Article of Interest
From the Band Room to the General Music Classroom: Why Instrumentalists Choose to Teach General Music
Published in No. 185, Summer 2010
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons given by music educators who were trained
as instrumentalists for choosing to teach elementary general music rather than instrumental
(band) music in the schools. Analysis of participant responses to an emailed questionnaire resulted
in the following four emergent themes: (a) a clear preference for working with young children; (b)
a concern that the demands of a band teaching position would not allow for the sort of work/life
balance they wished to have in their own lives; (c) a strong aversion to the "culture of competition"
they perceived to be prevalent in the band world; and (d) a concern regarding the perceived
limitations of instrumental music teaching and learning as it exists in the schools.
The paper continues with a discussion of the goodness of fit between specific personality
types and teacher candidates' vocational choices, and the relationship of competitive types (i.e.,
hypercompetitiveness and personal development competitiveness) to teachers' perceived feelings of
success, achievement and career satisfaction. Implications for music teacher education, including
increased emphasis on socialization strategies and reconceptualization of the enterprise of instrumental
music as practiced in the schools, are also included.
