“I’m Doing the Best I Can”: Teaching General Music in the Time of Covid-19

Abstract

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the experiences of four elementary general music teachers (first year, early-career, mid-career, late-career) during the time of COVID-19. We considered impacts on the participants’ instruction and professional lives from data that were collected throughout the 2020–2021 academic year. Participants reported changes to their teaching environments, schedules, and job responsibilities. They shared the technology resources they implemented and highlighted inequities that emerged for virtual versus in-person students. Participants provided insight into the impacts of the year on their personal lives as well. Our implications include considerations for music teachers, music teacher educators, and school administrators as a result of participants’ experiences.

In the spring of 2020, most schools across the nation closed due to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. This was a challenging time with lasting impacts for both teachers and students (Kaschub, 2020). Teachers needed to pivot instruction to include more technology than ever as they began teaching virtually, while still creating ways for students to express themselves and share their experiences (Liu, 2020). Music educators created lessons and assessments in both live and self-paced models (Rapanta et al., 2020).

For some students, the virtual environment did not seem to negatively impact learning (Frost & Frost, 2020). However, due to the technological requirement of distance learning, inequalities among students were discovered in the virtual school model (Nichols, 2020; Potter et al., 2021; Pryor et al., 2020). Not only were some students struggling with technology, but they were also negotiating other issues such as lack of food, difficult learning environments, and special education concerns (National Academy of Education, 2020).

Music educators also faced the challenge of virtual instruction. Many teachers during the pandemic felt unprepared to teach virtually due to a lack of training from their schools and preservice teacher education programs (Dolighan & Owen, 2021; Pryor et al., 2020). Due to the absence of virtual pedagogy training in addition to high levels of stress, some teachers during COVID-19 have suffered from a lack of self-efficacy with regard to technology (Cardullo et al., 2021). These changes compounded pre-pandemic stressors for music educators. Researchers have previously reported teachers’ challenges such as lack of time, exhaustion, and feelings of isolation (Conway et al., 2005) which led to burnout (Bernhard, 2016) and attrition (Sindberg & Lipscomb, 2005). In addition to stress, fear, and anxiety in response to the pandemic, music educators were concerned about the effectiveness of their instruction and students’ ability to learn in a virtual setting (Cheng & Lam, 2021).

By the summer of 2020, researchers determined that the all-virtual model of education was not a sustainable concept (Johnson et al., 2020). As schools looked to reopen that fall, research findings indicated that students could be safe while learning in-person (Donohue & Miller, 2020). This gave schools an opportunity to experiment with new learning options such as virtual, in-person, and hybrid, while focusing on what students truly needed in education (Mindzak, 2020). With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for schools opening in place, teachers began preparing for the fall of 2020 (“CDC Releases New Guidance,” 2020). Music educators sought the advice of the National Association for Music Education and relied upon findings from aerosol studies led by the National Federation of State High School Associations that examined the impacts of music making on the spread of the airborne disease (National Association for Music Education, 2020; Stockman et al., 2021).

With the quickly changing landscape of public education and music instruction, we became curious as to how COVID-19 was impacting music educators. The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the experiences of four elementary general music teachers (first year, early-career, mid-career, late-career) during the time of COVID-19. The following questions guided the research: (1) How was the participants’ instruction impacted by COVID-19? (2) How did teaching during this time impact the participants’ professional lives? and (3) How did teaching during this time impact the participants’ personal lives?

Method

We used a multiple case study design to understand the similarities and differences between the experiences of four elementary general music educators teaching during fall 2020, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The case was bound by time, teaching experience, and location (Creswell, 2017).

Data were gathered from August 2020 to May 2021 using an institutional review board (IRB)-approved process. Sources of data included interview transcripts, participant journals, and a final written reflection. We planned three interviews with each participant at the beginning, middle, and end of the fall 2020 semester. In the first interview, we asked participants to reflect on the previous spring when the COVID-19 pandemic began and schools closed. We also asked questions in the first interview about summer preparation for the fall as well as the start of the school year. During the second and third interviews, we asked participants to describe how the school year was progressing both professionally and personally.

