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Understanding the Lived Experiences of Elementary Music Educators in Professional Learning Communities: A Qualitative Research Study
Jones, Rebecca
Jones, Rebecca
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Abstract
Collaboration among music educators is an essential practice in building professional relationships, furthering student achievement, and supporting professional learning (Anderson, 2013; Armstrong, 2010; Battersby, 2019; Harris, 2015; Kastner, 2014; Sinberg, 2016). Unfortunately, music educators are quite frequently left out of the collaborative processes in their building or district (Battersby & Verdi, 2015). This exclusion from regular and meaningful collaboration contributes to feelings of isolation and affects morale (Bautista et al., 2021; Davidson & Dwyer, 2014; Scheib, 2004; Sinberg, 2011; Sinberg, 2014; Sinberg & Lipscomb, 2005; Tye & O’Brien, 2002).The purpose of this study was to explore and better understand the perspectives of music educators in terms of their participation in the collaborative processes of their buildings and districts and allow them the opportunity to offer advice to administrators regarding ways in which they can better meet the needs of their music educators in terms of meaningful collaboration. Drawing upon the work of Waters (2009), semi-structured interviews were conducted with six elementary music teachers from districts of similar size in Northeast Kansas. Using a phenomenological lens, interview responses were coded using open and axial coding to find patterns and emergent themes for analysis (Marshall & Rossman, 2016).All but one teacher in this study participated in collaborative groups either at the building or district level, or both. Teachers who did participate in collaboration for the most part expressed satisfaction with their music specific Professional Learning Communities but felt that the time they had to meet was inadequate. They appreciated being able to work with teachers who understood their situations and could relate to them both on a personal and professional level. These teachers also valued the professional learning that came from their limited collaboration time. Teachers also offered valuable advice to administrators on ways they can better utilize and support their music educators in collaborative efforts.
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Date
2024-01-01
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University of Kansas
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This item contains archived web content.
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1075462_1.pdf
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- Embargoed until 2174-05-31
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Keywords
Education, Music education, Collaboration, Music Education, Professional Development, Professional Learning Communities, Teacher Isolation, Teacher Morale