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The Transition from Pre-Service to In-Service:�Investigating Experiences of �Beginning Music Teachers

CHARLES E. PATTERSON, III

PHD CANDIDATE - UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

FMEA CONFERENCE - FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2023

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RATIONALE

Exploring Music Teacher Retention and Attrition Issues

Pre-Preservice

(Undergraduate Coursework)

Preservice

(Student Teaching)

Inservice

(Full-time Teaching)

Departure

(Leaving the Profession)

Spring 2021 Study

Dissertation

Spring 2022 Pilot Study

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BACKGROUND

From year to year, decade to decade, the human society goes through considerable changes due to various factors.

The field of education is also influenced by these changes.

Examples of significant changes in society may include, but are not limited to, technology, social justice, globalization, and values of people.

As such, it is important for higher education to understand the outside world so they may better prepare their students (future teachers) to prepare for the ever-changing world in which they will be teaching.

Music education is no exception to this, and it is important for higher education music faculty to understand what challenges music teachers currently experience so they can better prepare their current students for teaching.

My own experiences as a music teacher were difficult especially my first year of teaching in the year 2017.

Most colleagues and fellow teachers used phrases like “it will get easier” or “your second job will be better.”

It was expected that I was going to have a few rough years of being an ill prepared teacher.

This never sat right with me because I felt prepared after receiving my bachelor’s degree.

My experiences in undergraduate were great, rewarding, and impactful on my desire to become a teacher after college, yet I still experienced hardships.

Teaching is of course a difficult profession; I knew this when I decided to become a music teacher, but I was and continue to ask questions on if some of those hardships could have helped.

In 2019 and 2020, this topic further because of interest to me because one of my best friends graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in music education.

She taught elementary music for one year and had a very negative experience teaching. She struggled with mental health and hated her life during that time because she felt useless in what she was doing.

She knew in November of 2019 that teaching was not for her and knew she would not be returning to teaching after her contract expired in 2020.

With the combined experiences of myself and my friend, I felt that studies should investigate the lives of music teachers in terms of their job satisfaction and various other topics.

Perhaps implications and suggestions can aid higher music education to support early music teachers more effectively.

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BACKGROUND AND PARADIGM

Dewey (1998) suggests that all experiences in education and teaching are not all equally educative.
Effective experiences must continue to be researched, explored, and articulated to aid music teachers (Schmidt, 2012).
This dissertation will utilize an emergent design as well as an interpretive/constructivist research paradigm.

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IMPORTANT TOPICS

Job Satisfaction

Conway, 2002

Goldhaber, Krieg, & Theobald, 2017

Hoy & Woolfolk, 1990

Isbell, 2008

Lam & Yan, 2011

Sindberg, 2011

Mental Health, Wellbeing, & Burnout

Adams, 2006

Bubb & Earley, 2004

Hamann, Daugherty, & Mills, 1987

Hamann & Gordon, 2000

Scheib, 2003

Schlichte, Yssel, & Merbler, 2005

Reflection Practices

Baumgartner, 2011b

Borko, Michalec, Timmons, & Siddle, 1997

Koerner, 2017

Stegman, 2007

Professional Development

Baumgartner & Councill, 2017

Berg & Miksza, 2010

Borko, 2004

Conkling & Henry, 1999

Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001

The Triad: Cooperating Teacher, University Supervisor, and Intern (Mentoring)

Barrows, 1979

Baumgartner, 2011a

Borko & Mayfield, 1995

Bullough & Draper, 2004

Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004

Morin, 2000

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Music-Making and Identities (Pellegrino, 2015)

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Factors that influence retention, turnover, and attrition of K–12 music teachers (Gardner, 2010)

Teacher attributes

(age, experience, education)

Job attributes (admin support, parent support, instructional control)

Teacher opinions & perceptions of workplace

Job/career satisfaction

Teacher status (stay or move/leave)

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Relationship model of mental health, work pressure, and job burnout (Yang, 2020)

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PREVIOUS STUDY (SPRING 2021)

Hannah

Departure

Benjamin

Sugar-coated Outlook

Disrespect

Lack of Interper-sonal Skills

Classes didn’t transfer

Poor Mental Health

Harsh Time Commitments

Larger Issues

Professors need more experience

Education needs more desirability

Educator vs. Performer

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PILOT STUDY (SPRING 2022)

3 Participants

1 male student teacher
2 female student teachers

Each participant completed:

1 interview (average 35 minutes)
1 journal entry
1 focus group session (1 hour)

Goals:

Test out the interview, focus group, and journal questions and methods for my dissertation.

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PILOT STUDY MATERIALS

Interview Questions

What kinds of stress do you face as a pre-service teacher?
Do you find it easy to leave your work at school?
Do you have ways to destress when you leave school?
How is working with your cooperating teacher? What are your daily interactions like with them?
When you are observing your cooperating teacher, do you notice when they experience job satisfaction or dissatisfaction?

