From the Band Room to the General Music Classroom: Why Instrumentalists Choose to Teach General Music

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons given by music educators who were trained as instrumentalists for choosing to teach elementary general music rather than instrumental (band) music in the schools. Analysis of participant responses to an emailed questionnaire resulted in the following four emergent themes: (a) a clear preference for working with young children; (b) a concern that the demands of a band teaching position would not allow for the sort of work/life balance they wished to have in their own lives; (c) a strong aversion to the "culture of competition" they perceived to be prevalent in the band world; and (d) a concern regarding the perceived limitations of instrumental music teaching and learning as it exists in the schools. The paper continues with a discussion of the goodness of fit between specific personality types and teacher candidates’ vocational choices, and the relationship of competitive types (i.e., hypercompetitiveness and personal development competitiveness) to teachers’ perceived feelings of success, achievement and career satisfaction. Implications for music teacher education, including increased emphasis on socialization strategies and reconceptualization of the enterprise of instrumental music as practiced in the schools, are also included.