The unicorns of elementary schools: male elementary general music teachers

ABSTRACT

Previous studies examining male elementary general music teachers have treated this population as a homogeneous group, ignoring or downplaying the social differences that exist among male teachers. This study considered how gender intersects with other identities, such as age, race, and sexuality, to impact the experiences and self-perceptions of three male elementary general music teachers. The three men purposively selected to gain a broad perspective included a late-career Black teacher, a middle-career Hispanic teacher, and an early-career White teacher. Each teacher was interviewed, observed in the classroom, and asked follow up questions via email. Data were collected over a three-month period and analyzed through the generation of emergent themes.

Results revealed that these male general music teachers had a number of common experiences that might be attributed to their gender minority status in the workplace. Common themes included consciousness of the ways physical contact with students could be misconstrued and dismissal of the idea that they face stigma for choosing elementary education. Divergent experiences and self-perceptions could be explained by age, race, teacher identity, and sexuality. Their experiences and self-perceptions sometimes confirm and sometimes contradict previous scholarship, which demonstrates the need for more nuanced studies of this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• elementary general music
• male teachers
• intersectional identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 All place and personal names from here forward are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wendy Chen Gunther

Wendy Chen Gunther is a doctoral student in music education at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami. Her research focuses on race, cultural identity, gender and sexuality, and their intersection with elementary general music.