Approaches of High School Facilitative Instrumental Music Educators in Response to the Social and Emotional Challenges of Students.

Abstract

The purpose of this multiple instrumental case study was to explore approaches of four caring high school instrumental music educators assuming the role of facilitative teacher in responding to challenges affecting the social and emotional well-being of their students. The four participant instrumental music educators had a reputation as being caring and having positive professional relationships with their students, represented diverse settings, and had at least 10 years of instrumental music teaching experience. Data sets included: a) three individual interviews with each teacher; b) one teacher focus group interview; c) one student focus group interview at each school; d) individual interviews with select parents from each program; and e) three full-day classroom observations at each site. The findings for this study are organized into the broad categories of biographical and demographic information about the instrumental music educators and their teaching environments, the support they gave students, influences affecting their support including unique elements of teaching in an instrumental music education classroom, what prepared them to provide support, and outcomes from providing support. Specific findings included: a) strategies for providing support included making time, being aware, listening, fostering the proper classroom environment, humor, developing trust, modeling healthy interactions, and demonstrating humility; b) unique elements of the instrumental music classroom suggested it was an environment conducive for facilitative teaching and fostering support. These elements included the continuity of teaching students for more than one year, developing relationships with families, marching band, the act of music making, and the elective nature of the music class; c) formative elements leading to the instrumental music educators’ preparation to support included experience, demonstration of care by influential people, parenthood, faith, professional development, and participation in this study; d) the instrumental music educators experienced challenges associated with providing support including the quantity of challenges and amount of time it took and lack of school assistance; and e) perceived outcomes from providing support included increased student social skills, a sense of student belonging, improved musical performance, difficulty for students to maintain professional boundaries with the teacher, students sharing more information than teachers wanted, and teacher stress.