Participants were also asked to complete journals throughout the data collection period. We shared a Google Doc with each participant which included a list of questions they might consider while journaling. They were also encouraged to write freely on anything relevant to the study, provide pictures, or record audio of their reflections.

At the end of the 2020–2021 academic year, we sent a short list of reflection questions to each participant to answer via email. The questions related to any changes that took place from the last interview until the end of the school year. Some participants received additional questions to make sure we had clarity on matters from the previous interviews.

We followed the processes outlined by Saldaña (2015) and Creswell (2017) for the analysis procedures. Each researcher began by coding all data using descriptive codes (i.e., “children’s responses,” “tech challenges,” “summer professional development”) and in vivo codes (i.e., “think virtual,” “let it go,” “I don’t know”) from a shared code list. In second-cycle coding, we reviewed codes together, condensing and clarifying as needed. During this step, we were also able to reduce any redundant or accidentally repeated codes. We asked one qualitative expert to serve as a reliability observer who agreed with our coding process and offered minimal suggestions for refining codes. We then consolidated codes into categories. For example, the codes “professional support,” “Ready to Learn plan,” and “Quaver process” were grouped into the category of “school and community support.” Finally, we developed themes based on the most salient factors which impacted the participants. Each theme encompassed several similar categories, providing the basis for the descriptions in the findings section.

Trustworthiness was established in several ways. We asked participants to member-check the findings and initial analysis; no corrections were suggested. We used multiple data sources for triangulation (multiple interviews, journals, and emails) to gain a comprehensive understanding of the participants’ experience (Creswell, 2017). We also utilized reflexivity (i.e., reflection) on our own experiences, to develop a more unbiased analysis (Patton, 2015).

Participant Descriptions

Participants were recruited by convenience sampling. We sought participants with varying years of experience teaching elementary general music to understand how teaching during a pandemic affected teachers at different career stages. Three of the participants, Karen, Mia, and Sharon (pseudonyms), worked in the same school district although their schools differ as described next. All participants taught in a southern state of the United States.

In fall 2020, Tina had just begun her first year of teaching music. After graduating in December 2019 with a degree in instrumental music education, she spent the spring of 2020 looking for a full-time music job. Despite the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, she was able to secure an online interview and accept a music teaching position at a public charter school at the edge of a mid-size urban city serving approximately 420 students. Tina completed two interviews, but was unable to participate in the final interview and final written reflection due to circumstances that were unknown to the researchers.

Karen was a fourth year teacher with a degree in music education. She was in her third year teaching at a suburban school in a large public school district working with more than 550 pre-K through fifth grade students. Prior to this job, Karen had taught music for 1 year in a small school district.

Mia was in her 11th year as a teacher. She had earned Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music Education degrees. At the time of the study, she was teaching in a large public school district at a mid-sized suburban school with more than 400 pre-K through fifth grade students.

Sharon was starting her 24th year of teaching in fall 2020. After completing Bachelor of Music Education and Master in Instructional Technology degrees, she taught general music and choir at a community college for 8 years. She then moved to a small school district, where she taught general music for kindergarten through 12th grade. Finally, she accepted a position in a large district where she taught at a low-income suburban elementary school serving almost 600 pre-K through fifth grade students. At the time of the study, she had been at the school for more than 14 years.

Findings

The findings are presented by theme: (a) an uncertain summer, (b) changes to instruction, (c) comfort with technology, and (d) impacts on the participants. Through descriptions of the participants’ experiences, we provide examples from the data within each theme. We conclude the findings section with information on how the participants ended the 2020–2021 academic year.

Theme 1: An Uncertain Summer

Participants experienced uncertainty regarding job duties, job security, technology, and generally how the fall would unfold. After a virtual hiring process, Tina was not given many details to help her prepare for the fall while she also waited to hear about COVID-19 guidelines from music organizations and state decision-makers. Tina shared that she was not sure that she still would have a job:

I wasn’t even really sure if they were still going to need music because I know if school would’ve gone all virtual . . . I don’t know. I didn’t even know if music was going to be a thing [for the fall]. (Interview 1)

She shared, “I really didn’t get any communication with my new school over the summer until maybe two or three weeks before we were supposed to start” (Interview 1).

