Music Teacher Professional Development Research Articles

Strengthening music teacher professional development: the P–12 music administrator’s role

In this inquiry, we examine P–12 music administrators’ present and future role in the provision, regulation, funding, and improvement of music teacher professional development (PD). We asked: (1) How do P–12 music administrators’ shape PD policies and practices within their school systems? and (2) What might a robust and cohesive suite of PD policies overseen by P–12 music administrators encompass? Using explanatory sequential mixed methods, we first surveyed music administrators from across the United States (n = 54) and then examined in greater depth the situations of five administrators heterogeneously selected from among survey respondents. Integration of quantitative and qualitative data showed that though most music administrators in this study considered PD a formal job responsibility, they tended to manage only “bits and pieces” (in one participant’s words) of a multilayered PD system. We argue in this article that strong PD systems—where access to meaningful, practice-enhancing PD is routine, not exceptional—depend, at least in part, on P–12 music administrators embracing a broader and more proactive conception of their roles as PD policymakers and advocates. Using West and Bautista’s four domains of PD policy action, we propose a set of music administrator-led reforms to standards (ensuring high-quality PD), inducements (motivating genuine teacher engagement in PD), funding (equitable and ample resource support for PD), and accommodations (creating time and space for PD).

Professional Development Among U.S. Music and Non-Music Teachers: Comparative Evidence From the 2017–2018 National Teacher and Principal Survey

The purpose of this study was to describe music teacher professional development (PD) in the United States and to chart potential differences between the experiences of music teachers, other arts teachers (visual art, theater, dance), and teachers in low-stakes (natural and social sciences) and high-stakes (math, English language arts) academic disciplines. Using data from the 2017–2018 National Teacher and Principal Survey, I evaluated PD practices, perceptions, and policies against six consensus criteria for effective PD: content specificity, social interaction, sustained duration, relevance, agency, and policy support. Findings showed music teacher participation in content-specific and socially interactive PD was robust and that the vast majority of music teachers described their PD as relevant. Cross-comparisons revealed discipline associations as to some criteria (social interaction, relevance, agency) but not others (content specificity, sustained duration, policy support). Although music teachers achieved parity or were advantaged in some areas (e.g., access to content-specific PD), they consistently reported less access to socially interactive PD, spent less overall time in PD, and were considerably less likely to exercise agency in support of their PD endeavors. Music teachers—along with their art, theater, and dance colleagues—generally, although not overwhelmingly, operated on less favorable PD terrain in 2017–2018.

Virtual Professional Learning Communities: A Case Study in Rural Music Teacher Professional Development

The purpose of this study was to explore how a Virtual Professional Learning Community (VPLC) might serve as effective professional development for large ensemble teachers in rural communities interested in improving their pedagogy. We used a case study approach to investigate four rural music teachers who actively participated in an online professional learning community focused on implementing the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance model of planning and instruction into one of their large ensemble classes. Based on our findings, we concluded that a VPLC provided rural music teachers with meaningful, content-specific professional development while also reducing feelings of professional isolation. However, we also identified challenges that impacted the effectiveness of the VPLC. The implications for music teacher educators are discussed.

Professional Development of Music Teacher in China: Practice and Challenges

Since 2001, national basic education curriculum reforms have been instituting to meet the demands of quality-oriented education in China. Due to this nationwide reform proposed to cultivate students’ moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development, music education which is a vital component of aesthetic education has received considerable critical attention from Chinese government. In the last two decades, the argument of significance of teachers’ professional development (PD) in curriculum reform has led a growing trend towards practice aimed to promote PD of music teachers in China. This paper presents an analysis of challenges the music teacher PD practice has met. Based on the discussion, it must be suggested that policymakers, school principals, PD program providers should increase attention to the effectiveness of music teacher PD programs and take available measures. This paper contributes to ongoing discussions about factors to be considered in designing PD programs for music teachers in countries or societies under the influence of Confucian culture. Potential areas of further work include exploring the factors restricting the effectiveness of music teacher PD programs in China and the framework of high-quality PD program for music teachers in the context of Confucian culture.

Attrition, (De)motivation, and “Effective” Music Teacher Professional Development: An Instrumental Case Study

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore why and how a prototypically “effective” teacher professional development (PD) effort, reciprocal peer coaching (RPC), fell short. Despite RPC’s conformity with long-espoused best practices in PD—content-specificity, extended duration, collaboration, inquiry, and self-direction—only two in eight music teachers who began the 5-month coaching and observation trajectory completed it. We used instrumental case study analysis to understand teachers’ decisions to continue in or prematurely withdraw from RPC. Findings revealed motivational factors such as collaboration and affirmative support, growth-in-practice learning, and content relevance were, for the majority of participants, overcome by demotivational factors related to participants’ perceived lack of agency in shaping their work context and the incoherence and insufficiency of their policy environments. We advance implications for PD providers, researchers, and policymakers.

