Instrumental Music Education in Rural North Carolina: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary instrumental music education in rural North Carolina. This descriptive study investigated the experiences, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions that rural instrumental music educators (n = 55) held about their schools, students, and communities. Furthermore, the researchers examined how participants defined success for their programs, what challenges and rewards they experienced in their positions, and what skills they considered most important for themselves as teachers. Results indicate that although rural music educators find the musical aspects of their positions rewarding, they believe that their nonmusical skills related to teaching, such as developing relationships with students and advocating for their programs, were more important than their own musical skills. Participants also considered student personal growth and experiences to be larger markers of success than musical performance abilities and reported moderately high levels of job satisfaction. The three greatest challenges named by participants were lack of support, limited funding or resources, and limited student involvement. Conversely, the most frequently reported rewards were musical experiences with students and witnessing students’ musical growth. Implications for music teacher education and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Instrumental Music Education in Rural Mississippi: A Descriptive Study

“…Two other skills found in the top eight were demonstrating respect for students and developing relationships with your students. This further supports the findings of Causby and Foster (2022) and VanDeusen (2016) that educators believe building relationships is important for success as a rural music educator. Like the other non-musical skills in this set, relationship building can be difficult to teach, but music teacher educators can model it.…”

“…However, the benefits should not be overlooked. The opportunity to build sustained relationships with students and stakeholders (Causby & Foster, 2022;Isbell, 2005;Prendergrast, 2017Prendergrast, , 2018VanDeusen, 2016) as well as sharing and fostering a love of music should be presented as opportunities for reward and growth.…”

“…Given the research questions, a survey was considered appropriate because survey research "focuses on people, the vital facts of people, and their beliefs, opinions, attitudes, motivations, and behavior" (Mathiyazhagan & Nandan, 2010, p. 34) while allowing for a larger sample size than many qualitative methods and the use of descriptive statistics (Williams, 2007). The survey used for the current study was a modification of the instrument used by Causby (2019), which was an adaptation of Fitzpatrick's (2008) survey. Steps taken to establish reliability and validity included the use of a focus group of rural instrumental music educators to modify Fitzpatrick's (2008) survey for use in a rural context, use of a pilot group of rural instrumental music educators to complete the survey and give feedback, and further modification based on pilot group feedback.…”

“…The ability to be flexible, take charge, have a sense of humor, and be marketable are all necessary qualities for rural music educators (Hicks, 2010). Although non-musical, these qualities have been viewed as more important and vital to the program’s success than individual musicianship, thus warranting preparation in music education programs (Causby, 2019; Diesler, 2011).…”

“…Just as in Causby (2019), the model for the current study, the intent to examine the unique phenomenon of instrumental music education in a rural setting is of the sociocultural perspective. Howard (2014) also used this perspective to investigate teacher experiences in a specific cultural setting, specifically the beliefs teachers hold about their students, the skills needed for success, and the rewards and challenges that come from teaching in a rural setting.…”