Other participants also expressed a lack of communication over the summer. Karen described trying to plan what she could teach in the fall and that the lack of communication was not typical:

When school was beginning, I asked [my principal] “What can I do?” and she told me to ask [the fine arts coordinator for the district] . . . I never heard anything all summer long. Literally nothing. Which was very surprising because normally [the coordinator] sends so many emails. (Interview 1)

Mia explained that, although there was not much communication over the summer, she was involved in the process to get school ready for students in the fall, which helped her to have more information about what starting school might look like:

I don’t know if I got any formal contact from my administration, but I definitely had some informal contact because I’m part of the school planning team at my school. I would get the heads up to prepare myself to do XYZ. (Interview 1)

Sharon felt she received enough communication over the summer, but the information was constantly changing. “There were messages from the administration, but it changed constantly. It just kept us up in the air. We didn’t know what to expect. We were trying to prepare for whatever we would be tasked with” (Interview 1).

Typically, participants would spend summer months planning instruction for the upcoming year. Mia described how her summer looked in 2020: “I let a huge chunk of [summer planning] go since I didn’t really know what it was going to look like when school started and focused on my kids and my hobbies” (Interview 1). Karen explained how she and her husband, who was also a music teacher, would spend their summer planning: “Normally by the end of every July, [my husband] and I have already sat down, we’ve already planned our entire year . . . That was nonexistent” (Interview 1).

Work still took place throughout the summer months as participants engaged in professional development. Mia shared, “There was a lot of forced professional development. I think I’m already at 130 hours for this school year” (Interview 1), significantly more than the 36 hr her district required.

Sharon took advantage of the variety of summer PD that became more easily accessible during the pandemic:

So a whole bunch of us were just sticking together and emailing every time we’d see a new webinar . . . I did Music Play and Quaver at the same time, I had two computers going. And then all these Orff organizations, they had different webinars, weekly webinars . . . The nice thing was a lot of stuff was either inexpensive or free. That was really nice. And it was nice collaborating with people all over the world to see what they were doing and sharing the ideas. I really did enjoy that. (Interview 1)

Participants also reported how they prepared themselves and their home lives for the upcoming year. Sharon experienced some major changes:

I quit my church job because I felt like there was going to be extra time needed on the weekends and after school . . . I just didn’t feel that I would have the energy to do all of that and be mentally prepared for all the planning that was going to take place. And . . . I moved closer to work. (Interview 1)

Other participants also did their best to prepare for the unexpected.

Theme 2: Changes to Instruction

As expected, the participants reported a number of changes to their instruction for the fall of 2020. One of the biggest changes for the participants involved the physical space in which they taught. Tina, Karen, and Sharon moved from their classrooms to teaching “on a cart” where they moved materials from classroom to classroom instead of the children coming to the music room. For Tina, this was a difficult realization. As a first-year teacher she had been excited to decorate her classroom:

It is a big thing. I was so hurt when I wanted to go in and decorate my room because this is my first year . . . So that’s where I got the inspiration to just decorate my cart. (Interview 1)

This also made Tina wonder if this would be a permanent change:

I’ve been kicked out of my room . . . Am I going to have my room? Are they going to continue like this? Am I going to forever push into a cart just to free up a classroom? (Interview 2)

Karen’s classroom became the Covid isolation room; she led instruction in general education classrooms and spent planning time in the library. Sharon also taught from a cart that she pushed into classrooms.

Mia remained in her classroom which provided a sense of control over instruction and sanitation measures:

I’ve made it so that the kids still come to my room partially because I’ve put in a nice filter into my room and I know that the air is getting circulated at least once an hour. And I know that I’m cleaning off surfaces quite well. And some of those kinds of things where the ability to take back just the smidgin of control makes me feel somewhat better. (Interview 2)

Other changes impacted instruction, assessment, performances, and scheduling. When the school year began, the focus seemed to be on what was no longer possible. As Karen stated, “There’s so much that I cannot do” (Interview 1). Many districts in the state mandated that no singing was permitted. If equipment was limited, such as rhythm sticks or Boomwhackers, teachers were unable to sanitize appropriately for each group of students in the short time between classes, thereby excluding those items. As the fall progressed, teachers found ways to engage students, especially through the use of the new technology resources available in the district, but some activities stayed on their minds. For example, Sharon shared, “I’ve missed doing recorders” (Interview 2).