Focus Group Questions

How is your semester of student teaching going? What are some of the good moments you’ve experienced? Bad moments?
Have there been any moments of extreme stress? Compare your experiences with each other. Why would others not experience the same stresses as you?
Let’s talk about interactions between you and your cooperating teacher. How have you been getting along with them?
How do you all cope with stresses during your student teaching? Are you able to leave work at school?
What are your plans after student teaching? Did your experience change your plans?

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PILOT STUDY RESULTS

Through coding (in-vivo), themes and key words/phrases were found using the participants’ words only (not the researcher’s words).

Participant	Theme	Count
Paula (interview and journal)	Planning	23
	Stress	17
Jim (interview and journal)	Time	13
	Stress	11
Sarah (interview and journal)	Stress	19
	Student(s)	18
Focus Group	Classes	34
	Teaching	30
	Time	18

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DISSERTATION (SPRING AND FALL 2023)

The purpose of this research is to investigate and illustrate lived experiences of music teachers who are transitioning from pre-service (student teachers) to in-service (full-time music teachers).
The lens in which this research will be focused will include:

Job-Satisfaction
Mental Health

No direct hypotheses. This research is exploratory.

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What are the experiences of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction of (three) pre-service and first-year in-service music teachers at different schools in the United States?

How do the teachers describe and process their experiences in terms of mental health?

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POTENTIAL TAKE-A-WAYS

This research will generate implications and questions for the outlooks of first-year music teachers.

The participants’ experiences will guide topics of discussion.

Generalization is a not a goal.

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METHODOLOGY

Emergent, narrative inquiry design

Interviews and focus groups

Personal journals of the participants (during each stage)

Reflective journal of the researcher (after each session and during the data analysis)

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DATA COLLECTION TIMELINE

Stage 1

Interview #1

Focus Group #1

Interview #2

Focus Group #2

Interview #3

Stage 2

Interview #4

Focus Group #3

Interview #5

Focus Group #4

Interview #6

Spring Semester (Student Teaching)

February and March

Fall Semester (First Year)

August and September

= Personal Interviews

= Focus Group Sessions

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DESIGN

+/- 3 music teachers (one of each level – elementary, middle, and high)

Participants

Transcription
Narrative Coding (depict and analyze stories)
In Vivo Coding (find themes and examples)

Analysis

I am a music teacher interested in change for the better.

Reflexivity

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DESIGN

Triangulation (Patton, 1999)

Interviews (Transcribed and Coded)
Focus Groups (Transcribed and Coded)
Personal journals of the participants (during each stage and Coded)
Reflective journal of the researcher (after each session and Coded)

Validity

Procedural (human subjects training and IRB approval)
Exiting Ethics (sharing the research)

Ethics

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SELECT REFERENCES

Baumgartner, C. M. (2011a). Creating a positive internship for student and cooperating teachers: Five steps for success. Missouri School Music Magazine, 66, 24-26.

Baumgartner, C. M. (2011b). An examination of a pre-service music teacher’s reflection across consecutive teaching placements. Visions of Research in Music Education, 18. http://www-usr.rider.edu/~vrme/v18n1/index.html

Baumgartner, C. M., & Councill K. H. (2017, September). Music student teachers’ perceptions of their seminar experience: A focus group pilot study. Paper presented at the Symposium on Music Teacher Education, Minneapolis, MN.

Berg, M. H., & Miksza, P. (2010). An investigation of preservice music teacher development and concerns. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 20, 39-55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083710363237

Conway, C. (2002). Perceptions of beginning teachers, their mentors, and administrators regarding preservice music teacher preparation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50, 20-36. https://doi.org/10.2307/3345690

Goldhaber, D., Krieg, J. M., & Theobald, R. (2017). Does the match matter: Exploring whether student teaching experiences affect teacher effectiveness. American Educational Research Journal, 54, 325-359. https://doi.org/10/3102/0002831217690516

Koerner, B.D. (2017). Beginning music teacher mentoring: Impact on reflective practice, teaching efficacy, and professional commitment (Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database) (10642603).

Lam, B., & Yan, H. (2011). Beginning teachers’ job satisfaction: The impact of school-based factors. Teacher Development, 15(3), 333-348. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2011.608516

Sindberg, L. (2011). Alone all together: The conundrum of music teacher isolation and connectedness. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 189, 7-22. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.189.0007

Stegman, S. F. (2007). An exploration of reflective dialogue between student teachers in music and their cooperating teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 55, 65-82. https://doi.org/10.1177/002242940705500106

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THANK YOU!

Questions?

Contact:

charles@charlespattersonmusic.com
CharlesPattersonMusic.com