The purpose of this study was to understand the process of music teacher large-scale conference professional development (PD) implementation (i.e., the integration of conference-derived learnings into classroom practice). The context of this investigation was two national music conferences, the Midwest Clinic and the National Association for Music Education National In-Service Conference, and one state music conference, the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention. Using purposive maximum variation sampling, active music teachers (n = 32) who each attended one of these conferences were recruited. Data collection occurred in a series of three participant interview phases, staggered according to which conference participants attended and when each conference was held. Twenty-eight participants were interviewed twice, and four participants were interviewed once, yielding a total of 60 interview transcripts, which were then openly, axially, and selectively coded in accordance to grounded theory method. The principal finding, the cycle of music teacher large scale conference professional development implementation (C-MTPDI), revealed an implementation process in three phases. First, the consideration phase (before/during conference) entailed needs assessment, direct engagement, change articulation, and, for some participants, deterrent factors/contingencies. Second, the realization phase (immediate post-conference) included translation, integration, and recalibration. Third, and finally, the decision phase (3-5 weeks post-conference) included …

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors contributing to the longevity of four early-career (5 to 10 years of experience) K–5 elementary general music teachers in Title I schools situated in four regions of the United States. The central research question was: How did early-career elementary general music teachers in Title I schools describe the opportunities and challenges that contributed to their decisions to continue teaching? Using Deci and Ryan's theory of self-determination as a theoretical framework, I analyzed how the four teachers reflected on the degree to which they each possessed autonomy, competence, and relatedness through recounting their perspectives, stories, and experiences. Although the participants shared many commonalities, they also experienced challenges and opportunities unique to their teaching environments. Results were mixed regarding their levels of autonomy and relatedness, but all four teachers possessed a high level of competence, which was likely a contributing factor to their longevity and potential to continue teaching. Nurture and care for children also emerged as a prominent theme from the results, which required the application of a separate theoretical framework. Noddings's theory of the ethic of care served as a lens for examining the myriad ways each participant demonstrated love, care, …

The purpose of this study was to specify and test a model detailing (a) gender, (b) previous elective music experience, (c) school, (d) music self-concept, and (e) music values as predictors of music enrollment and the initial juncture of school-sponsored elective music participation. In the event that a model with adequate fit was retained, a further purpose of this study was to calculate the direct, indirect, and total effects of each predictor, thereby determining each predictor's relative contribution towards explaining variance in elective music enrollment. Participants included fifth-grade students (N = 148) from two elementary schools. Data were gathered via administration of the Motivators of Elective Music Participation Questionnaire, and by accessing middle school elective enrollment records. The proposed expectancy-value model of elective music participation demonstrated excellent fit and was retained for interpretation. Overall, the model accounted for 34.4% of the variance in elective music participation. The greatest total predictor of elective music participation was previous elective music experience, followed closely by music values. Music self-concept, gender, and school played negligible roles in predicting whether students opted in or out of sixth-grade music electives.

The purpose of this study was to investigate problem areas of organists' performance as indicated by common experiences of pain. The research problems were to determine the specific areas of the body that were affected by pain, to determine the perceived level of that pain on a scale indicative of its severity, and to explore the relationship between demographic and performance-related factors within the population and specific area of reported pain. An examination of the demographic, performance-related, and pain data, as well as subject comments, indicated possible relationships of the pain experience to other factors. Organists attributed their pain to instrument characteristics, such as keyboard action, music rack height, bench design, and pedalboard shape. Pain was also associated with the time spent playing the organ, playing literature which required large reaches and rapid passage work, such as french toccatas, or playing with incorrect posture. To explore these relationships to spinal and upper extremity pain, further research is indicated.

Research on voice change in males has generally fallen into two categories: music education studies of changes in the singing voice and speech studies of changes in the speaking voice. These studies rarely consider differences in the dynamic ability of male singers at different stages of vocal development. The concept of tessitura, a portion of the vocal range in which the singer sounds best, is referred to in the literature on vocal music, but the means for identifying its size and location within the range have not been consistently specified. Tessitura appears to be a portion of the range which is most controllable in terms of dynamics and agility and is optimal in tonal quality. This study used the phonetograph to investigate differences in measures of intensity control between pre-pubertal, pubertal (changing) and post-pubertal voices in 48 males aged 9 to 18 years old. These intensity measures were compared to ratings of vocal effort from a panel of 4 music educators in order to determine if tessitura could be identified from acoustic and perceptual evidence of an optimum vocal area. Results of the study were: 1) post-pubertal voices demonstrated greater control of vocal intensity as revealed in lower mean minimum …

The purpose of this study was to explore adolescent self-views of singing ability through both implicit theories and self-concept meaning systems. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine these self-views specifically in the context of a choral hierarchy. Using a researcher-designed survey instrument, I gathered data from middle- and high-school students currently enrolled in a choir program organized in a hierarchical structure. I analyzed descriptive statistics of survey responses to items designed to measure implicit theories of singing ability, singing self-concept, and goal orientation. I also examined differences among participants by ensemble placement in implicit theory and self-concept scores, correlation between implicit theory and self-concept, and whether implicit theory, self-concept, goal orientation, or current enrollment could predict future enrollment decisions. In addition to these quantitative measures, I coded open-ended responses to two failure scenarios and examined participant responses by ensemble and gender. Both implicit theory and self-concept scores were higher for participants at the top of the choral hierarchy than at the bottom. Open-ended responses, however, did not align with the implicit theory scale and a number of students presented a false growth mindset. Open-ended responses also indicated that failure scenarios were likely to result in an altered …

