Teacher habitus as/at the nexus of practice: Musical Futures and Irish primary schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Musical Futures approaches, with their roots in informal learning, have been the subject of much research internationally, with studies showing their significant impact on music education policy and practice. Within a theoretical framework drawn from the work of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper examines the manifestation of habitus as both the nexus at teacher practice (connecting its discrete elements), and the nexus as teacher practice (the focal point of teacher practice). Using Participatory Case Study Research, generalist primary teachers (n = 7) and students (n = 137) from six primary schools in the Republic of Ireland engaged with Musical Futures from a period of ten to thirty weeks. The findings situate teachers’ conceptualisations of self, using habitus as a lens to interpret how these elements mediate and are mediated by practice. These findings illustrate how teachers draw considerably on their personal musical experiences to inform their professional practice. In this research, engagement in Musical Futures generally brought about a renaissance of personal music making for teachers in this study, proffering unique insights into informal and non-formal music teaching and learning within the Irish primary generalist context.