The roller coaster ride: Our music teacher educator identity development

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Derges Kastner ◽  
Jill Reese ◽  
Kristen Pellegrino ◽  
Heather A. Russell

In transitioning from the K–12 classroom to higher education, teacher educators often experience tensions and challenges, which may be due to a misalignment between their situational and substantial selves. While many researchers have explored identity transitions of teacher educators, more research is needed to understand this experience with music teacher educators. Using self-study, we explored our identities as four music teacher educators, plus one additional participant, in transitioning from being music teachers to early-career music teacher educators. Data included interviews and personal journals, and we developed restoried narratives, non-linear representations, and cartoons during data analysis. These revealed three themes: misalignment, adaptation and acceptance, and roller coaster of growth. Misalignment describes the disconnect we experienced between our substantial and situational selves as a result of three factors: balance, autonomy, and identity. Adaptation and acceptance describes the strategies we developed to respond to the factors leading to our misalignment and accept our developing identities as music teacher educators. Roller coaster of growth describes the indirect nature of the process we experienced as we shifted between misalignment and acceptance. Based on these findings, we suggest further research in the identities of teacher educators throughout their careers and recommend strategies for professional development and support.

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christa R. Kuebel ◽  
Lisa Huisman Koops ◽  
Vanessa L. Bond

The purpose of this autonarrative inquiry was to explore the professional identity development and mentoring relationships of three general music teacher educators during their time at one university. We present our stories of development and re-visioning as general music methods educators through our roles as educator, learner, and co-learner while having taught or team-taught general music methods at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) over the past 10 years. Data included individual journals and transcripts of monthly Google text chats and conference calls. We analyzed the data through the commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place, and engaged in re-storying. Investigating the process of becoming a general music methods instructor provided important insights concerning the impact of time, people, and places on the transition from music teacher to music teacher educator.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Olivia Gail Tucker

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.


Author(s):  
Kristen Pellegrino

This chapter begins with a philosophical and research-based justification for facilitating teacher identity development in teacher education and music teacher education and then reviews related music teacher identity literature. After offering an overview of methods and theoretical frameworks associated with examining music teacher identity in research, the chapter highlights music research in four ways. First, it explores music identity research using symbolic interactionism theoretical frameworks, then using sociocultural/cultural-historical theoretical frameworks. Next, it presents some music identity research that focused on issues surrounding diversity, and lastly, it describes collaborations with members of the Society of Music Teacher Educators’ music teacher identity development Area of Strategic Planning and Action. Interspersed throughout the chapter are examples of activities and questions one might use with preservice music teachers. Finally, the chapter ends with a summary, suggestions for further research, and conclusions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Pellegrino ◽  
Julie Derges Kastner ◽  
Jill Reese ◽  
Heather A. Russell

Peer mentoring and participating in professional development communities (PDCs) have been documented as supporting individuals through the transition into the teacher educator profession. However, Gallagher, Griffin, Parker, Kitchen, and Figg (2011) suggested future researchers examine the lasting impact of participating in PDCs. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the long-term impact of participating in a PDC of music teacher educators. We, as four participant-researchers and one participant, were five early-career women music teacher educators in tenure-track positions at different institutions, reflecting back on our PDC and collaborative research experiences. We used a social constructivist framework to examine how we made sense of our experiences. Data included individual interviews, paired interviews, reflective journals, and a Facebook group. Findings included: (a) feeling empowered through a sense of community and support; (b) coming to new understandings of ourselves as music teacher educators; (c) experiencing benefits and challenges of our collaborative research process; and (d) still learning/becoming. The sense of community and support, benefits from collaborating on research, and opportunities to “play” with our developing identities had lasting professional and personal implications, which helped us successfully navigate the transitions and provided an anchor during the turbulent process of becoming music teacher educators.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elin Angelo

