A Culture Of Critique: Personal And Professional Identity In Pre-Service Music Teacher Education (original) (raw)
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A Culture Of Critique: Personal And Professional Identity In Pre-Service Music Teacher
GEMS (Gender, Education, Music, and Society), the on-line journal of GRIME (Gender Research in Music Education), 2014
There is little qualitative research regarding the preparation of music educators to teach in culturally diverse or different settings. Existing literature suggests that there are issues surrounding personal vs. professional identity within the field that may have an effect on the music educator's view regarding issues of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexuality within the classroom and curriculum. This article is an exploration of the above statements utilizing data from a semester-long study with senior music education majors (participant observation and interviews). Analysis centers on what Spradley (1980) describes as fundamental aspects of ethnographic study: cultural artifacts, cultural behavior, and cultural knowledge. Areas of particular interest include: identity tools that these pre-service teachers bring to the profession, how they conceive of personal/professional identity, and where the limits might exist for their capacity for teaching in culturally diverse or culturally different settings. Findings include a discussion of the role of critique in the field of music education.
2016
With the intent of helping to reconceptualize music teacher education programs and improve the quality of music education for all students, the purpose of this study was to examine the interactions within the cultural cohort communities of a music teacher education program embedded within the culture of a school of music and the role that these interactions play in “disrupting,” or challenging, pre-service educators’ occupational identities and preconceptions of music education. Research questions for this explanatory sequential (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) mixed methods study focused on determining which structural components of a music teacher education program (e.g., course curricula, University/College of Education/School of Music/music education program requirements, music education program sequence), if any, assist with “disrupting” pre-service music educators’ occupational identities; why certain communities, interactions, and persons within the cultural cohort are the most significant “disruptive” influences on pre-service music educators’ occupational identities; and how these “disruptions” manifested themselves in pre-service music educators’ conceptions of and beliefs and attitudes about music education. Participants completed a Pre-Service Music Educator Survey to help indicate which courses, persons, social interactions, or other influences within or outside of the School of Music most influenced them to change their beliefs of music education and identities as music educators between matriculation into the School of Music and the time of taking the survey. Following data collection and analysis of the Pre-Service Music Educator Survey, I created cohort groups of students from classes that were identified by undergraduate music education students as being highly “disruptive” to participate in focus group discussions. Additionally, all music education faculty members participated in a focus group discussion and each participated in an individual interview. Results from the survey suggested changes in students’ occupational identities and preconceptions of music education during their time in the music teacher education program, changes in interests in occupational types of music teaching (e.g., early childhood music educator, high school performance-based ensemble teacher, etc.), and changes in means of teaching music (e.g., performance-based ensembles, teaching elementary general music, music technology, popular music, etc.). Additionally, focus group discussion revealed that several components of the music teacher education program are “disruptive” influences on students’ occupational identities and preconceptions of music education, including a “de-tracked” music teacher education curriculum, two introductory/foundational music education courses during the first and second years of study, and required fieldwork experiences embedded in most music education courses. Interactions within the “community” nature of the program between peers, faculty, and graduate student assistants also were “disruptive” influences. Implications for music teacher education include creating opportunities for philosophical discussions regarding contemporary topics in music education throughout a music teacher education program, devoting time during music education courses for students to examine the present state of their occupational identities, facilitating fieldwork experiences in “disruptive” settings, and striving to create a sense of “community” within the music teacher education program.
Identities of music teachers: Implications for teacher education
Teachers' professional identity influences their decisions and behaviour (Beijaard, Verloop, & Vermunt, 2000). Teacher education has the potential to either challenge or maintain preservice teachers' preconceptions of their professional identity, and teacher education should arguably develop in future teachers a professional identity which enables them to be effective throughout their career. This paper reports findings from interviews with 15 early-career music teachers regarding their perceptions of their professional identity. Analysis indicates that early-career music teachers feel a 'passion' for music and teaching music, and view themselves as musicians, music teachers or teachers. This study suggests that discipline specialisation has a unique impact on teachers' identity. Implications for teacher education are discussed.
