The Stan Kenton Clinics changed music education in American public schools by providing inspiring jazz learning experiences to countless students and music teachers. Stan Kenton was a well-known mid-twentieth century jazz big band leader who devoted his time, money, and fame in support of these educational clinics. The clinics began in 1959 under the auspices of the National Stage Band Camps and continued until Kenton's death in 1979. The present study comprises a first-of-its-kind history of the clinics, focusing primarily on the first five years of their existence. This history is subsequently used as a case for contemplating future changes to music education.

This study aimed to investigate whether female elementary and middle-level (middle school and junior high school) band teachers in the United States perceive discrimination in their profession of band teaching. Data were collected from 241 female band teachers who completed an online questionnaire on their demographic background and perceptions of discrimination, sexism, sex stereotypes, job isolation, mentors and role models, and working as mothers. The study explored the influence of various independent variables, including age, levels of teaching, level of education, primary instruments, years of music teaching experience, years of band teaching experience, region of school, location of school, and type of school. Statistical analyses revealed that significant differences in perceptions of discrimination, sexism, sex stereotypes, and job isolation varied according to age, levels of teaching, and years of music and band teaching experience. No significant differences were found in any perceptions by the level of education, primary instrument, region, location, and types of school. In addition, the majority of respondents reported that their mentors and role models were their colleagues rather than through formal mentoring programs. Also, the majority of respondents reported feeling anxious about being a mother while pursuing their careers. Future research is recommended to interview female elementary and middle/high school band teachers aged 21–30 and 31–40 with 1–5 and 6–10 years of teaching experience to gain a better understanding of their daily work and to identify solutions for working mothers and increased professional mentorship.

The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to explore Chinese music teachers' concerns that arise from classroom practice in their first six years of teaching using the three-stage model of teacher concerns development proposed by Fuller and Bown (1975). Research questions focused on teachers' concerns, concerns patterns, the shift of concerns patterns, and influences associated with concerns shifts. This study started with quantitative data collection using a survey based on Campbell and Thompson's (2007) Teacher Concerns Checklist to collect data from Chinese beginning music teachers working in Zhejiang Province (N = 316). The qualitative data were generated from semi-structured individual interviews with 12 participants purposefully selected from survey participants. The quantitative and qualitative results revealed that Chinese beginning music teachers' self, task, and student impact concerns exist and progress simultaneously. Their self and task concerns decreased as their teaching experience increased. These beginning music teachers' student impact concerns remained relatively unchanged at a high level in their first six years of teaching. Qualitative data revealed a new potential category of concerns: work environment concerns, including supportive school policies and interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Qualitative data also suggested that teachers' self concerns and student impact concerns may consist of two levels. Self concerns included self-survival concerns and self-improvement concerns, and student impact concerns included awareness of student impact concerns and having ideas for dealing with these concerns. The results of this study showed that some of the teachers' concerns were context-specific. These kinds of concerns may have been influenced by factors other than years of teaching experience, such as teaching circumstances, cultural context, and the teacher evaluation system, which also seemed to influence teachers' particular concerns. Based on these findings, a new model of the progression of teacher concerns was proposed. The findings of this study provide information for teacher educators, mentors, and school administrators to develop professional development programs and school policies that may help beginning music teachers relieve their anxieties and prepare them to be successful in the early years of teaching.