SammendragHva er lærerutdannerens ekspertise og mandat – og hvem avgjør det? I denne artikkelen foreslås profesjonsforståelse som en tilnærming til å kvalifisere og profesjonalisere lærerutdannerpraksis, og som et refleksjonsverktøy for å diskutere kvalitet i lærerutdanningene i det 21. århundre. Begrepet profesjonsforståelse er utviklet i et doktorgradsarbeid om musikklærere og musikklærerutdannere (Angelo, 2012a), og handler kort sagt om oppfatningen av hva utdanneren kan og skal. Dette dreier seg om kunnskap og identitet betraktet som sammenvevde størrelser, regulert av ulike typer makt. I artikkelen blir profesjonsforståelse diskutert på individuelt, kollektivt, institusjonelt og politisk nivå. I lærerutdanninger trekkes forståelsen av ekspertise og mandat i mange retninger, noe som kan henge sammen med blant annet utdanningsinstitusjonens profil, hvilke fellesskap som er av betydning for utdanneren, og om lærerutdanneren ser seg selv som for eksempel fagutøver, forsker, klasseromsekspert eller politiker. Lærerutdanningsfeltet er så langt lite formelt regulert, og det er mye opp til den enkelte lærerutdanner å bestemme hva slags kunnskapsutvikling og identitetsutvikling som lærerstudentene skal tilbys, og å avgjøre hvilke kvalitetsnormer som får gyldighet. Denne autonomien har fordeler og ulemper, og den er også truet i utdanningslandskapet. For å styrke og videreutvikle lærerutdanningene i det 21. århundre trengs det refleksjonsrammer som tar utgangspunkt i et særlig viktig aspekt i lærerutdanningene – nemlig lærerutdannerne. I denne artikkelen foreslås profesjonsforståelse som en innfallsvinkel til nettopp dét, og dermed også som et refleksjonsverktøy for å kunne diskutere kvalitet i lærerutdannerpraksisene.Nøkkelord: lærerutdanning, lærerutdannere, lærerutdannerprofesjonen, profesjonalisering, utvikling, lærerprofesjonalitet AbstractWhat expertise and mandate do teacher educators have, and who decides this? This article proposes professional understanding as an approach by which to professionalise and develop the field of teacher educators and to access the difficult topic of quality in the teacher education of the 21st century. The term professional understanding was developed in a research study of music teachers and music teacher educators (Angelo, 2012a) and concerns the perception of what educators can and should do. This concerns both knowledge and identity, which are regulated by diverse types of power. In the article, professional understanding is discussed on an individual, collective, institutional and political level, at which different mechanisms stretch perceptions in various directions. The teacher educator’s perception of his/her expertise and mandate might be affected by their institution’s profile, what collectives are significant for the educator and whether the teacher educator sees him/herself as a subject performer, researcher, classroom expert or politician. Such conditions influence his/her goals and the communities he/she wants to (or not to) be part of. The field of teacher education has little formal regulation, and individuals therefore have a great ability to decide upon their own expertise and tasks, and to judge what is seen as good or poor professional practice. This autonomy has both advantages and disadvantages. Notably, it is threatened in the educational landscape. To strengthen and develop teacher education in the 21st century, one needs frames for reflection that start with a particularly important aspect of teacher education—teacher educators. This article proposes professional understanding as an approach to strengthening teacher education, and as a tool for reflecting and discussing quality in teacher education practices.Keywords: teacher education, teacher educators, the profession of teacher edu­cators, professionalisation, development/transformation, teacher profession­alism


Author(s):  
Christa Kuebel ◽  
Elizabeth Haskett

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the experiences of four elementary general music teachers (first year, early-career, mid-career, late-career) during the time of COVID-19. We considered impacts on the participants’ instruction and professional lives from data that were collected throughout the 2020–2021 academic year. Participants reported changes to their teaching environments, schedules, and job responsibilities. They shared the technology resources they implemented and highlighted inequities that emerged for virtual versus in-person students. Participants provided insight into the impacts of the year on their personal lives as well. Our implications include considerations for music teachers, music teacher educators, and school administrators as a result of participants’ experiences.


Author(s):  
Michael Raiber

The impact of teacher dispositions on the professional development of preservice music teachers (PMTs) has been substantiated. This chapter describes an approach to dispositional development within the structure of an introduction to music education course. A teacher concerns model is used to organize this systematic approach through three developmental stages that include self-concerns, teaching task concerns, and student learning concerns. A series of 11 critical questions are presented for use in guiding PMTs’ dispositional development through these developmental stages. Activities to engage PMTs in the exploration of each of these questions are detailed for use by music teacher educators desiring to engage PMTs in dispositional development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-70
Author(s):  
Crystal Sieger

Students choosing to enter the music teaching profession after having already obtained undergraduate degrees in other music fields may experience unique forms of socialization and teacher identity development. Participants were four students enrolled in a 3-year master’s program with a music teacher licensure component. Through individual and focus group interviews, participants shared their perspectives on program experiences, course elements, and interactions with peers and professors as important influences on their developing music teacher identity. I examined the data for emerging patterns and applied open and axial coding to the most prominent responses, resulting in themes centered on participants’ socialization experiences, desire for independence, need for self-justification, and “outsider” status among peers. To combat lack of peer recognition or support, participants developed strong, collaborative relations with each other. Implications for music teacher educators are considered.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
Benikia Kressler

As the PK-12 student population grows more diverse, the teaching population steadfastly continues to be white middle-class women (NCES, 2016). Critical teacher educators understand the importance of preparing pre-service teachers to become culturally responsive and sustaining (CR/S) practitioners by engaging in culturally relevant education (CRE). Critical teacher educators, particularly those of color from historically marginalized groups, can be important advocates in the struggle to strengthen the teaching candidate pool of CR/S practitioners. Building a cadre of teachers, who are poised to decolonize minds and spaces, sustains the work of many teacher educators of color. However, the acts of teaching and learning in most institutions of education are inundated with oppressive norms such as white privilege, xenophobia and anti-blackness. It is this reality in which I, a Black female junior teacher educator, attempt to disrupt normative teaching practices within a special education course. This self-study examined insight derived from a focus group as well as from my self-reflections conducted over the course of two semesters (Spring 2018 to Fall 2018). Using a qualitative methodological approach, the findings indicated tensions between my vulnerable position of being a junior faculty member and my desire to dismantle normative deficit practices through critical self-reflection.    


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-99
Author(s):  
J. Si Millican ◽  
Sommer Helweh Forrester

There is a decades-long history of music education researchers examining characteristics and skills associated with effective teaching and assessing how preservice music teachers develop those competencies. Building on studies of pedagogical content knowledge and the professional opinions of experienced music educators, researchers are now attempting to identity a body of core music teaching practices. We asked experienced in-service music teachers ( N = 898) to think about the skills beginning music teachers must possess to investigate how respondents rated and ranked selected core music teaching practices in terms of their relative importance. Developing appropriate relationships with students, modeling music concepts, and sequencing instruction were the top core teaching practices identified by the group. Results provide insights into knowing, naming, and framing a set of core teaching practices and offer a common technical vocabulary that music teacher educators might use as they design curricula and activities to develop these foundational skills.


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