As we begin to study the topic of Sociological Perspectives in Music, it is important for us to gather our self-knowledge to understand how we (a) became musicians and teachers, (b) interact professionally, and (c) serve the educational needs of our students. By addressing these issues, we can hopefully understand why others (e.g., administrators, teachers of other subjects, and students) often value art and music differently than we do.
According to North, Hargreaves, and Tarrant (2002), a disconnect may exist between school music culture and everyday culture. Have you ever been at odds with your students and/or colleagues in regards to your curriculum? Consider the following questions:
- Have your students ever asked, “Why can’t we sing/play “good music?”
- Have you ever had a colleague imply that what you do as a music educator is of secondary importance within the education system?
- Do you believe it is important to bridge the gap between school music culture and everyday culture in your music classroom?
- Do you think it is important to maintain the traditional music curriculum in your classroom?
As music educators, I think is important for us to consider these questions as we continuously develop our social identities. According to Froehlich (2007), “When we articulate our socioeconomic and cultural background for the purpose of getting a sense of our own position in society, as compared to that of others around us, we describe our socialization” (p. 7). The process of socialization occurs in distinct phases:
- Primary socialization begins in early childhood. Those who are responsible for your upbringing often guide this process.
- Secondary socialization begins as you enter school and normally continues until you reach adulthood.
- Occupational socialization begins when you start to make decisions about your professional role in society. For example, when did you first decide to become a musician and/or music educator?
Taking this process into consideration, Froehlich devotes the remainder of the chapter to the topic of occupational identity. For your first weekly assignment, please do the following:
- Read the first chapter of the Froehlich text (The Performer and Teacher in You: A Matter of Identity).
- Post a thread (500 words minimum) by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, January 27th. Do not attempt to summarize the entire chapter. Instead, try to expand on a particular topic within the chapter that is of interest to you.
- By 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, January 29th, please post a response (200 word minimum) to TWO threads created by your classmates.
As you reflect on the reading, please consider the following points outlined in the text:
- Discuss your memories of classmates who participated in the same high school ensemble(s) you took part in but who made it very clear that going into music professionally was “not for them.” Try to recall their reasons and how you reacted to them at the time.
- Do the research findings on the worlds of music teachers and professional performers resonate with your own experiences? If so, to what extent? If not, how do your own experiences differ?
- Outline some questions you would ask your colleagues and classmates about their own (music) socialization processes.
Froehlich, H. C. (2007). Sociology for music teachers: Perspectives for practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
North, A., Hargreaves, D., & Tarrant, M. (2002). Social psychology and music education. In R. Colwell and C. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook for research on music teaching and learning (pp. 604-625). New York: Oxford University Press.
Dr. Charles R. Ciorba 
I came from a very rural school in northwest Oklahoma graduating with 29 students in my class. I was a member of band, show choir, choir, jazz band, Student Council, and even tried my hand at FFA my senior year. With such a small school many students had to participate in all offered activities such as music ensembles, FFA, sports, FCCLA, and Student Council to keep these organizations and ensembles active with much of the focus going towards sports. Everyone who was in an activity had some part in all or most organizations including myself. I believe that many of my classmates never took into consideration that music could be a legitimate career possibility. Their interests lay elsewhere and considered music as a fun competitive activity. A few of them took private lessons in voice or piano to compete at district and state competitions only later to dropout. With the activity demands, many of them never auditioned for honor choirs to experience the energy felt while being around serious musicians, which is in part due to the rural low profile of fine arts in the community.
My view in high school was that I was different because my interests and experiences where not inline with my classmates. I took music as a serious study while they took agriculture and sports seriously. I remember I became frustrated at times because I felt I was not taken seriously by my classmates and a few of my teachers because of it. Today, many of my high school classmates have become apart of the education, agriculture, or construction fields.
The research in the book, Sociology for music teachers: Perspectives for practice, explains that the education aspect for music education majors is that the performance aspect normally overshadows the education aspect. Though I believe this is in parts true, most of my fellow music major classmates where music education majors. The drive of perfecting ourselves on our primary instruments was present though we consistently found ways to relate these principles back into our prospective teaching. Though in our music environment of serious study, I personally got used to the idea that I would always teach a vast number of serious musicians that is not always the case.
I strongly believe that the line between a performer and a music educator can be extremely blurred just as the book states. It’s the initial purpose of the performance. Currently, most of the music educators in and surrounding my school district are performers in our community varying in church choirs, bell choir, band, or a cast member in the current community musical production. Most all of us have the sole focus of bringing awareness and to heighten the fine arts within our western culture. Therefore in part participating in the community is help bridging the outside culture of our classroom into our classroom so that our students are exposed to the high level of art that we hope that they will have the opportunity to participate. It is also with benefit to pick up different rehearsal and teaching strategies with the added bonus of getting to enjoy performing in an ensemble again.
My questions to my classmates are as follows; Do you believe that the size of your community had any influence in your socialization process? Also, what specific experiences did the size of community impact you musically?
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Ashley, I had a remarkably similar secondary socialization period. My musical endeavors and serious interest was atypical for the small community I schooled in. Many of my classmates also did not consider music to be a career option despite any indicators that it was indeed a valid option.
Is this a “problem” of the music educators who “raised” us? I’m wondering about their level of self-knowledge. I suspect that a lot of small universities have a climate that fosters the “educator” identity to have a more uniform validity –or maybe there is just less pressure to be a “performer” and grow a career from existing skillsets and community needs. I suspect that a lot of small-town music teachers came from small towns themselves and are deeply affected in their identity by earlier socialization periods. I really have nothing to corroborate these suspicions except for their slight departure from Froehlich’s research findings that you say you experienced in your “occupational socialization” (university and career—I would consider those two very distinct phases because they carry very different identity markers, but maybe university is just an overlap of secondary and occupational. Or I misunderstand the definition/distinction of the types of socialization.)
