Inspiring the Next Generation of Music Educators: A Multiple Case Study of High School Music Experiences and Career Choice

Participant Selection and Data Collection

Public perception of producing graduates interested in pursuing careers in music, as determined by discussions by members of the SMTE Teacher Recruitment ASPA, was the primary criterion for initial music teacher participant selection. We also sought to identify participants that represented varied settings and demographics. We utilized a purposeful, criterion-based sampling strategy seeking maximum variation, which resulted in an initial pool of 10 potential participants (Patton, 2015). Ultimately, four high school music teachers, two males and two females (self-reported gender identity), were selected as participants (Table 1). They worked with students in Grades 9 through 12, and each had at least 10 years of professional music teaching experience at their current school. These four teachers were known to inspire students to pursue careers in music, were diverse regarding racial representation, and taught a wide variety of curricula (i.e., band, choir, orchestra, music appreciation, music theory, class piano, and eclectic strings styles).

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Table 1.

Participant Background Characteristics and Teaching Contexts.

Pseudonym a	Curriculum	Years Teaching/at Current school	N Students in High School	N Students in Music Program	Geographic Location b	Teacher Race	Teacher Gender	School Racial and Socioeconomic Status (SES) Demographics
Mr. Adam	Band	38/26	1,981	200	Suburban	White	Male	60% White, 21% Black, 16% Hispanic, less than 1% other races; 31% low-SES families
Ms. Beth	Choir Theory and class piano	25/25	700	186	Rural	White	Female	93% White; 30% low-SES families
Mr. Casey	Orchestra Strings eclectic styles	14/13	2,219	129	Suburban	Latino	Male	60% Hispanic, 27% White, 9% Black; 28% low-SES families
Ms. Dana	Orchestra Strolling strings	15/15	2,400	615	Urban	Black	Female	61% Hispanic, 28% White, 8% Black; 31% low-SES families

a

Pseudonyms were assigned alphabetically. For example, all participants associated with Mr. Adam begin with the letter “A.”

b

Geographic location was determined by population density.

All interviews were conducted by members of the research team after a protocol was collaboratively developed (see Appendix) and were conducted at the participants’ schools. Interviews ranged in length from 48 to 62 min. The first interview was focused on collecting demographic data, the second interview was focused on the participants’ views regarding encouraging students to pursue music careers, and the third interview was focused on strategies for doing so. Focus group interviews were with groups of four to eight students for each session. The interviews and observations were purposefully scheduled within the same month at all four settings, helping streamline the interview and observation procedure. We obtained institutional review board approval before the study began, and all names of teachers and students are pseudonyms.

Analysis

Creswell (2007) suggested that analysis strategies for case studies should include (a) assertions—interpretation of the meaning of the case, (b) categorical aggregation—development of a collection of instances from the data, (c) patterns—developing relationships between two or more categories, and (d) naturalistic generalizations—generalizations that people can learn from the case either for themselves or to apply to a population of cases. To develop assertions, we maintained a document of potential codes composed of key ideas arising out of data collection. All transcripts and cases were analyzed and coded by three members of the research team, including the person who conducted the interviews and observations. The first and second authors of the study analyzed all data to ensure continuity between researchers. Based on these preliminary codes, pieces of data from the interview transcriptions and observation field notes were attached until codes were formalized and saturated. This was conducted initially with individual cases and then compared across cases (Stake, 2006). The meaning of the individual cases was then ascertained by comparing findings with the research questions and other cases. The patterns were initially influenced by the research questions but expanded to allow for emergent coding. The data were then organized into categories. Codes were organized in a common document to develop themes. Based on the experiences of the four participating instrumental music educators, we arrived at suggestions for future research and participants.

Limitations

Given the small number of participants, as is appropriate for this methodology, the findings are not intended to be generalizable to larger populations. Generalizability to all settings is not reasonable and should be cautioned; however, these cases could resonate with music teachers, resulting in the transferability of findings (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000).

Formative Attraction to the Profession

The data collected from the focus groups of students intending to pursue careers in music were the most helpful for identifying what attracted them to music and music education. The students influences were both people-centered (i.e., teachers and other students) and music-centered, which was, namely, musical performance or, in a more general sense, interaction with music. Therefore, data were coded into two categories: music teacher/student relationships and musical experiences. These two elements mirror the findings from Bergee et al.’s (2001) study in which the most influential experiences or events were their school experiences (band, choir, and “other”); “love of music,” which was indicated by 98.4% of the students as a significant influence; and the students’ high school music teachers, who were identified as the most influential people.

