A Phenomenology of First-Year Music Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this phenomenology was to examine the lived experience of being a first-year music teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across two data waves, the first in winter 2020 and the second in late spring 2021, we collected written reflections and conducted online interviews with 10 music teachers who began their careers in 2020 to 2021. We found that participants’ experiences were characterized by overwhelm, disconnection, a pervasive concern for well-being, and a sense of missing out. These experiences were shaped by contextual factors like being responsible for mixed instructional modalities, coping with inconsistent student attendance, and navigating safety protocols that presented barriers to learning. The essence of being a first-year music teacher during the pandemic was the feeling of being adrift amid a largely lost year, looking to the next year as another first year of teaching. We suggest that this cohort of novice music teachers is distinct from previous cohorts, having been shaped by an intensified teaching experience. Induction supports such as mentoring may need to be extended through the first 3 years of their careers, and researchers should continue to follow this cohort because their trajectory is unclear.