Secondary Music Educators’ Perceptions of Constraints and Agency

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 2:15 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Professional Challenges in Music Education

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine secondary music teachers’ perceptions of structural constraints and their agency. Research questions included: (a) What are secondary music teachers’ perceptions of constraints and agency in their decision-making? (b) What relationship, if any, exists between secondary music teachers’ perceptions of constraints and their agency? (c) What, if any, are the underlying structures of secondary music teachers’ perceptions of constraints and their agency? I developed a questionnaire with constraint and agency subscales using Priestley et al.’s ecological approach to teacher agency and Giddens’ structuration theory. Participants’ (N = 64) perceived relationship between constraints and agency was unexpected, and I provide discussion and implications for scholars, music teacher educators, and inservice music teachers.

Author

• Olivia Tucker, University of Utah