Kristen Pellegrino

Becoming music teacher educators: Learning from and with each other in a professional development community

During this heuristic phenomenological inquiry, we examined our lived experiences as five women (three doctoral students, two early career faculty) in the process of becoming music teacher educators participating in a year-long, online, group-facilitated professional development community (PDC). Data included recorded meetings via Skype, journal entries via a private Facebook blog, and written introductory and final reflection statements. The three core themes that emerged from the data were as follows: (a) self-doubt and fear of failure as researchers; (b) struggle to establish balance; and (c) the PDC as a safe place. The essence of our lived experience in the group was developing our identities as music teacher educators through interactions in our PDC, which was a safe place for us to discuss our thoughts, concerns, and insecurities. We offer suggestions for PDCs, including future research and participation, as well as international sharing, collaboration, and community.

Examining the Long-Term Impact of Participating in a Professional Development Community of Music Teacher Educators in the USA: An Anchor through Turbulent Transitions.

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.

Becoming Music-Making Music Teachers: Connecting Music Making, Identity, Wellbeing, and Teaching for Four Student Teachers.

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to examine the developing music teacher identity of four student music teachers by exploring the meanings of music making and the intersections of music making and teaching. Participants all had dual student teaching placements: elementary general music and secondary band. Data were generated through background surveys, three individual interviews per participant, video recording of participants’ music making inside the classroom, and participant journals. Individual interviews occurred before, during and after the student teaching experience. Videos of participants using their own music making inside the classroom during one class of their choice were jointly viewed during the second interview. Music making intersected with participants’ personal and professional identities, wellbeing, and their teaching. For example, the intersections of music making and wellbeing included feeling connected to self, to others, and to their spirituality while music making, as well as music making being an expressive tool, stress management tool, and mood enhancer. Music making also contributed to teaching as an efficient pedagogical tool (to enhance student learning) and classroom management tool (to promote student engagement). Participants used music making inside the classroom to excite and inspire their students and themselves, to bring students’ attention to the teacher and the music, to gain credibility and establish expertise, and to model technique and musicality in the instrumental classrooms and musical concepts and improvisation in the general music classrooms. Through music making inside the classroom, participants developed their professional identity, realizing what kind of music teachers they wanted to become: excited about music and music teaching, and music teachers who use music making to inspire students to be excited and engaged in music learning.

Examining the Intersections of Music Making and Teaching for Four String Teachers

The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to examine the intersections of music making and teaching for four string teachers. Data included background surveys, three interviews per participant, videotaped classroom observations (jointly viewed during the second interview), and a focus group interview that included music making. Findings revealed that the meanings participants attributed to their past music-making experiences mirrored their beliefs about why their students make music and informed their content knowledge. Music making outside the classroom had personal and professional benefits; participants described music making as something that provided renewed excitement and inspiration, increased compassion toward students as musical learners, was a catalyst for solving pedagogical problems, and maintained their ability to model for their students. Participants’ music making inside the classroom helped them to be more present in their teaching. They also used music making to inspire their students and themselves, to bring students’ attention to the teacher and the music, to gain credibility, to model technique and musicality, and to create a culture based on the love of making music.

Tenure and Promotion Experiences of Music Teacher Educators: A Mixed-Methods Study.

To examine music education faculty members’ promotion and tenure experiences, we interviewed (N = 9) and surveyed (N = 124) music teacher educators (MTEs) who were pretenure or tenured within the past 3 years. Findings highlighted MTE’s perceptions of evaluative criteria and standards, mentoring programs and experiences, professional identity, and work-life balance. We found that MTEs valued three aspects of their professional identity: teacher educator, researcher, and musician, although most reported that music activities did not count as scholarly activities. We also found that MTEs need multiple mentors: someone familiar with institutional tenure policy and expectations and MTEs within and/or outside of the same institution. MTE survey respondents (70%) reported feeling stress related to the tenure process. Male respondents were more likely to feel satisfied (63%) with the balance of teaching, research, and service than female respondents (33%), and more likely to feel satisfied with the balance achieved between personal life and professional life (57%) than their female counterparts (36%).

