Role Stress in the Professional Life of the School Music Teacher: A Collective Case Study

The theoretical framework of this article is based on the description of occupational role stress by Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, and Snoek (1964) and Beehr (1987). The present study is an examination of six role stressors: role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, underutilization of skills, resource inadequacy, and nonparticipation. One midwestern high school's music department in the United States, consisting of four music teachers, served as the study s focus. Data were collected as field notes from observations, transcripts from interviews, and document analysis. While role ambiguity and nonparticipation issues were not of great concern among the participants, issues related to role conflicts, role overloads, underutilization of skills, and resource inadequacy were substantial. The burden of tedious administrative responsibilities (underutilization of skills), the constant need for music education advocacy (role overload), conflicts between personal and professional roles (role conflict), and tension created by scheduling conflicts due to the increasingly busy schedules of students (resource inadequacy) were among the most significant stressors.