You brought up some interesting points for me to consider!
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Hi Ashley,
I enjoyed reading your response. I do believe that the size of my community had some influence on my socialization process, especially now that I can compare it to the current community that I teach in. The town that I grew up in had recently experienced a boom in population and construction. Two lane dirt roads had been paved and expanded to six lanes. My high school had only been built four years prior to the start of my freshman year. With this expansion and an influx of money to the area, every program at school was well supported. Our large class size allowed students to specialize in academics, theatre, sports, or music. Several of my fellow 300+ band students went on to major in music and did very well in regional and state competition.
Where I teach now, the entire high school is just barely bigger than my high school band. Where I work, academics are number one. This paired with a small class size can make enrollment in the art a challenge. Students who would have probably gone on to major in music had they attended a larger school often end up double majoring. It is interesting to compare the two experiences but I believe that hungry minds are drawn to music regardless of socialization.
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Ashley,
Like you, I, too, am from a small, rural community. I experienced many of the same situations that you have just outlined. My peers would have never even considered a career in music—performance, education, or otherwise. What causes this to happen? I think it may be in part due to the fact that the only “career musician” with which we ever came into contact was our music teacher/director. Perhaps this isolation from the professional music world is partially to blame.
I know the size of my community played a major role in my socialization process. I NEVER considered a career as a professional musician—it didn’t even occur to me that it would be a possible path for me to take. I wanted to be a band director. This is most likely to due to the fact that the only “music career” to which I had ever been exposed was that of a music teacher. That being said, I wouldn’t change the path I chose for anything. I love what I do!
Within my small community, I gained some musical experiences. I took piano lessons, I was heavily involved in the school band program, and I would sometimes sing in the church choir. I was also fortunate enough to participate in a few honor bands along the way.
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Ashley,
We came from different sized school districts and I am always intrigued on how outlooks are compare/contrast on some topics. Going through the large school program I felt I needed to make a choice on one activity and focus on it. Most of my peers did the same. So I chose band (or it chose me?) and was all in by my freshman year. I took lessons weekly, practiced each evening and did anything extra I possibly could with the activity. In my opinion, this was grooming me to be a musician, if not at the very least a fanatic of music! Education was never really an idea that I thought of, personally. I do believe being in such a competitive large school made an impact on me. Since I felt the need to choose one activity I had to be the best at that one thing! Looking at where I teach now, large school but small school mindset, most students are involved in many different activities. There are only a few who are in just band, athletics, drama or whichever and they are all in.
Good or bad? Well rounded? Hard to judge and probably depends on the individual.
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What a poignant reading! Of particular interest to me was the apparent disjunction in identity that music educators face. Upon first reading there was a “versus” element in almost every topic Froehlich brought up: the value sets of “music teacher vs. student/community” as the chapter started, “self vs. others” in the section on identity, and most expanded upon was “musician vs. educator.” These were all set up in a dichotomous relationship, but as the author expounded upon research, there were statements of resolution that conceded that these dichotomies are “insufficient for identity.” The identity of the music educator is only explainable as itself.
My personal identity—the portion of it that is constructed of my occupational socialization—was laid out in front of my eyes in Froehlich’s writing and research. It is indeed as duplicitous as the writing suggested. Am I a musician? A teacher? A performer? An educator? It’s of course all those things “to me,” in a sense, but the concept of identity, as asserted in the text by its sociological characterization, is a product of relationships with others.
On a very personal but experiential note, being in a relationship with a professional gigging theatre artist/composer put the identity in constant situational flux. Maintaining music-making ties with union musicians that gig for a living gives a unique perspective. Performing here-and-there makes an identity harder to nail down as one entity. (On top of that each of us taking this course now has to contend with adding “student” to the mix.) And upon considering my introductory post on D2L I noticed that my introduction was full of this kind of “who am I/how do I explain myself to this community?” vacillation between “musician” and “educator” and the subcommunities within those structures.
Within the reading there were also several questions that bear me answering to myself as I gather self-knowledge. I very often joke about coming to college and enrolling as a music education major “just happened” due to circumstances, especially with scholarship money and lack of non-music identity and talents that weren’t fostered during my secondary socialization. Once in university the music school situation was very much as described by Froehlich. The music education majors that I had the most dealings with indeed “showed a strong allegiance with full time performers and their identities as future music educators remained weak.”
In my career there has certainly been some reconciliation. Or, rather, I have a certain professional leaning toward “educator” (vs. musician). “School music teachers do not have strong self-images as educational staff members” is not my experience, per se. This, in my lucky instance, comes from a fantastic school site in a community that values me and is demographically contiguous. I am one of the few in the cited statistic that is involved in professional organizations that are for identifying educators—a site leader, in fact. With the regard I’m given in the community and by the faculty and administration, I take it upon myself to assert a musicking culture and also give way to a prevailing/pre-existing musicking culture. This philosophical choice has been a process as I’ve seen my program develop. This process, though, would hardly have been conceivable if I wasn’t relegated to the autonomy that the text refers to as a result of the convoluted identity that is not aligned with the educator identity that most in the education system take on.
Most of my experiences, though, must not be unique. They have been qualified by the research cited throughout this entire chapter, especially in regards to identity. We (music educators) seem either in a constant shift. OR “public school music teachers [are] members of a community of practice uniquely their own.”
I’m interested to know from my esteemed colleagues in this class (and beyond):
-Are these identity issues as convoluted for you all as I have experienced them to be for myself?
-What is the role of personal philosophy/ethos/outlook/disposition in the duality of the music educator identity? The text obviously can’t get into it all but is that part of the “socialization” process that the text attributes it to?