Differing Approaches to Encouragement

A dialectic between a music educator’s musician identity and teacher identity is a notion that has been investigated in the previous music education literature (e.g., Isbell, 2008), and it emerged in the current study as well. This dialectical tension was apparent when examining how the music teachers approached encouraging students to pursue music after high school. For example, there were varied opinions regarding how aggressively they encouraged students and their support of music education versus other careers in music. This was largely dictated by their personal experiences. When Mr. Adam was in high school: “I thought there ain’t no way in hell I will ever be a band director” (Interview 1). This led him on a journey to realize music was inescapable: “Music is not something really that you choose, I think it chooses you” (Interview 1).

Mr. Casey took a much more active role in encouraging students to pursue a career in music: “That’s the whole reason why I do what I do. Being that these kids could be that next future, I’ve got to make sure that they’re ready” (Interview 2). This largely stems from his sense of duty to the profession as well as his belief that there is a shortage of quality string teachers. His passion was evident:

I absolutely love what I do, and I feel like my goal is to have students leave my program with enough knowledge, that if they needed to jump in, teach somewhere and teach orchestra, they would at least know what they’re talking about and what they’re doing. (Interview 2)

Mr. Casey was the most aggressive in encouraging students to go into music: “I will encourage students to go into music, period” (Interview 2).

Ms. Dana took a broader view, emphasizing that encouraging her students to attend college in general was an overall objective of hers: “My goal is to just get kids into college” (Interview 2). Ms. Dana used herself as an example of someone who could overcome obstacles to a college education. As such, her actions spoke volumes about what they can become: “I try to be more of an example. Try to just be the best teacher that I can be” (Interview 2). Her less aggressive approach corroborates those found by other researchers (e.g., Porter et al., 2017) but runs counter to popular music education advocacy efforts designed for broad appeal, such as flyers posted in public, web advertisements, or mass email messages. However, taking into consideration Ms. Dana’s background in music therapy as well as music education, it is not surprising that she views collegiate music study as consisting of more options than music education.

Forms of Encouragement

Many of the approaches the teachers took when encouraging their students to pursue careers in music were not far removed from typical approaches to high school music instruction. For example, the teachers provided their students opportunities to be in honor ensembles as well as to be leaders and conductors in their classrooms (Ms. Beth, Interview 2).These teachers also modeled an impactful classroom:

They see the difference that we try to make and that the passion that we approach the music with and maybe on some level that speaks to them. If we are encouraging students to go into the music field then, it is just like what we do every day. (Mr. Adam, Interview 2)

This did not always mean active handholding to make the decision to become a music teacher or musician. For example, Ms. Beth wanted “them to make that decision on their own” (Interview 2).

All teachers in this study encouraged students to pursue music education as a career. However, they did so with varying degrees of subtlety, and some teachers took relatively uncommon approaches. In analyzing the dozens of instances of direct or indirect encouragement of students to pursue music, four types of activities appeared prominent: consistently modeling passion or enthusiasm, identifying and encouraging self-motivated students, helping in practical ways—especially if the collegiate admissions process was unfamiliar to students—and providing authentic music educator experiences.

Instances of the teachers modeling passion or enthusiasm were particularly striking, and the students confirmed their impact in later interviews. For example, Mr. Adam repeatedly made the point that “the biggest advocacy that you could do is by what you do every day” (Interview 2). His students felt that although he may not actively advocate for pursuing careers in music, his modeling communicates otherwise:

Him personally telling us, like, “hey, you’d be great at this” or “hey, you need to strive to push yourself to do this” . . . the way he carries himself, the way he genuinely cares about his students and he’s just a genuinely good human being . . . how they interact with their students just really is a driving force for me because I hope that I can, one day, provide that same enthusiasm to my work. (Andrew, student focus group)

This modeling was critical; however, not being supportive may have been equally influential: “I’ve heard a lot of stories of people who have had bad experiences with their band directors which have caused them to not want to pursue music any further” (Andrew, student focus group).

Identifying self-motivated students and encouraging them was a consistent finding across all four cases, although they did so with varying degrees of subtlety. Targeted approaches with selected students, rather than broad-based efforts with all students, were paramount. Although all teachers remarked on the importance of approaching students they identified as good potential music educators, three teacher participants emphasized that they did not “push” music education onto students (Mr. Casey was the exception). For example, Ms. Beth explained, “I don’t think we do encourage all that much . . . you want them to make that decision” (Interview 2). This example, in contrast to her more assertive approach to encouragement, suggests Ms. Beth utilizes both direct and indirect means when influencing students’ career decisions.

