The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine in-service music educators’ perceptions of their professional identity development. Research questions that guided this inquiry were: (a) How do participants draw meaning from experiences that were perceived to have influenced the development of their professional identities? and (b) How do participants describe their perceptions of how their professional identity development has influenced their teaching practices, if at all? Participants were six in-service music educators who perceived changes in their professional identities from the beginning of their in-service careers to the present. Data included transcripts from multiple individual interviews and focus group discussions. Participants cited preservice course content and assignments, interactions with in-service peers, and vernacular music-making experiences as factors that influenced professional identity development. Most participants noted changes in their teaching practices to include more emphasis on creative and vernacular music-making practices within performance-based ensemble settings, as well as designing and teaching secondary general methods courses and helping build students’ musical identities to encourage engagement with music in a fulfilling way after PreK–12 schooling.
AbrilC. R.GaultB. M. (2008). The state of music in secondary schools: The principal’s perspective. Journal of Research in Music Education, 56(1), 68–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429408317516
2.
AuerbachC. F.SilversteinL. B. (2003). Qualitative data: An introduction to coding and analysis. New York University Press.
3.
BakhtinM. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. University of Texas Press.
4.
BallantyneJ.KerchnerJ. L.ArósteguiJ. L. (2012). Developing music teacher identities: An international multi-site study. International Journal of Music Education, 30(3), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761411433720
5.
BallantyneJ.ZhukovK. (2017). A good news story: Early-career music teachers’ accounts of their “flourishing” professional identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 68, 241–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.08.009
6.
BartholomewT. T.JoyE. E.KangE.BrownJ. (2021). A choir or cacophony? Sample sizes and quality of conveying participants’ voices in phenomenological research. Methodological Innovations, 14(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/20597991211040063
7.
BeijaardD.MeijerP. C. (2017). Developing the personal and professional in making a teacher identity. In ClandininD. J.HusuJ. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of research on teacher education (Vol. 1, pp. 177–192). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526402042.n10
8.
BeijaardD.MeijerP. C.VerloopN. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2003.07.001
BronfenbrennerU. (1993). Ecological models of human development. In GauvainM.ColeM. (Eds.), Readings on the development of children (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 37–43). W. H. Freeman.
11.
BrookfieldS. D. (2005). The power of critical theory for adult learning and teaching. Open University Press.
12.
ByoJ. L. (2018). “Modern Band” as school music: A case study. International Journal of Music Education, 36(2), 259–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761417729546
13.
CarrilloC.BaguleyM.VilarM. (2015). The influence of professional identity on teaching practice: Experiences of four music educators. International Journal of Music Education, 33(4), 451–462. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761415582348
14.
ChuaS. L.WelchG. F. (2021). A lifelong perspective for growing music teacher identity. Research Studies in Music Education, 43(3), 329–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X19875080
15.
ConwayC.ErosJ.PellegrinoK.WestC. (2010). Instrumental music education students’ perceptions of tensions experienced during their undergraduate degree. Journal of Research in Music Education, 58(3), 260–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429410377114
16.
CookJ. B. (2018). Career identity development of secondary choral music teachers (Publication No. 10748718) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.
17.
CrantonP. (2016). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide to theory and practice (3rd ed.). Stylus Publishing.
18.
CrantonP.TaylorE. W. (2012). Transformative learning theory: Seeking a more unified theory. In TaylorE.CrantonP. (Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 3–20). Jossey-Bass.
19.
CreswellJ. W.PothC. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
20.
DabbackW. (2018). A longitudinal perspective of early career music teachers: Contexts, interactions, and possible selves. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 27(2), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083717727268
GreenL. (2008). Music, informal learning and the school: A new classroom pedagogy. Ashgate.
23.
HuovinenE.Frostenson LöövC. (2021). Narratives of versatility: Approaching multi-instrumentalist music teacher identities. Research Studies in Music Education, 43(3), 386–400. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X20951942
24.
IllerisK. (2014). Transformative learning and identity. Routledge.
25.
IsbellD. S. (2016). Apprehensive and excited: Music education students’ experience vernacular musicianship. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 25(3), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083714568020
26.
JarvisP. (2009). Learning to be a person in society: Learning to be me. In IllerisK. (Ed.), Contemporary theories of learning (pp. 21–34). Routledge.
27.
KaschubM. (Ed.). (2024). The Oxford handbook of music composition pedagogy. Oxford University Press.
28.
