Identity development in former school music educators: a narrative case study

Abstract

Beginning in childhood, music educators often develop strong identities as musicians and teachers over the course of their lives. Seeking to understand the implications of leaving the profession on such identities, the purpose of this study was to explore the evolution of former school music educators’ identities throughout their academic and professional careers. Four former school music educators of varying backgrounds participated in this study. Each participant was interviewed twice and completed a set of audio journal prompts. Resulting data was “restoryed” through a narrative analytical framework (Fraser, 2004). Findings included the personal narratives of each participant beginning from childhood to the point of data collection. Through general comparisons across each participant’s personal narratives, takeaways regarding musician and teacher identity were detailed in the discussion. Most notably, former school music teachers still identified as musicians and teachers throughout their lives after leaving the profession. Conclusions from this study result in implications for music teacher educators, in-service teachers, and pre-service teachers. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.