The purpose of this study was to explore Chinese preservice music teachers’music teacher role-identity. McCall and Simmons’ (1978) theory of identities and interactions served as the theoretical framework. Three research questions guided this study: How do Chinese preservice music teachers describe their music teacher role- identity, specifically, their imagined character and role as an occupant of a music teacher position? How do Chinese preservice music teachers construct their music teacher role- identity through secondary socialization? Where do Chinese preservice music teachers place their music teacher role-identity in their prominence and salience hierarchies? Twenty-five preservice music teachers from two conservatories in China participated; all had more than six months of teaching experience. Data were collected through focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings revealed that each of the 25 Chinese preservice teachers constructed a music teacher role-identity as the occupant of an either group or private music teacher position. These preservice teachers’ imaginative views of self-as-teacher contained shared characters, including being respectful, responsible, and fair, and also shared roles, including acting professionally in music and in teaching. Each preservice teacher appeared to be an active agent, bringing their own idiosyncratic understandings to the characters and roles of specific music teacher positions, making them unique teachers. These preservice teachers constructed their music teacher role-identities through cognitive role-taking and role improvisation, and expressive role enactment and negotiations with important audiences. They consistently balanced the content of their music teacher role-identity, negotiating which characters and roles were and were not negotiable, to balance their own and others’ needs. While each preservice teacher constructed their own music teacher role-identity, not all considered it prominent. Only those who obtained desired rewards, particularly self-support and intrinsic rewards, from enacting their music teacher role-identity placed it higher in the prominence hierarchy of their identity-set. Findings suggested preservice teachers’ salient role-identities were not fixed, but changed, depending on their own interpretations of the situation, of themselves within the situation, and of the opportunities to obtain desired rewards from the situation. Implications for music teacher education policy and practice in China are discussed.

Research indicates that women hold far fewer positions as collegiate band directors than do their male counterparts; however, since the 1993–1994 academic year, there have been no updated statistics describing the sex ratio of women who are college band directors. As the wind band profession is putting more effort into diversity initiatives and women are becoming more accepted as conductors, an examination of current sex (female and male) representation of band directors seemed timely and necessary. The purpose of this study was to provide updated data. Using the College Music Society Directory of Music Faculties in Colleges and Universities, U.S. and Canada 2017–2018, the author of the present study looked at the sex of college band directors listed and discovered that only 11.3 percent of all college band director positions in the United States were held by women. Furthermore, only 13.4 percent of bands selected to perform at the Midwest Clinic were led by women in the ten occurrences of the conference between 2009 and 2018, and only 5.3 percent of bands selected to perform at the Collegiate Band Directors National Association at the fourteen national conferences held between 1993 and 2019 had women as their head conductors. Clearly, sex parity does not yet exist among university band directors. With the publication of more current percentages of the representation of women as band directors that this study provides, research investigating why this phenomenon continues and advocacy to change the status quo is highly recommended.

From different backgrounds and different genres, three young female artists work toward a life in music. They struggle to find relevance in the age of social media, and face a challenging balance between authenticity and trying to make names for themselves. Here is a visual representation of their lives and stories.

Experienced mentor teachers that are prepared for the task of mentoring pre-service teachers are highly valued. Few studies in music education address the music teachers’ role of mentor or the music mentor’s perceptions and practices within the mentoring process. This study investigates the experiences and practices of music mentor teachers and how they construct an understanding of their mentoring role. Guiding questions were: 1) How do music teachers describe their mentoring experiences and practices? 2) What do music teachers’ descriptions of their mentoring experiences and practices reveal about their understanding of the mentoring role? and 3) What types of preparation and support do music teachers feel they need to serve in this role? Four music teacher mentors served as participants for this study. Participants described their mentoring experiences and practices in working with student teachers and responded to questions in three in-depth interviews over three semesters. Each interview was audio-recorded, transcribed, and verified for accuracy and clarification. Findings indicate that 1) Mentors tend to rely on their own student teaching experience and beliefs about teaching when working with student teachers; 2) Mentors construct their own conceptions of the mentor role, mentoring style and relationships based on personality and their beliefs about what mentoring is and is not; 3) The rewards of mentoring are closely tied to student teacher growth and successful relationships, and challenged by issues of time and student teacher readiness; and 4) Learning to mentor is like learning to teach. It is a process learned over time and requires experience. Music education programs and teacher educators should consider preparing student teachers and the cooperating mentor teachers who work with them, by discussing mentor relationships and role expectations within the student teacher triad.

