The meanings of professional development: Perspectives of Malaysian piano teachers

In Malaysia, the work of music studio teachers outside of schools and in private settings is unregulated and teachers have limited access to professional development opportunities. Globally, research on the professional development of music teachers has mostly focused on classroom music teachers, where professional development is often mandated and official support provided. However, little is known about how music studio teachers view professionalism and how they access professional development in this context, nor what this development means for them. For this interpretative phenomenological analysis, we interviewed 12 piano teachers who work in Malaysia to understand the meanings of professionalism and professional development for them. Individual themes that arose from within-case analysis were conceptually combined to form eight superordinate themes. The first four superordinate themes relate to understandings of professionalism. Participants described a professional pride which involves not only a love and enjoyment of music and of teaching, but also manifests flexibility and responsiveness; it entails both teacher and student performing and understanding music, and demonstrates relationality, communication skills, and a positive character. The remaining four superordinate themes relate to understandings of professional development, including the ideas that professional development requires proactivity, that professional development opportunities are affected by environmental and material factors, that professional connections affect development, and finally that training, experience, and mentorship support professional development. In this article, we posit that the lack of formal structures in Malaysia means that professionalism is self-determined by the teacher, while professional development relies on the individual commitment and motivation of teachers. Teachers need greater access to support systems or learning opportunities, and the move to online teacher support sessions due to the COVID disruptions offers some opportunities for supporting professional development more effectively.