Abstract
Research on pre-service music teacher occupational identity often highlights two competing identities: performer and teacher (L’Roy, 1983; Roberts, 1991; Pellegrino, 2009). Of the many factors that contribute to the occupational identity of the pre-service music teacher (Woodford, 2002), conducting has the potential to integrate performer and teacher identities. Previous research indicates that high school and college ensemble conductors have an influence on the occupational identity of the pre-service music teacher (L’Roy, 1983; Bauer & Berg, 2001; Isbell, 2008), yet little is known about how socialization to the norms of a conducting community influences the development of pre-service music teacher occupational identity. The present investigation used qualitative case study methodology (Stake, 1995) to describe the status of pre-service music teacher occupational identity at one institution during a first-semester beginning conducting course. Using a community of practice framework (Wenger, 1998), I examined the following questions: (1) how does conducting instruction influence the development of pre-service music teacher occupational identity; (2) how does a student’s perceived trajectory relate to their approach to conducting instruction; (3) how does a student’s previous and current socialization impact the awareness and participation in a conducting community of practice? Data analysis suggested four primary themes: (a) conducting as teaching; (b) conducting as performing; (c) participants learn by watching others conduct; (d) participants seek to assume the role of the expert. Findings suggest that a pre-service music teacher’s occupational identity is affected by their perceived trajectory (Wenger, 1998) as they interact in or move through a community of practice.
Highlights
Music teachers, especially those who teach in secondary public schools in the United States, often find themselves conflicted as to their status as a performing musician and professional educator
My aim was to answer the following questions: (1) how does conducting instruction influence the development of pre-service music teacher occupational identity; (2) how does a student‟s perceived trajectory relate to their approach to conducting instruction; (3) how does a student‟s previous and current socialization impact the awareness and participation in a conducting community of practice?
Through the sociocultural theoretical framework presented by Wenger (1998), the concept that a participant can choose varied trajectories when negotiating their membership in different communities of practice provides a unique lens to understanding the complex inner-workings of pre-service music teacher occupational identity
Summary
Especially those who teach in secondary public schools in the United States, often find themselves conflicted as to their status as a performing musician and professional educator. The vast majority of pre-service music education students are well socialized to the consilience of conducting and teaching as a result of observational apprenticeship nurtured by the hundreds of hours spent in rehearsals observing their teachers conduct Given this fact, it is not surprising that when asked about significant others who have influenced their development, pre-service music teachers most often name prior high school and current college ensemble conductors (Bauer & Berg, 2001; Isbell, 2008; L‟Roy, 1983). An examination of how conducting instruction incites the active negotiation of performer, teacher, and musician trajectories is needed to better understand the occupational identity development of pre-service music educators, especially those who aim to teach at the secondary level. My aim was to answer the following questions: (1) how does conducting instruction influence the development of pre-service music teacher occupational identity; (2) how does a student‟s perceived trajectory relate to their approach to conducting instruction; (3) how does a student‟s previous and current socialization impact the awareness and participation in a conducting community of practice?
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