KastnerJ. D. (2020). Healing bruises: Identity tensions in a beginning teacher’s use of formal and informal music learning. Research Studies in Music Education, 42(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X18774374
29.
KratusJ. (2013). Preparing music educators to facilitate songwriting. In KaschubM.SmithJ. (Eds.), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition (pp. 267–282). Oxford University Press.
30.
LamontA.HargreavesD. (2019). Musical preference and social identity in adolescence. In McFerranK.DerringtonP.SarrikallioS. (Eds.), Handbook of music, adolescents, and wellbeing (pp. 109–118). Oxford University Press.
31.
López-ÍñiguezG.BurnardP. (2022). Toward a nuanced understanding of musicians’ professional learning pathways: What does critical reflection contribute?Research Studies in Music Education, 44(1), 127–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X211025850
32.
MerriamS. B.TisdellE. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
33.
MezirowJ. (2012). Learning to think like an adult: Core concepts of transformation theory. In TaylorE. W.CrantonP. (Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 73–95). Jossey-Bass.
34.
MorganD. L. (2019). Basic and advanced focus groups. Sage.
35.
MoustakasC. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Sage.
36.
O’NeillS. (2017). Young people’s musical lives. In MacDonaldR.HargreavesD. J.MiellD. (Eds.), Handbook of musical identities (pp. 79–104). Oxford University Press.
37.
PattonM. Q. (2015). Qualitative research and evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). Sage.
38.
PellegrinoK. (2009). Connections between performer and teacher identities in music teachers: Setting an agenda for research. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 19(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083709343908
39.
PellegrinoK. (2011). Exploring the benefits of music-making as professional development for music teachers. Arts Education Policy Review, 112, 79–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2011.546694
40.
PellegrinoK. (2014). Examining the intersections of music making and teaching for four string teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 62(2), 128–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429414530433
41.
PellegrinoK. (2015). Becoming music-making music teachers: Connecting music making, identity, wellbeing, and teaching four student teachers. Research Studies in Music Education, 37(2), 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X15589336
42.
PellegrinoK. (2019). Becoming music teachers in a supportive string project community. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 28(3), 11–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083718803638
43.
PittsS. (2012). Chances and choices: Exploring the impact of music education. Oxford University Press.
44.
PowellS. R. (2017). The self-authoring of a music educator: A journey through figured worlds. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 210–211, 25–41. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.210-211.0025
45.
PriestlyM.EdwardsR.PriestlyA.MillerK. (2012). Teacher agency in curriculum making: Agents of change and spaces for manoeuvre. Curriculum Inquiry, 42(2), 191–214. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2012.00588.x
46.
RandlesC. (2020). Modern band, songwriting, and curricular innovation. In ConwayC.PellegrinoK.StanleyA. M.WestC. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of preservice music teacher education in the United States (pp. 881–892). Oxford University Press.
47.
SaldañaJ. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (4th ed.). Sage.
48.
SnellA. H.BurtonS. L. (2024). Breaking the sound of silence: Professional learning in an early career music teacher conversation group. Research Studies in Music Education, 46(3), 529–544. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X241236367
49.
StavrouN. E.O’ConnellL. (2022). Music teachers at the crossroads: Navigating the curriculum as plan and lived. Music Education Research, 24(2), 166–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2038109
50.
SteffyB. E.WolfeM. P.PaschS. H.EnzB. J. (2000). Life cycle of the career teacher. Corwin Press.
SuriH. (2011). Purposeful sampling in qualitative research synthesis. Qualitative Research Journal, 11(2), 63–75. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ1102063
53.
TaylorE. W. (2017). Transformative learning theory. In LarosA.FuhrT.TaylorE. W. (Eds.), Transformative learning meets Bildung: An international exchange (pp. 17–29). SensePublishers. https://www.springer.com/la/book/9789463007979
54.
TobiasE. S. (2015). From musical detectives to DJs: Expanding aural skills and analysis through engaging popular music and culture. General Music Today, 28(3), 23–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371314558293
55.
van VeenK.LaskyS. (2005). Emotions as a lens to explore teacher identity and change: Different theoretical approaches. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(8), 895–898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.06.002
56.
WatsonC. (2006). Narratives of practice and the construction of identity in teaching. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 12(5), 509–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600600832213
57.
WoodyR. H.AdamsM. C. (2020). Diversifying musical experiences in schools and music teacher preparation programs: Considering vernacular and popular music. In ConwayC.PellegrinoK.StanleyA. M.WestC. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of preservice music teacher education in the United States (pp. 893–901). Oxford University Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