Schedules were also a component of teaching that changed for all participants throughout the period of data collection. As the year began, teachers taught schedules similar to those of previous academic years. As challenges with the demands of keeping up with in-person and virtual students emerged, Karen, Mia, and Sharon’s schools created an early-release day for students on Wednesday afternoons to give teachers more planning time. This later transitioned to a full virtual day on Fridays in which no new instruction was introduced. This meant that any of the Wednesday or Friday music classes were moved into other days of the week. Sharon noticed that any extra planning time quickly became an opportunity for administration to schedule meetings or trainings: “Every time they give us time, they’d take it away by giving us some kind of meeting we have to go to, or some other training” (Interview 2).

The workload for teachers quickly became challenging. Mia shared:

I was a teacher from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm, four out of five days [this week]. And it was just expected . . . Oh, well you’re already at home just join the Zoom from home. So, I’m a little worried about this idea that because we have our meetings in our pocket now people feel like that means it’s reasonable to have meetings all the time. (Interview 2)

Sharon also worked more at home. “It’s just been very tiring just because there’s no downtime. . . last night I was [writing lessons] ‘til eight” (Interview 2). She continued,

I literally was on the computer all day yesterday until eight o’clock . . . I’ll fall asleep sitting up on the couch. There was one week I just fell asleep every night around 7:30 sitting up just like this on the couch and wake up and go to bed. So, it’s very tiring . . . I guess it’s all the new stuff. Because that’s more mentally tiring than physical, you know, physically teaching your classes. (Interview 2)

Extra duties were also assigned to some participants, which impacted schedules and the already limited planning time. Karen shared, “My job description has changed a little simply because I’ve been the extra tech person. People will call on me to help . . . I don’t mind it. It’s fun” (Interview 2).

Mia became a translator and Spanish-speaking liaison for her school, while also continuing to instruct literacy interventions and her regular music classes. This significantly cut into planning time. “How many minutes are we supposed to get of planning? Whatever it is I get like maybe a fifth of it, but my Spanish has improved, so, you know, perks” (Interview 3). Although the year brought many changes and new challenges, each participant remained mostly positive and focused on the importance of being able to provide music instruction for their students.

Theme 3: Comfort With Technology

Beginning in March 2020, participants were required to move to a virtual or hybrid learning environment that required the use of technology. The three participants who were teaching in spring 2020 transitioned to virtual teaching. All four participants taught in a virtual/in-person hybrid setting in the fall of 2020. Technology was used for the purpose of virtual teaching, contacting families, and professional development.

The participants had to consider their own comfort with technology in new ways during this time. For Sharon, a seasoned teacher, this required learning new resources quickly.

They just threw [two] brand new things at us, the learning system we had never even heard of and then the Zoom meetings that we had never even used. We had to go through all of that training in the middle of trying to help the students understand what they’re supposed to do. So that was a learning curve, big time. (Interview 1)

Mia also felt the impact of learning new technology. “That’s been a learning curve this year, and I sometimes still do weird stuff and my fifth graders will fix it for me” (Interview 2).

In general, the participants felt confident with technology. Tina shared, “I’ve always been kind of tech savvy” (Interview 2). Karen was able to use her skills to help other staff members with problems. She recounted, “My friend that teaches in first grade has a coworker who’s taught for over 30 years . . . she doesn’t understand technology very well. We’re constantly having to show her [how to use it]” (Interview 1). Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Sharon felt that education had always been moving in the direction of more technology usage, “I really have always felt that in education some major changes need to take place and that technology was going to be a part of it” (Interview 1).

Although numerous tools were introduced and used by the participants in their own classrooms, some platforms were consistent for the teachers. For example, Karen, Mia, and Sharon used a virtual music curriculum called Quaver, whereas Tina used a curriculum provided by her school. All four participants used the teaching platform Schoology as well as Google Drive, Google Classroom, YouTube, and MusicPlay Online. Both school districts sent technology home with students in the form of a Chromebook or iPad.

