Teacher research as professional development for P-12 music teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of seven music educators who conducted teacher research in their classrooms and to document whether the teachers and the local school district considered the project as professional development. Research questions included: (1) How do these music educators describe the experience of planning and implementing a teacher research project? (2) What do the teachers choose to examine? (3) How do teachers consider teacher research in relation to their experiences of professional development? and (4) Does the project count for professional development in their school districts? If so, what procedures must be followed? And, if not, why not? Data included: (1) project start-up meeting; (2) e-mail survey; (3) observations; (4) individual interviews; (5) focus group interviews; (6) project artefacts; and (6) researchers' logs. Findings are presented in three categories: (1) participant profiles that describe the projects developed by the teachers; (2) perceptions of the participants regarding projects as a professional development activity; and (3) descriptions of school district responses as to whether the projects counted as professional development.