This study examined the forty-five year history of a rural band program in Coolidge, Arizona from 1935–1980. Research questions included investigation into the band’s place in the diverse populations with whom they interacted, the stakeholders, and support from the community. Circumstances of the creation of the town, the high school and band, the stakeholders involved in those processes, the ensembles (including learning and teaching), and outside influences such as national level music policies, ecological, and socio-political events were a necessary part of the study. High school yearbooks, student-written newspapers, and local newspapers were consulted for the bulk of the primary-source data. Other sources were also used to corroborate biographical information about band directors, administrators, and influencers outside of Coolidge High School. The most significant finding was that over the forty-five years investigated, the unwavering community support sustained a strong music program in the rural town, even though teacher turnover was high. Publicly demonstrating learning and teaching, the Coolidge High School Band program engaged the local community with numerous performances, drew positive attention from state-level community, and was recognized outside of Arizona at least once regionally. The local community demonstrated tremendous support for the band program over the years, including constant communication in the newspapers, attendance at performances, providing of scholarships, and approval of various bond elections to improve facilities that would be used by the band. More research is recommended on rural music programs and community engagement.

Since the 1980s, interest in the cognitive and affective influences on teaching has initiated studies on teacher beliefs and practices. Studies of teacher beliefs in academic areas such as reading, math, social studies, and science are prolific. However, studies about the teacher beliefs and practices of music teachers are scarce. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to explore the teacher beliefs of middle school orchestra teachers and to examine how their self-reported and observed teaching practices reflect these beliefs.

Based on the work of foreign language education researcher Simon Borg (2003) a conceptual framework was developed that shows the various sources of teacher beliefs and practices, including formative preservice musical experiences, inservice contextual factors, and inservice professional development. Employing a qualitative multiple case study method, six purposely-selected middle school orchestra teachers, representing a variety of experience levels and program characteristics, shared their teacher beliefs and practices. Data generation included observations, interviews, stimulated recall (think aloud teacher commentary of videotaped teaching episodes), and written reflection surveys. During analysis, six core teacher beliefs about middle school string students and how they learn were identified. These beliefs guided the teachers’ observed practices.

Findings from this study illustrated that preservice formative musical experiences influenced the middle school orchestra teachers’ beliefs about the value and importance of music teaching as a career. Data from the participants revealed a wide variety of instructional practices emanating from largely similar core pedagogical beliefs. Analysis suggested that experienced teachers held more developed teacher beliefs, and they selected instructional practices carefully, where inexperienced teachers were still formulating their own beliefs and experimenting with instructional practices. Data from the study point out that contextual constraints sometimes prevent teachers from enacting their closely held beliefs. This incongruence influenced three of the six participants to change teaching positions or retire early from the education profession.

The study of music teacher beliefs and practices may be of interest to preservice and inservice music teachers and music teacher educators. Future studies may explore the relationship between teacher beliefs and practices and student achievement, and contribute to string music education research.

Previous researchers documented that music teachers negotiate their identities throughout their career, but none of these studies examined identity negotiation from the perspective of both music teachers and their students. Assuming that music teachers and students negotiate their identities through the same interactions, how do music teachers and students together shape their social context and continually pursue possibilities for who they are becoming? I conducted an instrumental case study to explore the encounters of one veteran orchestra teacher—Steve—with three of his students to understand how they negotiated their identities together and pursued possibilities for who they were becoming. I used strong structuration theory (Stones, 2005) as a theoretical lens to organize and frame my study.

Each time Steve assessed students and placed them within the orchestra’s seating hierarchy, he experienced a tension in his identity as a music teacher. To relieve this tension, Steve changed the orchestra seating structure from a hierarchical-ranked structure to a randomized-rotating structure. This allowed him to provide individualized feedback to students as they rotated into the front row without issuing social sanctions. But this structural change also disrupted some of the students’ identities as musicians and the labels they used to position themselves in orchestra. Steve’s insistence that the student sitting in first-chair was the “leader for the day” continued an element of the hierarchical seating that conflicted with the students’ understandings of meritocracy and leadership. Additionally, by decoupling the students’ seating from the playing tests, Steve delegitimized his primary form of assessment. Based on my findings, I discuss implications for music education practice, and music teacher education.