While teachers were learning new technology skills and platforms, so were students, especially those who chose to participate in school virtually. Mia addressed this concern and how she worked to remedy it for her students and their families:

The problem is that if a student needed more training on how to properly use a Chromebook, you would need to be proficient at the computer to access the training. So, there’s that cyclical problem . . . I know that was why I reached a huge number of my parents through text messages instead. They couldn’t figure out how to watch videos on Schoology, but you know how to work a cell phone. So, I sent some stuff that way and then once they could get into their Schoology, then they could access the information. (Interview 2)

Communicating with virtual students presented a challenge for the participants due to technological proficiency and also the sheer number of students who were staying at home coupled with in-person teaching responsibilities. Tina found it difficult to have enough time to communicate with parents, “It gets rough because they email me all day long and I’m teaching. I know that they’re urgent. I’m pretty busy even off the clock, I’m answering emails, trying to help the best I can” (Interview 1).

Sharon mentioned that the large number of virtual students made it challenging to connect with each family directly, but without the children being in school, regular communication was difficult. “I have 282 virtual students as of now and only 56 of them have responded with homework assignments. So, there’s no way I can contact all those people personally” (Interview 2). Other participants shared similar experiences.

Although challenges did exist with communication, the use of technology did provide a way to support student learning in more meaningful ways. Because instruction had technology-based components, even for in-person students, instant feedback was available. Mia compared this with paper-and-pencil assessments from previous years:

If I did a worksheet and then I didn’t find out that the kid had no idea which end was up until it was the end of the class, it was too late to help them. So, I think having that instant feedback has been really helpful. (Interview 3)

Having time at the end of class for students to work independently on their computers also allowed for teachers to work one-on-one with students who needed more support.

Once the participants and their students became more comfortable with the technology arrangements, the teachers reported getting positive feedback on the virtual instruction they were providing. Sharon stated, “Some of the kids virtually have really enjoyed the lessons. They say ‘Oh, that was great!’ when they’re responding back to me, and then some of the families are really, really involved” (Interview 3). Tina also received positive feedback from some of her families: “I had parent teacher conferences, and even the parents were telling me that they had fun doing the activities that their kids were doing. The parents are having fun. I think they’re having more fun than the kids” (Interview 2).

As the academic year continued, participants reflected on what technology they would consider using in the future. Sharon enjoyed using Quaver, “I actually love the curriculum and it’s engaging to the students with technology” (Interview 2). Later in the same interview, she continued, “I would definitely keep the curriculum part of it, and some of the engaging things where I could actually do a lesson online. I think that’s going to be definitely useful in the future, for sure.”

Karen liked using the Chromebook with the district curriculum as a resource for student creativity:

They definitely love having Chromebook time and being able to be creative on Quaver. I don’t think I would keep using Chromebooks if we don’t have Quaver, but if they were able to come to my room and use Quaver, then I would still have them bring Chromebooks to music. They love that last ten or fifteen minutes of class getting on to just explore and make music. (Interview 2)

Mia also expressed that she would continue to use Quaver if it was purchased again for next year, however, she said it would depend on whether students were in-person or virtual. “So, I think it depends on if we get to keep [Quaver]. Quaver is an expensive app and I can pretty much do everything on it in real life if I have everybody” (Interview 2).

Theme 4: Impacts on Instruction and Participants

The impacts of COVID-19 were felt by the participants in both their personal and professional lives. They also shared observations of how the fall impacted their students.

Professional Impacts

The participants observed the many positive impacts of their music instruction on students, but also inequities emerged from the two modes of learning—virtual and in-person. It seemed that all participants had at least a few students who were not responding to virtual instruction. Mia shared her concern over how to reach students in these situations, “I’m worried that my lost kids are gonna stay lost” (Interview 3).

Creating effective instruction for the at-home music students was a challenge, highlighting the inequity of connection among students. Mia described this further:

I’ve not been able to figure out a way in my schedule to meet with the at-home kids other than to record myself . . . I mean music’s a community sport, right? I feel like they’re missing that part because they are not getting to make music with anybody other than a machine. (Interview 1)

Karen summarized, “I’ve definitely felt like the kids aren’t getting a proper music education anymore” (Interview 1).

