EXPLORING ELEMENTARY GENERAL MUSIC TEACHERS’ REFLECTIVE STRATEGIES WITHIN A TEACHER COLLABORATION GROUP: AN INSTRUMENTAL CASE STUDY

Abstract

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to describe the ways two elementary general music teachers participating in a teacher collaboration group (TCG) used reflective strategies in their classrooms. The following questions initially framed the case: When these two teachers engaged in reflective strategies, (1) What did they notice about their students’ performance and their own teaching practices? (2) What did they describe as the benefits and challenges of incorporating reflective strategies? and (3) What insights did they articulate as a result of their participation in a TCG? I (student investigator) invited two purposefully sampled elementary general music teachers to participate in a TCG focused on incorporating reflective strategies. In my interactions with the two teachers, I served three roles: researcher, facilitator, and colleague. The theoretical lens for this research was professional learning through collaboration. As researcher, I embraced the required tasks for this research, including studying existing literature, obtaining the necessary approvals, devising data collection tools, analyzing the data and drawing conclusions based on the data. Since I chose to conduct the research in the school district where I currently teach, I needed to be mindful of my professional relationships with all 10 of my elementary general music teacher colleagues, since the two of my elementary general music teacher colleagues participated in the TCG. Throughout the study I strove to maintain balance between my roles of researcher, facilitator and colleague as I drew on my review of research and practice literature on reflective strategies to make decisions throughout this research. To reduce over rapport during the study, I continually examined my motives for all choices, and sought to be mindful of how each choice affected research design, TCG agendas, and my colleagues’ professional responsibilities. I strove to identify sources of tensions relative to each of my roles, and remain as neutral as possible to each role during data analysis. The two teachers engaged in member checks, and I invited a critical friend with experience in qualitative research to serve as an auditor of the data. Based on my research on reflective strategies, I offered participants four reflective strategies, from which they chose one, to incorporate with a fourth grade general music class of their choice. Over seven months, the participants documented in their professional reflective journals what they noticed about their students and themselves while engaged in reflective strategies. The participants studied reflective practice independently and collaboratively. The participants completed two solo interviews and attended five group meetings. Data sources for this study were transcripts of TCG meetings and interviews, researcher’s field notes, participants’ professional reflective journals, and artifacts of student work shared with parent consent and student assent: video recorded teaching examples and students’ written classwork, both of which participants shared during TCG meetings. I studied the transcripts and professional reflective journals for emerging patterns and themes. Three themes emerged: Noticings About Students and Self, Learning About Students and Self, and Changing Attitudes and Beliefs about Teaching and Learning. The overarching theme, Sharing Experiences, served as the catalyst for participant noticing, learning, and changing. The participants reported that the use of reflective strategies designed for their elementary general music students informed their instruction and decision-making processes, and provided insights to their students’ levels of understanding. Additionally, the participants reported learning the value of reflection, both for themselves and for their students. The participants also reported that participating in the TCG as a form of collaborative professional development alleviated feelings of isolation and provided an opportunity for teachers to learn from one another in a professional environment. The research presented in this study has implications for teachers and administrators. Because of the benefits associated with engaging students in reflective strategies, teachers should consider how to include reflective opportunities appropriately as part of their instruction. Further, administrators should consider providing collaborative professional development opportunities for teachers of any subject area or grade level. The two elementary general music teachers in this research described gaining valuable insights regarding music teaching and learning by incorporating reflective strategies. Further, they valued the professional development in the form of the TCG, which developed over time and offered them an opportunity to reflect as partners who generated collective knowledge with each other as supportive peers, all while individually growing as teachers. Suggestions for future research include researching a curricular approach to implementing reflective strategies with PreKindergarten through 5th grade elementary general music students, reflective strategies elementary musical ensembles, investigating how reflective strategies relate to different approaches for teaching elementary general music, and exploring teacher collaboration groups consisting of music teachers from various grade levels or music teaching disciplines.