-I went to a small school where a good portion of the music majors were music education majors. But the structure of schooling still leant itself to music educators self-identifying as performers. The structure did not lend itself to conceptualizing music educators as teachers in the professional capacity required for the job. Are there schools or structures in your experience that gave you a different perspective?
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Griffin,
I think some of the separation between the two identities is indeed brought about by our own understanding, philosophy, and personal drive in the field. An important factor in self-identity I felt wasn’t discussed at length, is the viewpoint of other non-music teachers have of us. Do they see us as musicians only, educators only, or do they see us as we see ourselves? Do we portray to them, who we identify as? I feel in this climate and scrutiny of public school education, we must ensure that whichever they see, we are still regarded as competent educators. Too often coaches get the bulk of criticism for being “coaches,” not teachers. There are bad teachers and great ones in every discipline. We are experts in our field: music AND education. I think it’s a great achievement to be viewed by your teaching peers as a capable teacher and able to communicate the ideals of the profession regardless of area.
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Yes, I agree with you that the identity issues are convoluted! I think we are musician, teacher, performer wrapped in one yet there are times in my life where one of these is more prominent than another. Being a music teacher is where I identify the strongest at this point in life, but I will always identify as a performer because of my background and training that allows for this. It is interesting how life experience plays a part in what we choose to identify with.
From your third question- I was at a small private college for my undergrad with the majority being music education majors. The university had a very strong education program and the music portion was just as rigorous for music-ed majors. I was not an education major, but I viewed the music ed majors as professional and that they were always preparing for the education field more so than performance. As a performance major, I felt more isolated from the music-ed majors because I was in the practice rooms and took different courses apart from core music theory and aural training courses that we were all required to take.
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Near the end of my time in high school, I recall a few of my friends saying they couldn’t go into the music profession. For some, they aspired to having a larger income than what many music careers can provide. For others, they simply had stronger passions for differing subjects. When my friends would tell me why they didn’t want to pursue music as a career, it sometimes made me question whether choosing music as a career was the right thing for me. I wondered if I was making a wrong choice because many of my close friends had made a different choice.
The Froehlich text is certainly relatable to many aspects of my life. There were many instances when reading the text that I could think to myself, “yup, that is me,” or “I have thought that exact thing.” One part that is discussed near the beginning about identity particularly made me reflect on my past. Froehlich writes about our identity leaning more towards the “musician” side of the profession while we are in college as opposed to the “music educator” side. He alludes to the idea that while we are in our undergrad we are performing often, working part-time jobs and gigging in the evenings and on the weekends. Froehlich writes that music educators get to this “identity” late in the undergraduate coursework, if not later when they are actually teaching. I believe I was not this way. I knew from the beginning of my undergrad that I was meant to be a music educator and not a music performer. You see, I come from a musical family. I listened to my father play jazz on the saxophone very often and play it very well. I also grew up in the shadow of my older brother who played piano from the age of 5 and saxophone in middle school and high school. It came so naturally to them! I had to work so hard at what they seemed to do quite quickly. I found my music educator identity after some time being the high school drum major. I discovered that I was much better at leading others in music than I was able to perform music. This helped me keep the music education identity in mind through my undergrad.
Another part of the article I found interesting is when Froehlich discussed the importance of immersion in the classroom. I reflected on my experiences during my undergrad at OU. We started very early in the curriculum. We started teaching actual students our first semester. Furthermore, the OU curriculum includes a lot of time in a teaching lab situation that gave me confidence in front of the classroom well before my student teaching semester. I was also was fortunate to work with a local high school helping with their marching band and chamber music. These experiences truly helped me confirm my identity as a music educator early in my undergraduate coursework.
I pose the questions to my colleagues: When did you find your “music educator” identity? Was it early in your undergraduate work? Was it when you were in your student teaching?
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I had a somewhat similar experience. My father used to play the cornet every once in awhile though the only song he could play well was Taps. I’m a little jealous in that regard. My fate like yours was sealed in the “music educator” identity as a very early undergrad teaching real people at NWOSU.
It was stepping on a podium my sophomore year to rehearse John Barnes Chance’s “Variation on a Korean Folk Song” with the University Concert Band. I was rehearsing the piece for an upcoming concert that I was conducting for a conducting class. I knew at that moment that I didn’t entirely see myself as a band director but solidified my self-image as an educator in the music field. There is something about conducting a piece of music from a somewhat disastrous first rehearsal to a polished concert knowing that you had a major part in its journey.
Later, once I started becoming amerced in the education and music education field, I began to fully understand the concepts of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, John Dewey, and Eric Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development and how to incorporate them into music education. This intrigued me more than performing alone could ever do. Yet, music has always been a strong passion of mine.
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Hi Eric,
I enjoyed learning about your story and your journey. The first time that I knew I wanted to teach music was in eighth grade when I was a band assistant. I remember I was helping with the beginner tuba class and was able to explain a certain skill very clearly. My teacher at the time was impressed and told me that he thought being able to explain a concept clearly with few words was crucial to being a successful teacher. This really set me on the path to music education. My private teacher supported this plan and nurtured it with opportunities to teach and succeed. From that point through college graduation I knew I would be involved in education and hopefully music education. There aren’t as many gigs available for tuba players in college so the majority of my time playing was spent in school ensembles or the practice room. So while the conflict of being a musician rather than an educator was there, even with some teachers encouragement to seek music performance as a career path, I always knew one day I would end up teaching music. Once I graduated I just wasn’t ready yet. I wanted to see the world and learn more about myself before I took on the task to teaching and leading others.
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Eric,
Your situation sounds INCREDIBLY similar to mine! I never saw myself in the role of the performer. In my mind, I was always going to be the music educator. As I mentioned in my original post, I have felt that way since the 8th grade!