Despite the inequities which emerged over the fall, the students seemed to respond positively to the music instruction they were receiving. Sharon reported, “The kids are having fun” (Interview 2). She continued to describe the need that she felt music was serving for her students,

I feel like the arts are helping them cope . . . And when I come, they’re like, “Oh, it’s music. Yay!” So, I feel like we’re doing something really important, offering music, art, and PE. They need that right now.

Sharon also shared how this might impact future generations of music educators:

I had new teachers emailing and asking, “Should I really do this? Do I want to go into the music field”? And I told them, “Definitely. This is just new but giving somebody the gift of music is so rewarding. . . it’s a lifetime reward. They’re not going to be able to play sports the rest of their life, but they can sure listen to music, play music and sing!” (Interview 1)

This sentiment of the importance of music education resonated among the participants.

Personal Impacts

Participants were invited to share the impacts of teaching during fall 2020 on their personal lives to the extent that they felt comfortable. Similar to what was described previously, the participants found themselves working more at home and on the weekends to keep up with the needs of their students and multiple modes of instruction. Two participants shared that they were “exhausted” and “worn out.” Sharon described how this impacted her relationship with her husband: “He does wish sometimes I would just not have anything to do” (Interview 3). She also shared that she found time to participate in a bible study as a way to take care of herself:

I did sign up for bible study and I just completed this last one and I am glad I did that for me. And I made it every night. It was difficult because I had it right after we did Zoom and I had it right after school. But I’m glad I did that. That was something I did for me, you know, self-care whatever. (Interview 3)

Mia also felt the impact on her home life, “I’m married to a teacher, so we’re kind of having double the exhaustion problems” (Interview 2). She also shared how her unusual schedule created a new connection with one of her children:

My middle school son is virtual and I think it’s actually done things to hugely improve our relationship. I go home at lunch . . . it’s only like 20 minutes, but I spend about 20 minutes with him in the middle of the day to make sure he’s okay . . . I feel like our relationship is really improved because he texts me, “Hey mom, can you check my work on Schoology real quick?” Or, “um, wait, wait, when you multiply two negatives, then that’s a positive. But when you add them, it gets more negative.” . . . having those little interactions with him throughout the day has been fun, which I wouldn’t be able to do if he was in in-person school. (Interview 2)

Wrapping up the Year

At the end of the 2020–2021 academic year, each participant was asked to answer a short list of reflection questions. Unfortunately, Tina did not respond, and we wondered if she was still teaching in the school where she had started the academic year. Karen had begun maternity leave in February 2021 in preparation for the birth of her twin girls and had remained on maternity leave throughout the rest of the academic year. Although she was grateful for the time at home, she was excited to return to her school the next year. Mia planned to be a substitute for her school’s summer school program and take the district required 12 hr of professional development for the summer along with some personally chosen professional development.

Sharon was faced with the decision of whether or not to retire after the challenging year of teaching during COVID-19. She had completed enough years of teaching to retire and, during the first interview, she discussed this decision. Ultimately, she decided to stay:

Yes, I am staying another year, because I have so much I still want to achieve with the students that I didn’t get to do this year. So, I am planning on staying on a year-to-year basis as long as my physical body hangs on. (Final reflection)

Although the year was challenging for each participant, they remained optimistic that they would soon be able to return to aspects of pre-pandemic music education that they missed, while retaining new resources and teaching strategies they had learned during this difficult time.

Discussion

Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic affected educators’ lives in many ways. Using the research questions as a guide, our discussion highlights the teaching experiences of four elementary general music educators in the fall of 2020. The questions addressed impacts on the participants’ instruction, professional lives, and personal lives.

There were several ways in which instructional methods were impacted by COVID-19. Teachers were asked to pivot to a technology-based learning platform in the spring of 2020, and then continued to use similar platforms in the fall of the same year for both in-person and virtual instruction. All four participants had some sort of training in the new technology platforms; however, all participants also expressed a struggle at some point to cope with the new teaching style. Similarly, participants in other research studies have reported a lack of preparedness to teach online despite years of experience (Dolighan & Owen, 2021) and the desire for additional training in the area of virtual pedagogy (Pryor et al., 2020).

