Are There Future Music Educators in Your Band/Choir/Orchestra Presented at the Florida Music Educators Association William E. Fredrickson The Florida State University

INFLUENCES ON CAREER CHOICE AMONG MUSIC EDUCATION AUDITION CANDIDATES: A PILOT STUDY David A. Rickels Boise State University William E. Fredrickson Florida State University Ann M. Porter University of Cincinnati Kimberly H. Councill Susquehanna University Michelle Hairston East Carolina University Margaret Schmidt Arizona State University

Method  Survey given to audition candidates on audition days  Surveys completed and returned anonymously during the audition process  Four institutions contributed to data collection, including two state universities (n = 153), one conservatory within a state university (n = 47), and one private university (n = 28)  A combined total of 228 surveys were returned from all four collection sites (N = 228)

Notable Findings  Decision Timeframe  “When did you decide to become a college music major?” Table 1 Over half by sophomore year of high school  “When did you decide to become a music education major?” Table 2 Slightly later, with half deciding by junior year  Music Teacher Information Sharing  “Did your music teachers talk to you about becoming a music educator?” 40 respondents (17.63%) indicated “Not at all” or “Rarely” The largest number of individuals (n = 86, 37.89%) responded “Sometimes” Nearly half of the sample responded to this question with either “Often” (n = 68, 29.96%) or “Very often” (n = 33, 14.54%).  “Which music teachers talked to you about being a teacher?” Table 3 High school teachers and private teachers were most often cited

Notable Findings  Motivations  “Why do you want to be a music educator?” Table 4 – Five items over 50% Generally agree with prior research  Influential Persons  “Who influenced your decision?” Table 5 Private lesson teachers very high, 66.23%, (n = 151) All high school combined, 83.33% (n = 190) All junior high combined, 34.65% (n = 79)  Future Plans  “What do you anticipate you will teach after graduation? Table 8 Trends follow prevalence for band, followed by choir, then orchestra

Notable Findings  Experiences  “Have you had opportunities to teach prior to entering college?” “Yes, a few times” (n = 72, 32.73%) “Yes, weekly or daily” (n = 73, 33.18%)  Types of Prior Teaching Experiences One-on-one and small group experiences were reported at higher rates, and tended to show higher rates of experience working with younger students Experiences are concentrated in the high school years

Implications: Recruitment  Findings in this study corroborated results from several previous studies regarding the influence of the school music teacher and private lesson teacher  Music teacher educators might explore ways to work in conjunction with applied music colleagues and their students in order to broaden the definition of music education to include private teaching  Providing more students, rather than a select few, with music teaching or tutoring outlets could lead to a greater number choosing to become music teachers  Opportunities for students to engage in peer-teaching and leadership experiences can be broadened beyond the high school years  Further efforts should be made to identify and adequately prepare future music teachers at an earlier age

Next Steps: Recruitment & Retention  Engaging PK-12 music teachers  Teachers of grades prior to high school can have an impact  Post-secondary faculty can also engage younger students in career thinking through contact in clinic and outreach settings  Student teaching, the most important experience linking college and the professional world.  Engaging Music Supervisors  Serve as a bridge between PK-12 and college  Hire and mentor new teachers  Support PK-12 teachers as cooperating teachers

Moving Forward  We are all music teacher educators  State MEA  MENC  Society for Music Teacher Education