Band Teacher Agency in a High-Stakes Performance Environment

Abstract

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to investigate band teacher agency in a high-stakes performance environment. Research questions were: (1) What experiences and professional relationships were most salient in the past (iterative), present (practical-evaluative), and future (projective) dimensions of band teacher agency in a high-stakes performance environment? and (2) How did high-stakes performance practices, mediated by teacher agency, shape music teaching and learning in school bands? I used Emirbayer and Mische’s chordal triad of agency and Priestley et al.’s ecological framework of teacher agency as theoretical frameworks, and I collected data in the forms of interviews, observations, and document review in 2019. Participants’ agency emerged from their interactions with music education organizations that perpetuated a high-stakes performance environment. Powerful structures (state associations) and individual agents (band teachers) sustained each other through norms and values derived from their contextual discourse. Findings indicated that visions for holistic music-making and greater diversity and inclusion in school music must include structural changes in professional organizations. For example, state associations could enact policies that incentivize teachers to exert agency to engage students in other forms of music learning in addition to performance preparation.