The participants in the current study—along with participants in similar research—acknowledged that the most essential and demanding task for successful virtual teaching was student engagement and participation (Dolighan & Owen, 2021; Potter et al., 2021; Pryor et al., 2020). Participants struggled to effectively connect with students and provide what they felt was an equitable music education. This may be due to the technological inequities that have been found in virtual learning environments (Potter et al., 2021; Pryor et al., 2020). According to the 2021 Education Next parent survey, virtual students had less one-on-one contact with teachers. These students also faced potential future inequities than students in a traditional classroom setting. However, despite the lack of general learning, most virtual students had a broader sense of satisfaction in their coursework (Henderson et al., 2021). Each participant in the current study was able to find a way to incorporate their own teaching style while still utilizing the technology provided.

Along with a change in technology and pedagogy, all participants felt a shift in their professional work environments that resulted in a sense of uncertainty, and some felt a lack of job security. Three participants were moved from teaching in their classroom to teaching music using a cart, with the other participant having to alter their classroom to fit CDC guidelines. Additional duties were assigned, requiring the teachers to assist the general classroom teachers and administrators when needed. These educational obstacles were not just felt in the central United States; in a survey of United Kingdom schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, 72% of schools had no extracurricular activities, 68% reduced music time to provide more space for other curriculum and testing, and 16% of teachers had no access to a specialist room with 43% pushing directly into classrooms (“COVID-19 and Music Education,” 2020).

Impacts of teaching during COVID-19 went beyond the school and classroom and into the participants’ personal lives. Participants experienced excess stress and worry along with spending time outside of the classroom working. Even after school hours the participants were thinking of their students with concerns about their education, lives, and perception of music. Similar perceptions were shared by 1,394 fine arts teachers in a survey conducted by Lawson and Wasylak (2021), as well as concerns for mental health and the future of the arts. The participants in this study were positive and ready to change and adapt as needed despite these additional factors. This flexibility and positive outlook is not shared by all educators across the world. In a study of K–12 teachers, a lack of self-efficacy in using technology, motivating and engaging students, and a lack of resources for online learning was found to be common (Cardullo et al., 2021).

Implications

Although we hope that the uniqueness of the COVID-19 pandemic is not something that educators will experience with frequency, music teacher educators might consider larger takeaways in preparing future music educators. For example, it is possible we may see an increase in virtual teaching and undergraduate students may benefit from virtual fieldwork experiences. Programs that have successfully implemented a virtual pedagogy component to their preservice teacher curriculum show that preservice teachers benefit from additional instructional techniques (Morrison & Farrow, 2002). Technology resources for preservice music educators may also need to shift to include more common programs and real-life application to increase preparedness. It will be vital to consider the ability to pivot to online instruction in the preparation of future music educators.

Teacher wellness may also be an important consideration for music teacher educators to include in preparation programs. Although researchers have reported high levels of stress and burnout among preservice music educators (Koops & Kuebel, 2019), the additional stressors of this unusual time highlight the importance of including wellness resources as well as skills for resourcefulness, time management, professional boundaries, and developing self-efficacy to support the longevity of teachers once they enter the workforce (Garmezy et al., 1984; Goodwin & Shebby, 2020; Vesely et al., 2013).

Administrators should also take this unique time in education as an opportunity to reflect on what students connect and gravitate toward. Overall feedback for the music programs presented by educators in this study was positive. The arts, especially in elementary school, should be considered a legitimate class instead of an extracurricular activity. This also includes valuing arts educators similar to grade-level classroom teachers.

In addition, COVID-19 has highlighted some potentially overlooked inequalities in education and pedagogical methods. Teachers and administrators should be aware of these inequities regarding technology, learning, language, and home environment while striving to work with the communities around them to help facilitate tangible changes. Because COVID-19 is a recent global problem, literature about its impact on education is only starting to emerge. Longitudinal studies should be utilized to track the long-term effects of this pandemic on education.

The participants in the current study faced unique challenges teaching during COVID-19. While they had varying levels of experience, they each persevered through the 2020–2021 academic year with the willingness to adapt to the circumstances they encountered. With the sharing of these stories, we hope that other music educators may feel a sense of solidarity during what has undoubtedly been an unprecedented time. We hope that our field does not return to “the way things were” without taking time to reflect on these experiences so that we may learn from them and work to improve music education for students and teachers.