An equally important facet of encouraging students to pursue music was providing practical advice and solutions for the audition process. Practical considerations such as selecting audition repertoire, finding accompaniment resources, and how and where to apply to a music education program were particularly important for students who were unfamiliar with and hesitant about the process. In Ms. Beth’s case, the simple acts of creating accompaniment recordings or discussing specific programs in the region were especially helpful.

Providing authentic music educator experiences, such as opportunities to conduct rehearsals or teach younger students, were as prevalent in these findings as they have been in previous literature (Councill et al., 2013; Rickels et al., 2010, 2013). However, the authentic experiences described in the current study were also quite varied. As a specific example, chamber and honor groups were often cited as influential to encouraging potential music educators in the previous literature; however, in the current study, Ms. Dana described a chamber group with an audition process that closely mirrors a university application process: “There are questions on the application. They have to turn in two letters of recommendation and then they have to turn in their transcript or their grades. They have to do all of that before they can even get an audition time” (Interview 2).

Similarly, while leadership positions were commonly reported formative experiences for future music educators in the previous literature (Henry, 2015), Mr. Adam stated a nuanced take on such opportunities in the current study:

One of the things that we do with our students is we spend a lot of time not necessarily talking about section leader, drum major type of leadership positions but personal leadership. Asher [assistant band director] is amazing when it comes to checking after the kids’ grades and staying on their butts about their grades, personal leadership from that standpoint. (Interview 3)

Mr. Adam further explained that leadership did not require holding an official position but could be demonstrated in more implicit ways via student actions: “Here are my rules for leadership: Come early, stay late, do all the jobs nobody else will do, and don’t complain about it. If you do those things, you’re a leader. You don’t need a title” (Interview 3).

Finally, Ms. Dana talked about attracting students to music as a profession, as well as music education in particular, via the development of a student group. She mentioned that her school, prior to her tenure, had a group for future music educators:

Before I took the position here, I think there was a student music educators [organization]. . . . Now that I know that we have a student that’s considering pursuing music education in college, possibly seeing if there’s a chapter already established if I just need to reopen the chapter. (Interview 3)

Similarly, Ms. Beth mentioned encouraging prospective music education majors to participate in a statewide future music educators event managed by her state’s MEA. Ms. Beth encourages her students to participate in her state MEA festival system because “they help build the strength of my choir” (Interview 1).

Life as a Music Teacher

Although all participants discussed providing opportunities for leadership experiences to prospective music educators, they also described ways in which their students could get a sense of life as a music teacher, or as Ms. Beth characterized it, “getting them more exposure to the real world of teaching” (Interview 3). The participants showed their students aspects of the profession that can exist outside of the bounds of their particular high schools early in their development. This involved honor ensembles, student leadership, and student conducting/rehearsing opportunities. Students’ perceptions of the musicianship of their high school directors and the quality of their programs were also important. Ms. Beth clearly believed in the need to create a “rigorous music educational curriculum” (Interview 3). All four participants stressed that musicianship was the most crucial factor in impacting students’ future studies in music. They felt that a high level of individual musicianship was a prerequisite for studies in music. According to Ms. Beth, the most important requirement for becoming a music teacher is being a “professional-grade musician” (Interview 2). More specifically, Ms. Beth connected musicianship to the audition process for prospective music majors: “As a music teacher, first and foremost, you need to audition and get into that school of music as a performer. You need to be able to perform in order to model and teach” (Ms. Beth, Interview 3).

The participants also believed that their programs needed to be engaging and of high quality. Regarding why he dedicates so much of his life to his program, Mr. Casey said:

They have to buy into it. You have to sell it in a way that it’s not just a Fine Arts credit. That’s a lot of the individual teacher’s doing. Rather than come in every day and have scale jail. I don’t think music should ever be a punishment. It should be something that the kids can enjoy. When they come in this room, they know they’re going to learn something. They know they’re going to love it. A lot of that should stem from the teacher. (Interview 3)

Mr. Adam agreed that the program itself had to serve as a draw: “Make certain your program is sufficient and of quality, that you’re doing the things you need to do to draw kids to the program . . . just having a program that’s viable, active, visible, one that’s of quality” (Interview 3). Mr. Adam also felt that the perception of the high school program should have an impact all the way back to younger grades: “being proactive in the early grades, in recruiting kids, which really starts at the middle school” (Interview 3).