Upon beginning my undergraduate career, this idea only became more obvious to me. I realized very quickly that, although I was a great horn player in little Perkins, America, I was not as good as I thought I was once compared to everyone else at the university level. In truth, I did not like going to horn lessons, practicing solos, and I despised performing by myself—I was very self-conscious about my horn playing abilities. I did, however, greatly enjoy playing in ensembles.
On the flip side, I LOVED my music education courses. I enjoyed being in front of a classroom, I was extremely comfortable being in front of an ensemble, and conducting class came natural to me. I eventually found myself serving as drum major for the OSU Cowboy Marching Band. All of my inhibitions would fade away as I stepped into these teacher/leadership roles.
As I look back now, I truly value the experiences that I had in my studio lessons, studio classes, juries, and senior recital. Although those situations made me uncomfortable, they forced me to grow, not only as a musician, but also as an individual.
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The Performer and Teacher in You: A Matter of Identity
I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. As I was reading it, I said “Hey, that’s me!” about 10 times. The part that I would like to expand on is the discussion of conflict between being a musician and being a teacher. In college, I self-identified as a musician because I was playing in several ensembles, spending more time in the practice room than my own dorm. As Froehlich points out, being surrounded by peers who are studying to become professional musicians influences one to identify more as a musician than a teacher.
An aspect that I felt contributed to this, which wasn’t specifically addressed in the chapter, was also that I identified as a musician in high school. I was band. Every morning, every weekend, two to three classes a day, and 4 hours on Wednesday night, I was studying, practicing, or performing music. In a high school of 3,500+ students, if you weren’t able to hang on to some kind of identity, it was very easy to be lost in the crowd and, although I taught a few lessons here and there, in comparison to the master teachers who surrounded me, I would not have identified as a teacher. It was, however, my first experience as a teacher helper in the eighth grade that encouraged me to become a teacher.
I think that I have always thought highly of the teaching profession. Yes, the college and high school experiences did contribute, but part of my social roots consisted of a great respect and admiration for teachers. Even when I graduated with my degree in music education, I didn’t feel that I had the maturity or experience to be a teacher. So, I didn’t teach full time. I graduated and did some subbing for all studies, worked for a non-profit, and ran a skating rink. Looking back now, I think that I needed life experience and time away from music to redefine myself and to make sure that I could make the commitment to be a teacher.
Now, having taught for several years as a band director, my occupational identity is more teacher than musician. Being in a private school, and interacting with many similar programs in private schools in the region, I encounter an above average number of teachers who did not obtain a degree in music education. In some ways we struggle to be seen in the same respect as core teachers, yet we strive to provide a music education to our students, while encountering obstacles not seen in the work of a Science or English teacher. Froehlich discusses the biggest obstacle that I face, student involvement, in the positive light of having only those motivated to be in your course. However, in a small school with a strong academic focus, the option to take band often puts me at a disadvantage, because the numbers required for an ensemble are difficult to achieve with a limited student population.
Ultimately, I think that it is very interesting, the journey through the different stages of socialization that we all experience and the factors that go into creating the identity of a musician, a teacher, or a music teacher.
Questions:
Do you experience more musicians, teachers, or music teachers in your field?
Has your identity changed since you started working? If so, how?
What are the self imposed limits of your identity? Do you actively try to change this or is this something to accept? Why or why not?
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I experience mostly music teachers in my field. Working in higher-ed, I mostly associate with studio teachers who probably label themselves as “performers” first. My identity has changed drastically since I’ve begun working. I have had the pleasure of becoming a student of a world renown performer over the past 5 years, and his philosophies of learning, teaching, and performing have had a dramatic impact on my own identity. I have always been in in love with some aspect of music, but I have been very short sided with my passion. I have attained a much healthier balance that has led to an idea that being in love with music makes every musical endeavor worthwhile. I love the process of learning, all of the process. I love the metronome in a closed room by myself, I love the 6th grader struggling to play chords, I love the college student trying to play his/her first large scale work, and I love performing. Before, I had to practice because I needed to perform well to be okay with myself. This limited me as a teacher. I would actually be mad when my practice sessions would be interrupted by the knock of an excited student ready for their lesson. Now that I am in love with the total process of learning, I don’t have to practice because of a performance. I practice because I’m in love with music and I embrace the whole process. I teach because I am in love with music and I embrace the whole process. And I perform because the natural progression of the whole process is performance. Good questions.
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My experience in high school ensemble is probably quite different from most who take this class. I played the electric guitar (and was a major Jimi Hendrix/Stevie Ray Vaughan wanna-be). High school band, where I played the trombone, was something I never took seriously and I never entertained the idea of being anything other than a guitar slinger for a long-term career (I would have been a fascinating case study for self-assessment). I didn’t want to go to any other class, most of my friends were in band, and on football game road trips the band shared busses with the cheerleaders and pom squad. So, I followed my friends and my natural instincts to band but my heart belonged to other musical endeavors. I was incapable of finding any way to connect guitar and band. While I had plans to use music as a profession, I had no plans of it being a profession that made use of skills and knowledge acquired in band, and I didn’t think twice about any student that loved band but would never consider music as a profession. Classical music, or the music of academia, had absolutely no appeal to me.
Since my conversion to classical music and after becoming a professional educator, I have had several conversations with students about music as a career choice. In recent years, teaching in Oklahoma, the more cerebral students in my studio have found plenty of reasons to consider looking elsewhere for a profession. The stability offered in full time employment (mentioned on pg 9-10) becomes less stable with every passing year, and those who need stability will not consider free-lance work as an artist. Those recent students of mine who follow their heart and pursue a degree in music, even though the warning signs are there, have had trouble finding employment in their chosen field. Conversations with my students are filled with logical explanations on why they can’t choose music as a profession, or they become counseling sessions for those who have anxiety about their chances for success in this field.
