This study follows a phenomenological qualitative research tradition. Two K—12 (5—6 years old through 17—18 years old) music teachers were asked to create an arrangement of a musical selection of their choice to be performed by their students. Guidelines were emergent to allow for the construction of meaningful projects that would encourage personal growth and the development of each participant's creative skills. The primary data collection technique was a semi-structured interview. These interviews were conducted at various stages before, during and after music was arranged for performance. Participants' responses were transcribed and examined for patterns, trends and themes. From this data, codes emerged. These codes were sorted and categorized into four themes: (1) teacher ownership of arrangements/compositions; (2) compositional process: manipulation of musical materials; (3) continuing education; (4) culture of creativity: impact of the projects on students. Findings support the literature regarding musician identity. The researcher provides a model of the relationship of role-identities to musician identity, as well as a model of music teacher identity progression.
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