Within the typical school structure, music teachers comprise a small number of the entire teaching staff. This can range from a single music teacher in an elementary school to three or more music teachers in a secondary school. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for music teachers to travel to multiple schools as part of their teaching assignment. Given the minority status of music teachers, it is possible that they experience feelings of professional isolation. This phenomenological study sought to examine the lived experience of professional isolation and connectedness among music teachers in an urban school district. The question guiding this inquiry was: How do public school music teachers perceive and describe their experience of professional isolation and connectedness? Four themes emerged from the data: emotional reactions, external factors, social factors, and awareness. Primary findings suggest that music teachers experience professional isolation to varying levels and the lived experience of isolation and connectedness, as portrayed by these teachers, is personally constructed and individually meaningful.
The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which a professional learning community (PLC) of music teachers sustained growth as they sought to incorporate Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance (CMP) in their teaching practices. Seven music teachers from a suburban school district in the upper Midwest participated in a PLC as they incorporated CMP into their bands, choirs, and orchestras over a 2-year period of data collection. Findings of this collective case study describe the process of implementing CMP, reinforce the importance of a collaborative culture, and consider the impact of emotional aspects related to teacher change and shifts in teacher knowledge as a result of participating in this learning community. Particular challenges included implementing CMP amid performance expectations of technical proficiency and shifting emphasis from solely performance to performance and understanding. While findings suggest that incorporating CMP can have a positive impact in school ensembles, moving away from established performance routines and expectations can be daunting for veteran as well as novice teachers.
Real-world experiences, such as situated learning, fieldwork, and student teaching have been among the most prevalent examples employed in teacher preparation programs. Despite the increasing evidence in support of service learning in music teacher preparation, there are a limited number of models specific to instrumental music education. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of participants in one such model, called Band Project. Participants included preservice music educators, young band students, and one lead teacher who also served as the instrumental music teacher at the school. The research question that guided this investigation was as follows: In what ways do participants in an afterschool band project describe their experience? Four themes emerged from analysis of data: (a) Relationships and Community, (b) Challenges and Tensions, (c) Aspirations, and (d) Transformations. Findings reinforced the importance of service learning for preservice music educators, particularly amid growing concerns for cross-cultural awareness, inclusion, and social justice in music teacher preparation.
While Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) approaches are often discussed in preservice music education classes, their impact on student teaching remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to describe eight student teachers’ perceptions of the feasibility of implementing CMP in the instrumental ensemble setting. Two questions guided this multiple case study: (a) What aspects of the student teaching experience or context enabled student teacher implementation of CMP-based activities? and (b) What aspects of the student teaching experience constrained student teacher implementation of CMP-based activities? Cooperating teacher modeling of CMP-based teaching and mentoring style, methods course CMP-based activities, and student teacher disposition were factors that enabled some student teachers to implement CMP-based activities. Limited rehearsal time exacerbated by student skill level and performance expectations, multidimensional self concerns coupled with a focus on specific task concerns, cooperating teacher mentoring style, lack of modeling, and conflicting definitions of comprehensive musicianship constrained participants’ use of CMP-based practices. Implications for research and music teacher education are discussed.
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