My personal experience and that of my colleagues resonates with much of this chapters discussion on identity and the discussion on autonomy vs. stability. As a professional, I have worked mostly as a studio instructor and free-lance artist. I have never had full time employment from an institution. I have never had a schedule that didn’t give me great freedom to schedule my own practice time. Teaching mostly studio lessons and the occasional face to face/online class, I have been afforded the opportunity to stay as active in performance as I desire; however, I have also been given the opportunity to remain in the same tax bracket for several years. I have many friends working full time in secondary education that express concerns of their own creative output being stifled by the demands of their work.
Questions:
When did you start the phase of occupational identity mentioned at the beginning of the chapter? I mentioned my own struggle in high school as a guitarist who didn’t see a future in academia, but later (while working on my biology degree) I developed a deep love for learning and this part of my life was highly influential in my decision to pursue a Master’s in guitar performance and now this PhD in music ed. I’m curious to know how pieces came together to get you where you are now.
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Jonathan,
I think that my occupational identity began to solidify initially during student teaching and finally during my fifth year teaching full-time. During student teaching, I vividly remember coming home most evenings completely wiped. Exhausted from standing in front of students and trying desperately to find the words and skills necessary to teach and have an impact. I don’t think I had worked this hard mentally and physically for years. I was excited to finally be doing the work I had studied for over the past few years, and having an opportunity to work with some talented musicians. But I was still a student. Fast-forward to my fifth year of teaching full-time. I think at this point I was teaching two different concert bands, three jazz bands, AP music theory, and an independent studies class (all-state and solos). I was finally beginning to get a grasp on how I taught and learning what techniques worked for me and what would not. I had a much better grasp on the “non-musical” things that are required on the job and are often difficult to address in your undergraduate courses. This is when I began to realize I could do this, and I enjoyed doing this. I know there is research to prove the timeframe of years of experience leading to commitment in the field for the long haul. I’ve enjoyed this journey so much; I want to ensure others enjoy it as much as I do.
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As I read through this chapter, I found many quotes that personally resonate with my own path in music performance and music education throughout my undergrad years up to the present day. Froehlich mentions that “spending time in the practice room is a more tangible sign of belonging to the community of musicians than is sitting in the library reading about educational policies or curriculum theories” (page 14). Though I have two degrees in music performance, I had a brief period where I was a music education major, but the quote above describes how I felt at the time. I switched back to music performance because I wanted to spend my time learning new music and preparing for a life of performing rather than take education classes. I admit that it sounds ignorant but as a young student, my goal was to become a professional musician in a symphony and playing gigs every night in New York City along with the occasional teaching. During my masters in NYC, I was surrounded by performers who made a living by playing gig after gig with no guarantee of income. It is a difficult life and I rarely met a performer who absolutely loved doing this for a living unless it was there passion. For myself, I realized I was not fulfilled spending all my time in the practice room and it was simply not the lifestyle I wanted.
After moving back to Oklahoma, I got my first teaching job as an elementary music teacher at a charter school. Then I struggled with Froehlich’s idea that “sociologically, the two worlds of work, professional performer and public school music teacher, are somewhat at odds with each other” (page 13). I was grateful for this teaching job and that it provided an income, but I still struggled with losing my identity as a performer. Yet at the same time, teaching music to the next generation was more rewarding than I could have imagined. In the reading I also found the quote, “the boundaries between the qualifications of a professional performer and of a music teacher become blurred and their occupational identities as musicians intertwined” was highly relatable to my own circumstance (page 11). I believe this is a crossroad that most musicians/performers face at some point. Up until recently, I have had this internal struggle with accepting that teaching is also a part of who I am and that being a performer and teacher can be combined with give and take. My early college career goals were very limited when simply pursuing a performance degree, and my dreams of a performance life quickly met reality when it did not pan out like I had imagined.
I think there is a balance that each musician and educator must find as they teach and perform. They must also consider what is practical for the individual and their circumstance. Many of my performance major classmates are now either music teachers or professors, maintain private studios, or teaching music in one way or another with very few I know who live solely on performing alone.
So now asking my colleagues- Did you struggle with identifying more as a performer or educator when choosing music education as a profession? Do you consider yourself more of one or the other- or both?
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Emily,
Thank you for sharing your story. Most, if not all, of my performance friends from undergrad are teaching in some form. After developing your skills for so long, I think it is a natural thing to take on the role of “teacher” and share your knowledge with others.
Your statement about “playing gig after gig with no guarantee of income” is a reality for many. I think that the text is correct in saying that MUED is intriguing for students and parents for the stability factor. (I know it was for my parents). I think that many musicians have to come face to face with compromising how they can work their passion into making a living. For some it is fulfilling enough to do as a side gig, while others it needs to take a more central focus in their 9-5 schedule.
For me, music education was my career choice since middle school. There was a time in undergrad that I had to learn how to let go of my identity as a perform. I attended a small liberal arts school where I had the opportunity to live the life of a performance/education major. I loved being active in the opera/musical world at my school which fueled my passion to perform. It wasn’t until stepping into the classroom that I truly began to see that my strengths and personality were in teaching others. I found that my identity was as an educator because when I thought of making music, I saw a classroom of eager faces and endless possibilities.After teaching and experiencing the joys of making music with my students, I wouldn’t want to share the stage with anyone else.
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Froehlich Ch. 1 “The Performer and Teacher in You”
This chapter resonated with me in many different ways. It was interesting to trace my own “musical” identify from my first music lessons in elementary school, high school ensembles, undergrad, to the present. I come from a long line of educators and for someone who had a passion for music, music education seemed like a natural fit. My current book collection says it all. The books that get the most love are my song collections, folk dance, and game books. I can never have enough! While my mezzo-soprano aria and books are tucked away in a blue box in the closet. When I first packed them up I thought, “Perhaps I will need these some day, you never know”. As my teaching career has continued my thinking has shifted to using them someday for a gifted high school student. My thinking is now focused on developing my skills for my own musicianship to using that knowledge to help other grow as well.
