In this case study, the author investigated how students' gender affected their participation in a secondary popular music class in which participants wrote and performed original music. Three same-gendered rock groups and two mixedgendered rock groups were observed. Would students of different genders rehearse and compose differently? How would same-gendered processes compare to mixedgendered processes? Research suggests that girls learn differently from boys and that gender-as distinct from sex-is formed in social environments. In research on popular music education, however, the participation of girls has been underdocumented and under-theorized. This study found that boys and girls rehearsed and composed differently: Whereas the boys combined musical gestures and nonverbal communication into a seamless sonic process, the girls separated talk and musical production. In the mixed-gendered groups, tensions arose because participants used different learning styles that members of the opposite gender misunderstood. Broadening popular music pedagogies to incorporate different practices is suggested.

Creativity research has a long history in music education, including the development of theories and strategies to foster the music creativity of students of all ages and levels. Underexplored is how teacher education programs can cultivate pre-and in-service teachers' abilities to develop their educational creativity when designing curricula and delivering instruction. By reviewing key research in creativity and the traits of creative persons, this article demarcates characteristics of creative music teachers, as well as their instruction and curricula, in order to offer implications for music teacher education. This framework suggests that creative pedagogues (a) are responsive, flexible, and improvisatory; (b) are comfortable with ambiguity; (c) think metaphorically and juxtapose seemingly incongruent and novel ideas in new and interesting ways; and (d) acknowledge and use fluid and flexible identities. The article provides possible strategies music teacher educators can employ to help pre-and in-service educators develop the dispositions and core practices of creative music pedagogues.

By exploring ‘the trumpet’ as a metaphor, a successful mid-career instrumental teacher and a teacher educator jointly conducted a narrative inquiry into pedagogy used with a high school composition class. In particular, they focused on the dilemmas that arose when, within this class setting, the instrumental teacher implemented informal learning practices for the first time. This teacher struggled as he shifted from the teacher-directed pedagogy he employed in concert band instrumental instruction, to the social-constructivist pedagogy he felt was required of the composition class. As he began implementing informal learning practices, this teacher questioned both the value of his identity as a classical musician and the effectiveness of social-constructivist strategies, finding dialogue and small-group problem solving to be an inefficient use of class time. Despite these struggles, or because of them, he grew as an educator. Based on these findings, it is suggested that teacher educators should consider addressing the complex challenges to identity and epistemology that initial engagement with informal learning and social-constructivism may elicit from practicing and pre-service educators.

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