Relations between music education structures and teacher agency are under-researched and under-theorized, and scholars have indicated that the traditions and competitions of school bands in the U. S. may constrain educator agency. The need for research on teacher agency in competitive environments is compounded by policy trends toward administrators' use of festival scores in music educator evaluations. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to investigate band teacher agency in a highly competitive music education environment. I used the chordal triad of agency as the primary theoretical framework. Participants were four mid-career band educators in Texas, and I collected data through interviews, observations, journal entries, website review, and email correspondence. Throughout the data, participants' agency largely reproduced existing structures. Findings coalesced around (a) participants' core values of music, students' development, hard work, and competition, (b) an inductive, cohesive collection of band teaching norms despite participants' employment in schools of varying urbanicity and student demographics, (c) power sources that transmitted values and directed teachers' agency, and (d) a compelling story of one participant's generative agency that contrasted with the rest of the data. I provide directions for further research on music teacher agency and suggest implications for band educators, professional …

School orchestra programs are overwhelmingly concentrated in suburban districts, which are becoming increasingly racially and economically diverse. Diversifying suburbs lie at the crossroads of race, racism, and whiteness and findings drawn from these settings can have implications for racial dynamics in all educational contexts. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore how racially underrepresented students perceive race within an urban characteristic high school orchestra program through the lens of critical race theory. I developed a composite counter-story to examine the racialized experience of school orchestra told from the perspective of students of color with a particular interest on competition. Participants were six students and two teachers affiliated with the same high school orchestra program in Texas. Emergent thematic findings examined students' sense of racial belonging, mechanisms upholding the racial status quo, and fulfilling aspects of students' orchestra participation. Though the lens of critical race theory, I discuss how everyday whiteness, property of whiteness, and meritocracy function to maintain white hegemony in school orchestra.

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice music educators' perceptions of collegiate large ensemble experiences. The researcher created and tested a survey designed to explore how preservice music educators perceived their large ensemble experiences may impact their pedagogy skills and musicianship skills. Local (n = 101) and national (n = 77) respondents answered agreement statements about ensemble experiences, course enrollment questions, and a ranking question. An exploratory factor analysis on data from the instrument yielded four factors: Conducting Gesture Growth, Musical Skills and Pedagogy Skills, Repertoire and Literature Selection, and Other with a Cronbach's alpha of .92. Composite score results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference for one factor by primary teaching identity. Preservice music educators observed the most musical skills growth for their conducting gesture. Participants gave the highest pedagogy skills ratings for statements about large ensembles preparing them for a career in music education, improving their teaching effectiveness, and ensemble experiences altering their perceptions of music teaching.

Current practices in music education parallel the expansion of globalization and cross-cultural contact. However, the multicultural music education movement—referred to by some as "world music education"—has been primarily about the diversity of musical experiences and less about the circumstances and processes of the music itself. As a result, Western music educators often neglect inseparable learning pathways and unintentionally distort the meaning and value of diverse musics from around the world. While there is considerable research examining the teaching and learning of diverse music cultures, significant portions of that literature only represent the observed accounts of cultural outsiders. In this study, I examined the lived experiences of world music culture bearers who teach in Western university institutions in the Southwest region of the United States. I used narrative inquiry to learn more about their pedagogical experiences and documented their storied accounts of interactions with university students. I based the theoretical framework in this study on Clandinin and Connelly's narrative inquiry three-dimensional space model and Schippers' twelve continuum transmission framework. My primary findings revealed that teaching in a cross-cultural setting involves several musical and contextual choices. Moreover, the perceived authenticity of the research participants' transmission processes was often a byproduct of their …

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of character strengths that high school students reported to develop while participating in choir. I created the Character Strengths in Choir Scale (CSCS) to explore the degree to which students believed they exercised 18 character strengths. Local choir students in the pilot study (n = 44) and the main study (n = 114) completed the CSCS and revealed that gratitude, teamwork, and honesty were among the most prevalent strengths while bravery, creativity, and spirituality were among the least prevalent strengths. Student responses were also investigated by subgroups according to gender and years of experience. Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences for the ranking of various character strengths in each subgroup. Aggregately, high school choir students viewed themselves as above average on all assessed strengths.

The purpose of this study was to investigate online social comparison and impostor phenomenon (IP) in undergraduate music education students. I employed a sequential explanatory mixed models design to explore the extent to which music education students experienced IP, used Facebook, and engaged in social comparison on Facebook. I explored participants' perceptions of how they engaged in online social comparison in the context of their professional lives. In Phase 1, I surveyed participants to measure impostor phenomenon, Facebook intensity, and Facebook social comparison. Analysis of the descriptive data revealed that 77.8% of participants experienced frequent to intense IP symptoms. Facebook social comparison emerged as the only significant predictor of IP in participants accounting for 13.3% of the variance in CIPS scores. In Phase 2, I conducted focus groups to investigate participants' perceptions of how they engaged in online social comparison as related to their professional identity. The themes that emerged from the qualitative data included: (a) comparing to peers online, (b) using Facebook for professional purposes, (c) psychological effects of online comparison, and (d) withdrawing from social media to avoid adverse effects. Lastly, I integrated the quantitative and qualitative data to expound upon and confirm findings in each phase. The …