•  
  •  
 

Abstract

The focus of this exploratory study was to examine the current trends of K – 12 music educators in the United States regarding their (a) professional background, (b) classroom teaching responsibilities, and (c) job satisfaction. Participants included seven thousand four hundred and sixty-three (N = 7,463) currently employed music teachers who were members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) during the 2015 – 2016 academic year. To assess the variables, participants responded to a researcher created 49-item Music Educator Survey for K – 12 Teachers. Results indicate that overall, K – 12 music educators were predominately Caucasian (90.9%) and have been teaching less than 20 years (74.4%). The majority of music teachers hold bachelor’s degrees (98.1%) with 56.2 % holding masters’ degrees. 96.8 % held music teaching certification for their state and work in the public-school systems (89.4%). Overall, music educators were satisfied in their teaching positions indicating reasons related to student engagement and relationships. Results of this study can serve to aid in music education advocacy, designing music teacher professional development, and enhancing the effectiveness of music teacher education programs.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.