting music educators and how those might positively and negatively affect teachers and students.

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of instruction differentiation in preventive classroom management strategies on preservice teachers’ selected behaviors. Results indicated no significant main effect for treatment condition, and significant main effects for lesson type and microteaching session. Findings indicated that preservice teachers benefited from extended practice in preventive classroom management strategies; however, longer microteaching sessions might be needed to provide more occasions to implement such strategies. With opportunities to practically apply classroom management skills within a university course, preservice teachers might enter their careers with more of a focus on proactive behavior management.

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine elementary general music teachers’ familiarity with, agreement with, and perceptions of restorative justice practices. Participants ( N = 49) included practicing elementary general music teachers who were members of the California Music Educators Association, the Florida Music Educators Association, the Missouri Music Educators Association, the New England Orff chapter, and an Orff chapter in Southern California. Findings indicated that participants were moderately familiar with their perceived ideas of restorative justice. They reported moderately high levels of agreement with a restorative justice ideology but held largely negative perceptions regarding the approach and its implementation in elementary music classrooms. Results suggest that although many elementary music teachers generally agree with a restorative justice ideology, they face challenges in implementing restorative justice–based approaches in their classrooms. Administrative support, professional development opportunities, and future research on the topic are needed.

Stress can affect teachers’ mental and physical health, student-teacher relationships, and energy levels. During the COVID-19 pandemic, educators around the world experienced stress in terms of worry for their students and for their own well-being in terms of energy levels, sleep and anxiety. The purpose of this study was to examine female music educators’ stress, stressors, and well-being during 1 year in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined these factors with participants, approximately 1 year into the pandemic in spring 2021 and this study explored the same educators’ stressors 1 year later in spring 2022. Through this comparative case study, eight self-identified female music educators completed a questionnaire and participated in focus groups. We approached data collection through the theory of wellbeing and uncovered four themes; (a) self-care and mental health; (b) pressure and frustration; (c) scheduling and reprioritization; and (d) accommodation. Results suggest female participants experienced personal and professional stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted their well-being, with feelings of burnout, anxiety, and desires to possibly leave the teaching profession.

The purpose of this pretest-posttest study was to investigate elementary preservice teachers’ perceptions of and level of comfort with music in the elementary classroom after enrolling in an online music integration course. Participants were preservice elementary teachers ( N = 93) enrolled in three sections of an online music integration course at a large university in Southern California. Results showed significant differences in participants’ agreement with aspects of music teaching, comfort with music, and music integration. Findings also indicated significant differences in participants’ rankings of musical outcomes in an elementary setting. There were no significant differences found among participants’ ranking of music and other subjects in the elementary classroom.