Musicians and Teachers

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the socialization and occupational identity of undergraduate music education majors enrolled in traditional preservice teacher education programs. Preservice music teachers ( N = 578) from 30 randomly sampled institutions completed a 128-item questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were computed for all variables, and factor analysis was used to explore the underlying structure of occupational identity. Correlational and regression analyses revealed relationships among socialization influences and occupational identity. Descriptive findings surrounding various aspects of primary and secondary socialization revealed that parents, school music teachers, and private lesson instructors exerted a positive influence on student decisions related to participating in music and pursuing a music education career. Factor analysis results indicated that occupational identity consisted of three constructs: musician identity, self-perceived teacher identity, and teacher identity as inferred from others. Correlations between secondary socialization and occupational identity were slightly stronger than those between primary socialization and occupational identity, and influential experiences were more predictive of occupational identity than influential people.