Assessment in Performance-Based Secondary Music Classes.

After sharing research findings about grading and assessment practices in secondary music ensemble classes, we offer examples of commonly used assessment tools (ratings scale, checklist, rubric) for the performance ensemble. Then, we explore the various purposes of assessment in performance-based music courses: (1) to meet state, national, and school mandates; (2) to provide documentation for grades; (3) to improve individual musicianship and understanding; and (4) to improve instruction. Finally, we conclude with assessment dilemmas and questions for consideration.

Student, Cooperating, and Supervising Teacher Perceptions of Educational and Musical Interactions During Student Teaching

The purpose of this study was to examine the participants’ perceptions of the concurrent educational and musical interactions among student teachers, cooperating teachers, and me as a supervising teacher and participant observer. Two cooperating teachers and two student teachers worked together daily for 2 months while teaching elementary and middle school string orchestra students. Concurrently, these four teachers and I participated in chamber music experiences each week. Data included individual interviews, observations of student teachers’ teaching and music-making interactions, and researcher’s reflections and notes. Participants described advantages of working together in an educational setting: student teachers formed a support system, student and cooperating teachers learned from each other, and sectionals benefited the string students and cooperating teachers. Participants found musical interactions were considered positive and valued experiences, helped the student teachers reach a higher level of chamber music performance, helped forge relationships between participants, and had personal and educational implications.

Influences on String Teachers’ Career Decisions

The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to examine influences on string teachers’ career decisions. We surveyed K-12 school string teachers (N = 338) who were members of the American String Teachers Association (33.8% response rate). We found that string teachers were most influenced to continue playing their primary instruments as pre-college students by seventeen individual items representing six categories: music, identity, “flow” experiences, feelings of success and recognition, emotional responses, and social connections. The item that least influenced this decision was, “It was important to my parents.” Results indicate a strong connection between choosing to become a string teacher and the opportunity to influence students and to continue music making. In general, job-related reasons and influence of others did not influence the career choice of string educators. The majority of respondents indicated their career decision was not influenced by the fear of not being able to make a living as a performer.

Working with College Students to Improve Their Improvisation and Composition Skills: A Self-Study with Music Teacher Educators and a Music Theorist

The purpose of this self-study of teacher education practices was to examine and improve improvisation and composition teaching practices for three university professors at the same institution. Primary data sets were individual researcher journals and transcripts of seven researcher meetings. Secondary data sets were music major surveys, interviews, observations, and written communications. Findings are discussed in three sections: origins of our insecurities, turning point realizations and conversations, and our changed teaching practices and students’ learning. With the encouragement and support of our coresearchers, each of us experienced greater success in regularly integrating improvisation and composition into our teaching, which yielded notable increases in our students’ confidence and skills when improvising and composing, as well as willingness to incorporate them into their own teaching. We noticed improved student learning in many areas, as well as a more sophisticated transference of knowledge between playing, reading, and writing music.

Becoming Music Teachers in a Supportive String Project Community

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to examine two music education students’ experiences as String Project teachers (SPTs). Research questions were as follows: What connections were made between coursework and the authentic-context learning (ACL) experience? and What was the impact of ACL experiences on music teacher identity? Data were an open-ended questionnaire, journal entries, observations, videotaped teaching segments, and two semistructured interviews. These SPTs used terms and concepts explored in coursework in their goal-setting for themselves and their students, and also referenced concepts while reflecting on their teaching. The SPTs developed their music teacher identities as they learned in a supportive community, and they made connections between personal, musician, and teacher identities. Through ACL experience situated within a supportive String Project community, ideas initially explored during coursework became internalized as part of the SPTs’ thinking, practices, philosophies, and identities.