The participants provided concrete experiences into life as a music teacher that went beyond performance and pedagogy and into parent communication and program administration. Mr. Casey discussed having his students place themselves in the director’s role via planning aspects of a rehearsal:

I give them jobs to where they will have to do things like, “I want you to have a set up and I want you to set up the room, and I want you to make a setup chart because when you’re going to be an orchestra director or a band director or somebody that has an ensemble, you’re going to have to, at some point, make this and it has to make sense.” (Interview 3)

Mr. Casey also gave his students experience in administrative duties, via taking on roles during school-hosted contests:

I have kids that are helping run the actual contest office and take these forms up to these judges and talk to those judges and see what they need. I push very much the standard. This is how we do things. When you become a teacher this is how you should do things. The quality is what we strive for. (Interview 3)

Ms. Dana talked about giving her students communications experience through coordinating private lessons: “how to contact the parents and how to set up private lessons and how to talk with the students. It gives them a different perspective about learning their instrument because they have to teach it to someone else” (Interview 3).

Additionally, the directors discussed the importance of professionalism and the need to model it for their students. Ms. Beth discussed the importance of maintaining and demonstrating a desire for continual professional growth: “I am always seeking to make myself better” (Interview 3). Mr. Adam felt that professionalism was about “demeanor” (Interview 1). Ms. Dana modeled professionalism via her “working environment” with her colleagues as well as the “way I communicate with the parents and communicate with the administration” (Interview 3). Mr. Adam echoed the importance of professional interactions, observing, “Most of the comments that we get of people being accused of being unprofessional have to do with the way they interact with other people, whether it’s students mostly, probably with colleagues more than anything else” (Interview 3).

Modeling professionalism also took the form of performance, as in demonstrating to students that the music profession had many options because, as Ms. Dana suggested, “they only think the two options are to teach music and to perform music” (Interview 3). Ms. Dana performed in a local symphony orchestra and made sure to invite her students to attend the performances:

They can actually see the teachers that are working with them every day in action. That’s one of the largest ones. I’ll always tell them that if I can practice my music and get ready for Symphony, then you could do the same thing too, so just letting them know that you can balance it out. (Interview 3)

Implications for Future Research

Modeling professionalism was mentioned as a goal for those mentoring future music educators. Future researchers might investigate in-service music teachers’ attitudes toward professional behavior from a personal perspective (e.g., dress, speech patterns, student/teacher interaction), within the school environment (e.g., colleague interactions, school service activities not related to music, teacher/staff interactions), in the local music community (e.g., teaching privately, church or community music participation, professional and semiprofessional music involvement), and within the music education profession generally (e.g., district/region/state service, use of professional and research journals, professional organization memberships). High school and early collegiate students’ knowledge of these same topics, as demonstrated by their teachers and observed by the students, could be examined as well.

Exploring the practice and perceptions of middle school music educators could be useful as well because some participants reported developing interests in music teaching at that level. Based on our findings, there are several logical entry points into examining middle school music educators’ role in early intervention with promising students and long-term recruiting, including the modeling of professional behaviors, the tendency to communicate with their best students on this topic, the perceptions of the importance of formative musical experiences on long-term interest in the profession, and examples of personal practice they feel contribute to the promotion of interests in music and teaching among their students.

Given the importance of parental support for those considering a future in music education (Bergee et al., 2001; McClellan, 2011; Rickels et al., 2010, 2013), finding out more about parental attitudes and any perceived barriers to their support for this professional choice seems warranted. Partnering with state MEAs to survey parents of all-state organization participants’ interests in teaching as a profession could provide interesting information about how this important support group views music teaching. Other potential parental populations could be drawn from participants in other honor organizations or summer music camps.

Implications for Future Practice

Working with state MEA organizations and the NAfME to provide a portfolio of materials, conference session ideas, and suggested presenters in various states and regions could be a good way to provide information to music teachers about the importance of both professionalism and recruitment to the long-term health of music teaching. Concerns of teachers about the lack of respect for the profession may color their openness to recruiting their best students (Porter et al., 2017). Promoting resiliency and providing support for teachers could be emphasized as topics at conferences and in-service workshops.

Parent education might contribute to the cultivation of parent advocacy for music teaching as a positive professional choice. Developing materials about the benefits of the music teaching profession that teachers can share with interested individuals or parent support groups is one option. To target parents of skilled music students, state MEA groups might consider developing special sessions specifically for the parents of all-state musicians. Parents who attend MEA conferences with their students might appreciate receiving information about the music teaching profession and, consequently, develop a more realistic perspective regarding the various options open to students interested in pursuing a career in music.