So many expectations: A study of Australian early-career secondary school music teachers

Abstract

Early-career music teachers are described in the literature as being in the first few years of the profession. This research explores the motivation, sense of value, and areas of stress affecting early-career music teachers in Australian secondary high schools. The research is a part of a larger qualitative study which contains a national survey (n = 263) and interviews (n = 41) of secondary school music teachers across a number of career stages. This article reports on the survey responses (n = 59) and interviews (n = 11) of teachers in the early-career stage (0–5 years). The findings revealed that, while the majority of early-career teachers were motivated to teach, being valued by the school led to a stronger commitment to the workplace. Motivating aspects of work included seeing students grow musically, lesson planning, and providing performance opportunities. While stressors were identified, the early-career music teachers had developed a number of effective strategies to cope with the demands of the profession. This article provides a national snapshot of the influences on the working lives of Australian early-career secondary school music teachers and provides suggestions to school communities and education authorities in ways to support them.