Is Music Teacher Professional Development Becoming More Effective? Evaluating Practice and Policy in the United States, 1993–2012

The purpose of this study was to evaluate music teacher professional development (PD) practice and policy in the United States between 1993 and 2012. Using data from the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) spanning these 20 years, I examined music teacher PD participation by topic, intensity, relevance, and format; music teachers’ top PD priorities; and the reach of certain PD-supportive policies. I assessed these descriptive results against a set of broadly agreed-on criteria for “effective” PD: content specificity, relevance, voluntariness/autonomy, social interaction, and sustained duration. Findings revealed a mixed record. Commendable improvements in content-specific PD access were undercut by deficiencies in social interaction, voluntariness/autonomy, sustained duration, and relevance. School policy, as reported by teachers, was grossly inadequate, with only one of the nine PD-supportive measures appearing on SASS reaching a majority of teachers in any given survey year. Implications for policy, practice, and scholarship are presented.

Tales of change: effective professional development in the light of educational systems reforms in Austria and England

The authors of this article each present the current situation of their respective educational systems regarding music teacher education, schools and professional development: all of which have undergone massive changes in the last decades. In the UK, this lead to a shift of teacher education away from universities toward school-based training and an orientation toward accountability and performance. In Austria, teacher education that had formerly been divided into two—academic courses for secondary education, and a nonacademic teacher training program in primary education—became streamlined and integrated into all academic BA-MA based programs at universities and pedagogical colleges. The authors trace the ramifications of these changes in the provision of professional development programs for music and arts teachers that mirror these organizational changes. They criticize the artificial divide that exists between learners in formal education and post-college lifelong learning, and propose a change in mindset: one in which tertiary education students are seen as continuing their lifelong learning path. They present current frameworks for effective in-service professional development as they have been discussed in international literature. An overview of research then allows them to highlight five different forms of effective in-service programs that have recently been implemented in music teacher professional development around the world. These five forms are discussed and linked to current developments in both countries before the article closes with recommendations for policy, which reflect the differences in political situation and educational contexts in both countries and their implications for future development of lifelong learning.

AEPR special focus issue: an international view of policy and music teacher professional development

The purpose of this Arts Education Policy Review special issue was to connect international music teacher professional development (PD) policies by theme and draw policy parallels and intersections between countries. A thematic (rather than a country-by-country) approach incorporated the author/researchers’ input into how connections might be drawn and lessons learned across countries and locales. The PD policy issues we face are similar, globally, and this issue encourages readers to focus on PD issues and policies in a more all-encompassing and international way.

Music teacher professional agency as challenge to music education policy

This article examines the relationship between the professional learning of music teachers and their capacity and opportunity to act and engage agentically with the structures and discourses of music education. The authors begin by drawing on a range of education and music education scholarship to examine the concepts of teacher autonomy, teacher agency and professional development. They propose a socio-cultural understanding of teacher agency which draws on Gidden’s theory of structuration and Priestley, Biesta and Robinson’s ecological approach. Here, the relationship between structure and agency is not determinant but dynamic, with teacher agency dependent on the extent to which music teachers are able to engage in the discourses of music education. They explore the way professional development structures and policy in England and China affect teacher agency and especially how policy developments, the changing structures of music education, and the fetishization of advocacy narratives have constrained and marginalized the voice of the classroom music teacher. The authors conclude with a call for music teacher professional development to support music teachers to act agentically through reengaging with the epistemological and ontological dimensions of music and the policy discourses of music education.

The case of Norway: a microcosm of global issues in music teacher professional development

The aim of this article is to analyze discourse from historically pertinent policy and strategic documents of the Norwegian Schools of Music and Performing Arts, in order to explore the nature of the intractable discrepancy between curriculum, policy, and practice. Popular music has long been part of Norwegian compulsory-school and higher music education. Yet, the national system of extra-curricular schools of music and performing arts seems to lag somewhat behind in this development, despite an overall inclusive policy. The analysis seeks to find reasons for this situation by looking into what forms of musical styles and genres, teaching and learning approaches, and teacher professionalism that have been emphasized in curricular documents throughout the past 30 years. The situation is also explored from the macro-level, drawing on recent work which articulates the specific policy and political conditions of the school system in question. The concluding discussion focuses on how the challenges of the Norwegian schools of music and performing arts can be approached through music teacher education. Overall, this example is used as a microcosmic view of a teacher professional development issue which has global applicability and transferability; divergence between inclusionary policies and exclusionary practice is not unique to Norway.