There was a time in undergrad that I had to meet head first with performer vs. teacher. The chapter mentions a study by Roberts that found that music education majors showed a strong allegiance with full time performers, and their identity as future music teachers/educators remained weak” (pg.13) I was a classic case. You spend much of your time perfecting your own craft and building relationships with other students in ensembles, productions, and other performing groups. I even consider pursuing a performing degree until student teaching came around. It was during my student teaching experience that I finally began to associate with the education world and began viewing myself as a teacher.
It was also during student teaching that I had my first experience with feeling isolated from the other educators in the room. During our weekly Monday night meetings, education majors from the elementary, secondary, and music areas would gather and discuss best practices and share what was working or not working in our teaching experiences. The other education majors had spent four years going through methods classes together while the other MUED major and myself spent our time practicing and taking the occasional education class. I remember having to sort through how I could identify with teachers of other subjects and how music worked in the overall goal of the education system. I had to think beyond why I thought music was important and why I enjoyed making music and begin to understand the importance of advocacy for my future profession and how to share that joy with my students.
Fast forward to year four in music teaching…I am fortunate to work at a school that values what I do as a music educator. As a staff they see the importance of music and all the arts in the lives’ our students. I know that not all music teachers are so fortunate. I do find myself in staff meetings having to sometimes search for ways to connect with DRA scores, Project Based Learning, and other educational strategies that are geared more towards classroom teachers. My colleagues in the PE, speech pathology, and art world probably feel the same way too.
I am fortunate to work in a district that values the importance of collaboration among music staff. Froehlich mentions that creating a “community of music teachers” (pg. 16) is important for music educators to understand their identity in the schools. In my district we have an elementary music advisory board that meets once a week. This has been imperative in helping harness my identity in the school system, because as an elementary it is easy to feel isolated and on your “own island” at times.
The struggle between performer and teacher became easier to understand whenever I began to see myself as an artist teacher, one who uses their musicianship to strengthen their classroom environment. This did not happen instantly, but developed overtime as I invested in my own musicianship with Kodaly levels training and was immersed in the classroom and developed a relationship with my school staff. The text suggested that “Elementary general music specialists had more in common with classroom teachers than with their music colleagues at the secondary level” (pg. 15) I would say this is true of me. The classroom teachers interact with my students. They create lessons that are child centered and age appropriate just like I do in the music classroom. We work for and with our students. We collaborate to create units that involve the librarian, music, P.E., and classroom teacher. I feel like at the elementary level the idea of “it takes a village” is very much alive. I think this is also why as music teachers you can easily wear the hat of teacher (over performer), because you are heavily invested in the holistic education of each child.
Questions: I found this question from the text intriguing” Is the purpose of school music instruction to pass on the cultural values of past generations or engage in music making as a lifelong pursuit?” (pg. 19)
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I affirm so much of your writing, Ashlynn. And what you found interesting in the reading, I too found interesting. The quote you drew, “Elementary general music specialists had more in common with classroom teachers than with their music colleagues at the secondary level” is also my experience in my school and in my district. I had initially trained as a secondary instrumental educator, but found a particular niche in elementary. I love your hat analogy.
Just reading and responding to your experience, in this moment, really puts my self-identification in the “teacher” category–especially as I consider the question you posed at the end. It also caught my eye upon reading. These philosophical questions very consciously drive my sequence, my lessons, and my entire career perspective. What is the value of the past values? I encounter so many young music teachers who try to, say, ~make~ their kids love opera or hinge and entire unit on the symphony orchestra. Is that our job? I don’t think it’s mine, though I certainly have the inclination to both of those examples. I would say the job (of an elementary general music educator) lies more in taste-setting, setting up schematic neural systems from which they can further draw if they choose to continue in music (lifelong or career-wise), affirming art as valuable, and having fun!
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I found the question in the book very intriguing myself and had to reflect on it at a personal level. I remember one of my professors in my undergrad studies telling me that I had all the notes correct however I lacked the musicality needed for the song because it lacked purpose. Since it was singing a Lied song, she recommended that I grab a German dictionary and translate the lyrics of the song word by word. Even though I had an idea of what the song meant, I still didn’t understand the purpose of why the composer made certain musical choices. After taking her advice, it started making sense of why some words where accented and colored with certain chords and somewhere not. I also began to understand stylistic choices from studying the culture. Therefore, by understanding the cultural style and the purpose I was able to personally connect with the music and convey it more effectively to my audience making them feel the music.
In teaching, I have found myself incorporating a mixture of both culture and music making. In my experience because of it, students are able to find a personal connection with what they are singing and become more engaged in the music making process. They are able to dive into the music and sing with a purpose because they understand why the music is so important. If we can’t teach background and let the students develop and understand music in their own right, they would otherwise lack having the essential tools so they can understand and connect with music. I fell if teaching the cultural value of past and present generations and engaging music making simultaneously, the students wanting to make music a lifelong pursuit comes naturally because it becomes personal to them.
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As I think back on my high school days, I am reminded that as an eighth grader, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a band director. At a time when most of my friends were aspiring to be doctors, pilots, nurses, or engineers, I knew, without a doubt, that I was going to be a band director, and I would never change my mind. I guess you could say I was determined.
I graduated from a rural school in central Oklahoma. My graduating class numbered at a whopping 68! The high school band program consisted of about 45 members. Because we were a smaller school district, programs had to share students. Many of my band friends were also involved in various athletic programs, FFA, FCCLA, etc. Within the band program, I was, by far, the most serious “band geek.” I was considered to be one of the most, if not the most, musically talented in the band. Most everyone else was only in band for the social aspect. I don’t remember having any strong feelings about my classmates not wanting to further their musical careers—it’s just the way it was.
