Professional Development for the Experienced Music Educator: A Review of Recent Literature

Abstract

There is a rich body of literature on professional development in music education, including research that has examined the professional development needs of experienced music teachers specifically. In fact, music teachers’ professional development needs may be affected by their degree of experience in the profession. The purpose of this literature review is to examine scholarship during the period 2007 to 2017 about the professional development needs of experienced K–12 music educators. Initial examination of literature in this area shows two emerging themes, including changing needs throughout the career and informal interactions among music educators, being highly effective.

Is Music Teacher Professional Development Becoming More Effective? Evaluating Practice and Policy in the United States, 1993–2012

“…Despite its ubiquity, empirical research on PD was virtually absent from the music education literature until about 15 years ago. Literature reviews published around that time featured only a handful of systematic studies (e.g., Bauer, 2007;Conway et al, 2005), whereas today, similar efforts routinely unearth dozens of them (e.g., Bautista et al, 2017;Koner & Eros, 2019). Because of this work, music education practitioners, policymakers, and researchers now have a better understanding of the nature of effective music teacher PD (e.g., National Association for Music Education [NAFME], 2015) 1 .…”

A Pilot Project Exploring Rural Classroom Music Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices via an Online Professional Development Course

“…Researchers have recommended music teacher PD be teacher initiated and differentiated -qualitatively and substantively distinct for music teachers in various contexts and different stages of their careers (Johnson et al, 2019;Koner & Eros, 2019). Differentiating between the PD needs of music teachers is difficult, as the nature of music teaching positions varies between school districts.…”

Music Teachers’ Burnout Levels in terms of Some Variables

“…This process is further strengthened with the support received from the university and some other institutions and organizations in the city (Ağar, 2017). In addition to formal activities, it is known that informal environments that allow teachers to share professionally among themselves are an effective professional development practice (Koner & Eros, 2019). Briefly; it is thought that this strategy of integration into the profession, carried out in well-planned environments and well-structured practices, reduces the effects of the praxis shock expected in music teachers in the first years of the profession and this effect is reflected in the result on hand.…”