Policy strategies to remedy isolation of specialist arts and music teachers

Specialist arts and music teachers around the world experience intense feelings of professional isolation. Such feelings lead to negative consequences on their professional growth, psychological well-being, and ultimately student learning. It is therefore urgent to identify and implement effective policies to foster collegial support and networked learning among these teaching professionals, as well as collaboration with other stakeholders. After reviewing the literature of teacher isolation, the article presents four sections. The first one focuses on the important role that formal (top-down) school-university partnerships may play in remediating teacher isolation. The “Institutional Program for Pre-Service Teachers Education” (IPPSTE), implemented by the Brazilian Federal Government since 2009, is used to illustrate how arts and music teachers can effectively benefit from collaborating face-to-face with student teachers, teacher educators, and researchers. In the second section, online and blended Professional Development (PD) carried out in countries such as the United States, Singapore and Germany are used to show the potential of informal (bottom-up) initiatives, which allow arts and music teachers to interact not only with their peers, but also with teachers specialized in other subjects, PD providers, and professional associations. The third section recommends policies to enhance arts and music teacher PD at large, and in particular the research-practice-policy pipeline. We argue that policies should focus on actionable knowledge within shared spaces and ecological frameworks of learning. The article concludes by proposing additional examples of anti-isolationist policies in arts and music education.

Comparing situated and simulated learning approaches to developing culturally responsive music teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two distinct learning approaches to preparing culturally responsive music teachers. In this article we will describe the two different learning experiences, one in a graduate-level course and another as part of a preservice music teacher professional development session, and interpret the impact of these two approaches on music teachers’ observations and thinking regarding others, themselves, sociocultural issues, and teaching practice. Preservice and experienced music teachers were asked to reflect on their experiences resulting from one of two learning experiences—simulated or situated. We analyzed their reflections using grounded theory techniques. Five themes emerged from this analysis: (a) observations of diversity and difference; (b) awareness of intersections; (c) awareness of macro structures of power; (d) feelings of “otherness” and empathy; and (e) social agency and application. Despite the differing learning approaches applied, both experiences moved teachers beyond singular and simplistic notions of culture and diversity, towards understandings of intersections, structure, and power, as well social action and agency.

Reflections on music teacher professional development: Teacher-generated policies and practices

The purpose of this article is to make policy recommendations based on the authors’ experiences with, and research about, reflective, differentiated, and teacher-generated music teacher professional development (PD). By doing so, we argue for a bottom-up process that capitalizes on our music teacher and music teacher educator expertise along with the research literature in music teacher PD. We explore music teachers’ PD needs considering four career stages to explain how knowledge generated at each level informs our understanding of differentiated PD. From preservice music teachers and music teacher candidates, to in-service and veteran teachers, our discussion explores meaningful and effective ways to engage in deep, reflective thinking about the music teaching and learning process. Accordingly, we provide specific policy recommendations for music teachers at each career stage so that they might take greater ownership of their own learning, growth, and development through local, reflective, self-initiated, and differentiated PD opportunities.

Social capital and music teacher professional development: Principle, policy, and practice

ABSTRACTTeacher professional development (PD) is often extended as a driver of good teaching and effective schools. In recent years, teacher PD has increasingly focused on developing teacher social capital by placing teachers within professional communities to collectively solve instructional problems. Using Bourdieu's and Coleman's conceptions of social capital as a theoretical and practical lens, this article explores how a social capital frame could generate more effective PD policy in music education. Areas examined also include the specific ways in which social capital becomes a lever for teacher growth and school improvement and the social dimensions of music teacher PD. The article concludes with principles of social capital-advancing PD policy, examples of principle-aligned PD policies, implications for research and advocacy, and an accounting of challenges and opportunities for the future. The author argues that centralizing social capital development as an aim of PD represents a new frontier in music teacher learning.

High-quality music teacher professional development: a review of the literature

ABSTRACTMost published journal articles describing professional development (PD) initiatives for K-12 music teachers have not explicitly alluded to the ‘features of high-quality PD', a solid theoretical framework arisen in content areas with more tradition in PD research (e.g. mathematics and science education). The goal of this review was to examine the music-specific PD literature using this framework. We reviewed seven mainstream music education journals from 1990 to 2015, identifying 17 articles reporting on a total of 24 PD initiatives (e.g. workshops, courses, programmes, school-based PD). Results show interesting differences in the extent to which the various features considered (i.e. content focus, active learning opportunities, collective participation, duration, and coherence) are exhibited in these music-specific initiatives. This analysis is relevant for music education theory, policy, and practice, as it suggests concrete ways of improving the quality of the PD offered to school music teachers.

Preparation for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification as Music Teacher Professional Development

Preparation for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification as Music Teacher Professional Development