After graduating from high school, I quickly realized that I was not as skilled on my instrument as I had once thought. I guess you could say that I was a big fish in a VERY small pond. It became most evident after I was accepted on a probationary basis into a university music education program. However, as I mentioned before, I nothing if not determined! I worked my tail off through college—soaking up as much I possibly could!
While reading the text, I found the discussion on the occupational socialization of music students to be particularly intriguing. As mentioned, Roberts (1993) found that many music education students labeled themselves as musicians rather than educators. During my undergraduate career, I never found myself feeling this way. I was always aspiring to be a MUSIC EDUCATOR—not a performer. That isn’t to say that I didn’t want to or didn’t like to perform—I’ve just always wanted to teach. I wanted to share my joy and love of music with my future students. On the other hand, while I am not a professional performer/musician by any means, I greatly enjoy my time spent with the local community band and community jazz ensemble.
Questions:
1. In high school, did you ever express a desire to enter the world of music education and/or music performance to your ensemble director(s)? If so, do you remember their reactions/advice?
2. What was your transition from high school to college like? Was it an easy transition or did you experience a certain amount culture shock?
3. During your undergraduate career, did you feel that music performance majors and music education majors were treated differently? Was one valued more than the other or were they fairly equal?
4. How do you identify yourself now? Do you think of yourself as more of a performer, more of an educator, or both?
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KG,
Your story sounds a lot like mine. I also grew up in a rural school in northwestern OK where Friday football games were the highlight of of the week and being in the FFA was a given. Instead of the “band geek” I was the “choir geek” so much of what you speak of similar to my story, but just in the choir world.
1) In high school I expressed a strong desire to go into music education. My teacher took me under her wing and allowed me to run sectionals, help with middle school rehearsals, and allowed me to help her with work in the music office. She knew that I had the personality and skills for teaching music and really encouraged me to pursue this as a profession. My private voice teacher challenged me in the studio vocally and also tutored me in theory so that I wouldn’t be in total shock freshman year, which leads me to number 2…
2) My transition to college was pretty smooth. I loved being around people who loved music just as much as I did for the first time. Coming from a small, rural district, theory and sight singing was not the focus of the program. So 8:00 am aural skills and theory was a bit of shock to this vocal major and challenged me in my musicianship.
3) I attended a small liberal arts school where all music majors were basically on the same track in terms of academics with the exception of specific methods/pedagogy classes. I feel like we were all on an equal playing field in terms of performance opportunities.
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Hey KG!
Thank you for sharing your story about your time in high school. I definitely see the small school “I’m in band for my friends” thing with the program I work with in Lexington. I am not saying that ideology is not present in large schools because it definitely is. However, there are VERY FEW students who are hardcore bandos. I think most of them do not consider music as something they can do as a career at all so many of them do not take it seriously.
1) Like Ashlyn, my band director approached me with his strong interest in me becoming a music education major. When I finally made the decision to audition and pursue a music education degree he was very excited that I was going for it because he believed I would be successful.
2) In high school, I knew I was not great at trombone (I switched to trombone before my freshman year of hs). I worked very hard while I was in high school but was definitely not as proficient on trombone as many of the other band kids were on their instrument. I think this gave me a humble mindset going into my college studies. I had no illusions that I was the best or even that good, but what I did know was that I had strong leadership skills and enjoyed sharing my love for music.
3) The places where I found performance majors and education majors treated differently was in the juries. I felt as though many of the professors have the mindset of “you’re just a music ed major, you don’t have to do as much or be as good.” However, the ensemble conductors held everyone to the same level. If you sat in the ensemble you didn’t get a break.
4) As I said in my original post, I have always been and will *most likely* always identify as a music educator.
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KG,
Reading your story was enjoyable. I could envision you in my high school ensemble. I knew a few people that were set the same course you were. I actually was not one of them! Granted, I felt serious about music, it just never crossed my mind to continue with it. Looking back, that’s because nobody ever mentioned it.
1) I never even really thought about it as a possibility. My band directors were my mentors and I was the kid who would do anything for them or the program. I never thought I could do what they do!
2) High School to college was an easy transition for me personally. I grew up in Southeast Oklahoma City/Moore area and went to college in Ada, Oklahoma. I honestly hadn’t heard of “Ada” until my Senior year of high school, even then, could not tell you which direction or how far away it was! The culture of the town was my biggest culture shock. College life was/is obviously much different than high school life, but I believe coming from such a large high school and going to a significantly small university made my transition easier. With my personal transion being discussed, I can say I saw many peers have a culture shock and couldn’t quite handle the self discipline of college life.
3) We didn’t offere Music Performance while I was at ECU. I do believe they do now. However, it was a big topic of being music performance would be a silly plan since there just aren’t many jobs out there. Having the education plan to fall back on was always their talk to us. I actually do believe that in a way, but at the same time, if there was a student’s whose heart and passion are to do performance AND they are good enough I would tell them to go for it.
4) I identify myself as a MUSIC EDUCATOR. I love getting trumpet gigs, playing in community bands and orchestras or giving trumpet lessons, but what is always on my mind is Band and how to make my ensembles better.
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Chapter 1: The Performer and Teacher in You
My path towards music and ultimately this degree is one of defiance. I initially started my undergraduate experience studying toward a degree in pharmacy. I was the student who participated in high school band and said going into music professionally was “not for me.” I had no desire to pursue this field. Even after making the decision to study music, I still was convinced that teaching was “not for me.” I did not want to deal with parents, administration, or kids. A decade later, it’s all I want to do. The age group of my students has changed, but the passion for impacting students is the reason why I identify as a teacher. While I am highly specialized in music education, I am a teacher. I find any and every opportunity to teach. Music or not.
