The purpose of this instrumental case study was to investigate band teacher agency in a high-stakes performance environment. Research questions were: (1) What experiences and professional relationships were most salient in the past (iterative), present (practical-evaluative), and future (projective) dimensions of band teacher agency in a high-stakes performance environment? and (2) How did high-stakes performance practices, mediated by teacher agency, shape music teaching and learning in school bands? I used Emirbayer and Mische’s chordal triad of agency and Priestley et al.’s ecological framework of teacher agency as theoretical frameworks, and I collected data in the forms of interviews, observations, and document review in 2019. Participants’ agency emerged from their interactions with music education organizations that perpetuated a high-stakes performance environment. Powerful structures (state associations) and individual agents (band teachers) sustained each other through norms and values derived from their contextual discourse. Findings indicated that visions for holistic music-making and greater diversity and inclusion in school music must include structural changes in professional organizations. For example, state associations could enact policies that incentivize teachers to exert agency to engage students in other forms of music learning in addition to performance preparation.

The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for understanding and supporting the development of preservice teacher agency across undergraduate coursework and experiences. Emirbayer and Mische’s chordal triad represents a temporal-relational view of agency that may be used in facilitating class discussions and designing field experiences and curricula. In this article, I connect the three components of the framework, which are the iterative (past), practical-evaluative (present), and projective (future) dimensions of human agency, to music teacher education research and suggest how to incorporate findings to facilitate agentic action. These connections between the chordal triad of agency and music teacher education research may serve as starting points for needed inquiry into and the inclusion of agency in music teacher education. Greater agency may provide individual teachers with the means to expand, innovate, and modify school music education for more inclusive forms and practices in local school contexts.

Many view music teacher education as a locus for socially just transformation of music education through the development of preservice teacher agency and identity development. However, few have directly examined values in music teacher preparation programs, and values are implicit in agency. The purpose of this exploratory, intrinsic case study was to investigate the visible values in music education courses at one institution to add a new dimension to research and practice. We collected data from four instructor and five undergraduate participants through observations, interviews, and syllabus review. Themes of critical thinking, agency, student centeredness, positive teacher-student relationships, and skills and knowledge for teaching emerged from the data. Findings indicate that values may be relative in practice despite shared language among preservice teachers and music teacher educators. We provide guiding questions for program review and future research through the lens of values.

Asmus’s model of achievement motivation in music established a framework for the study of motivation in music education. Student perceptions of self were included in the model as a dynamic factor in student motivation to accomplish music learning tasks. Research has revealed further teacher influence on student motivation and perceptions of self since Asmus’s article. This article reviews literature on positive secondary instrumental music teacher influence on student motivation and perceptions of self. Research is organized around four practical areas of teacher influence: (a) word choice, (b) performance experiences, (c) intrinsic motivation, and (d) environments. Strategies for positive influence in these areas are then offered.

Occupational identity development is an important, complex component of music teacher education. Preservice teachers may experience dissonance between and/or integration of their musician and teacher identities, and scholars have found early field experiences to be important in undergraduates’ transitions into the teacher role. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine the occupational socialization and identity development of preservice music teachers in an early field teaching experience with a focus on preservice teacher and P–12 student interactions. I conducted observations, interviews, and a demographic survey during a semester-long early field experience. Findings centered around (a) the dynamic nature of preservice teachers’ identities; (b) the importance of peers, music teacher educators, and students to preservice participants as they engaged in the process of becoming music teachers, and (c) the momentary embodiment of music teacher and student roles. I connect these findings to prior research and suggest implications.