Socio-cultural Contexts of the Musician-Teacher’s Professional Identity Development
Proceedings of the 20th International Seminar of the ISME Music in School and Teacher Education Commission (MISTEC), 2014
The interrelation between professional identity, instructional conceptions and socio-cultural contexts in teachers’ lives is explored. Harmonic correspondence between teachers’ professional identity and her working and professional activity in music education is necessary in order to develop good educational practices. This relation is affected by different kinds of socio-cultural contexts, as family, school, initial professional education, and the entrance into the professional and working field. Construction of conceptions on their own teaching action develops in relation to those contexts, and they configure at the same time the way how the teacher tells her narrative on herself as a professional in music education, that is, her professional identity. This research bases on the complexity paradigm, and assumes a qualitative methodology involving 16 biographical in-depth interviews. The selected sample is intentionally heterogeneous in terms of contexts, identities and conceptions. Results show that contexts introduce differences in teachers’ instructional conceptions corresponding to nuances in the types of identity; but they are not relevant and do not transform professional identity, which appears to be the own re-elaboration of each teacher, some times going with and some others against the context teachers are experiencing.
Music Education Research, 2023
The purpose of this study was to examine preservice music educators' perceptions of how the culture of a music teacher education programme and its embedded communities of practice influenced their occupational identity development. Research questions were (a) What specific cultural influences and communities of practice, if any, did the participants describe as particularly influential in regard to occupational identity development and why? (b) How did the participants describe their respective changes in occupational identities, if any? Participants were preservice music educators enrolled in an early childhood music education methods class with authentic-context learning (ACL) experiences. Data included audio recordings of classes, observational field notes, transcripts from multiple individual interviews and a focus group discussion, and students' reflection journals. Participants cited several music teacher education courses, embedded ACL experiences, and supportive interactions with peers and professors, as a constellation of factors that influenced an occupational identity transition within themselves to think more broadly about their identities as educators and the means through which music could be taught.
Developing music teacher identities: An international multi-site study
International Journal of Music Education, 2012
This study investigates pre-service music teacher’s (PSMT) perceptions of their professional identities. University-level education students in the United States America (USA), Spain and Australia were all asked interview questions based on general themes relevant to teacher identity development, and their responses were subjected to content analysis. Similarities were found in their perceptions of the role of ‘music teacher’ and their pre-university experiences/influences. Across the sites it seems that there was a dynamic and shifting relationship between PSMTs’ understandings of themselves as ‘musicians’ or as ‘teachers’ during their university years. This study confirms previous research in the area and contributes to the field in its discovery that these themes are found across three international sites. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research and practice.
Journal of Music Teacher Education, 2009
The purpose of this article is to examine the literature concerning the connections between performer and teacher selves in the formation of a music teacher’s identity. This article begins by framing an issue facing preservice and in-service music teachers, namely, the tension between a performer identity and a teacher identity. An overview is provided of (a) the literature documenting preservice music teacher identities that privileges the performer identity and (b) the literature that focuses on balancing and negotiating the performer and teacher identities. To understand aspects of the current debate about music teacher identities, the author develops five themes based on a critical analysis of the selected literature: teacher versus performer identity conflict, personal and professional benefits of music making, holistic view of musical identities, roles and situated identities, and defining music teacher identity. The author concludes by synthesizing the commonalities of the recent research and suggesting approaches and topics for future research on music teacher identity.
A Social-Cognitive Theoretical Framework for Examining Music Teacher Identity
Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education
The purpose of the study was to examine a diverse range of research literature to provide a social-cognitive theoretical framework as a foundation for definition of identity construction in the music teacher education program. The review of literature may reveal a theoretical framework based around tenets of commonly studied constructs in the social-cognitive theory, social identity theory, symbolic interactionism, and role theory to ground future research on music teacher constructs which may be examined through both quantitative and qualitative measures. The proposed theoretical framework within this study might further the ways through which the profession investigates music teacher identity construction, and enhances university teacher training and induction, enriching the lives of future music educators.