I am drawn to the conclusions of both Roberts and L’Roy regarding identities and allegiance to with music education or performance. As I think about what I would want out of my future, new music educators, I would hope that they express a stronger positive identity towards education. As many of us entered college, a large portion of our curriculum is based on performance in studio and ensembles. We build relationships with those playing the same instruments and those sitting in the same ensembles. This mirrors our time in both middle and high school. I question if the pacing or design of the school’s curriculum has an impact and if it that was addressed in those studies. I say this because, how strongly can you begin to identify as a music educator if you must wait until your junior and senior years of undergraduate study? What would happen if students are allowed the same amount of time practicing and honing their skills teaching as they are on their instrument? Would their perception change? I am aware that there has to be a groundwork of pedagogy and fundamental skills and knowledge of instruments acquired before teaching a large ensemble. This is not to say that performance should not be of equal importance. I truly feel that you must be a competent musician and able to clearly understand and articulate artistic ideas to your students. But are they ways to reward and encourage those who show promise and excel in teaching and not just performing either in studio or ensemble? Can we begin to build those communities of practice within the realms of music education and foster that identity earlier? What can we do for our students once they graduate, to encourage them to seek out and find a community to identify with, rather than feel isolation or burn out? The same argument in reverse can be made for those who seek to perform at the highest levels. One would imagine that others would like to study with you at some point in your career. Do you have the necessary tools to instruct those looking for guidance? Do you have ways to reach your students other than the way you were instructed? Music teachers must learn to exist in multiple communities.
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Eric,
I very much enjoyed reading your post and your questions that I think are important to consider. I believe music educators COULD identify as an educator earlier if we were able to put the same emphasis on practicing teaching as we do practicing for juries or our ensemble. As important as being independently musical is to being a teacher, I believe the proportion is skewed. As I was reading your post I thought about music conservatories. People go there to study music. There is a strong emphasis on their performance because that is what they are there to do! I wish my undergraduate experience was more like a conservatory, except for music education. I wish that I had been able to not worry about math homework, english homework, juries, ensembles, etc. all at the same time. My time was stretched so thin among all of my responsibilities that I didn’t get nearly enough time as I would have liked to practice my conducting, practicing what I would say in my teaching lab lesson, or writing my lesson plans.
One of your questions made me think about an opportunity I had in my undergrad. “Can we begin to build those communities of practice within the realms of music education and foster that identity earlier?” At OU my conducting class did a conducting symposium (they may still do this). We had to apply and get a reference letter to participate. Once we were selected, we got to prepare a band piece from a list that consisted of pieces from composers like Holst and Grainger and conduct a run through with the wind ensemble. When we conducted the run-through, directors and teachers from OU gave us comments on our conducting. This was an opportunity that inspired me to get better at conducting and practice conducting for a purpose instead of just teaching college kids middle school band pieces.
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As I was reading through this, much self reflection was going on. My first thought, when and how did I want to become a “musician?” I am the youngest of three – two older sisters (if you feel sorry for me, that would be the correct emotion). My oldest was in band at Highland East and then Moore high school where she quit after a couple of years. The second oldest didn’t do any music. My parents haven’t much music abilities. The passion didn’t come to me until the end of my 6th grade year at Apple Creek Elementary and Mr. Teachout came to recruit for 7th grade beginning band. Again, I had no push from home about music, but I was excited to try out these different instruments. Honestly, I don’t remember trying any other instrument than the trumpet. I remember very clearly walking up to the front of the room and getting a big buzz on the mouthpiece. After that, him allowing me to hold the trumpet, which nobody else was allowed to do! Then I remember getting the biggest tone of a G I’ve ever played. In my mind it is still better than my tone now, of course. That was the moment I wanted to become a “musician.”
My family was not well off, in fact I always knew most things was a struggle. My parents did what they had to to provide for my sisters and myself. I’m sure that’s a majority of the population. I bring that up to tie in our socioeconomic status was not the same as all of my peers as we moved to the Westmoore district. However, I fit in with them because of my passion to be a “musician.”
The second thing I was self-reflecting on thought he article is when did I decide I wanted to become a “music educator?” That actually never popped in my head until the middle of the Spring semester of my Senior year. Allen Correll was my Trumpet teacher from 7th grade through Junior year. My Senior year is when the band found out that he had accepted the Director of Bands position at East Central University. An obvious bummer to the entire program, especially the Wind Ensemble. We kept working, regardless. However earlier in High School was the 9/11 tragedy. Being a young high school boy, I became very patriotic and wanted to do something that would help and my career goal was leaning towards becoming a firefighter. So I’m a Senior in my Spring semester; a great musician; on course to become a firefighter. Allen Correll comes back to “work the band” and asks me where I am going to school next semester. Tells me I need to come audition just to see what they could offer if I were to become a Music Major. When I learned what a “free ride” was, I was hooked.
I never though of teaching music. Nobody every mentioned that was something that was possible. I’ve never looked back or regretted my decision!
From my experiences and reading this chapter, I’d like to think I can relate to my students on a level of socioeconomic status, wanting to be a great musician but not necessary have a plan to study music further, and yet teach them that you never know what is right around the corner!
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Hi Matt, I think teaching your students to be open to what the future holds is a great mantra for life in general. I love the story of how you became a musician and how you got to hold the trumpet- I wonder if this played a role in you choosing it?
I chose to play the clarinet because my dad had one in the closet. It just sort of happened without giving it much thought other than wanting to be in band.
For many students, playing an instrument is more about the journey than the end goal. I have thought about this too as I teach my private students. Is my goal to have them become a virtuoso? Not necessarily. I want to teach them good practice habits, teach them how to set their own goals as they grow, and how to become their own musician. I also had a similar experience my senior year and had no intentions of studying music at first because none of my friends were going on to study music, but one day it just clicked for me and here I am still doing what I love.
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