College of Arts & Humanities
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1611
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item AN EXPLORATORY CASE STUDY OF THREE RURAL ELEMENTARY MUSIC TEACHERS(2020) Fernsler, Stephanie; Hewitt, Michael; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine the experiences and perspectives of three rural elementary music teachers. The study explored rural elementary music teachers’ attitudes, perceptions, and opinions about their current music programs. After collecting survey data from three rural elementary music teachers, results indicated similar and different experiences and perspectives of teaching in a rural elementary school, with effective communication, community support and creative implementation being similar experiences. These findings may contribute towards rural elementary music teachers’ voices being heard in the music community and inspire other rural music teachers to contribute to music education.Item Using Mindfulness to Reduce Occupational Stress and Burnout in Music Teachers: A Randomized Controlled Trial(2019) Varona, Dana Arbaugh; Hewitt, Michael P; Prichard, Stephanie; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on K-12 music educators' self-reported responses to occupational stress and burnout. Secondary purposes were (a) to explore the experiences of K-12 music educators who underwent a four-week web-based MBI; and (b) to determine if there were any potential relations between participants' demographic and descriptive data and their pretest levels of self-reported responses to occupational stress and burnout. Two hundred fifty in-service music teachers were randomly assigned to either the treatment or waitlist-control group. Treatment group participants (n = 90) underwent a four-week online MBI known as the Mindfulness Training for Music Educators (MTME). Waitlist-control group participants (n = 160) were not provided with any mindfulness training but were given full access to the MTME following completion of the study. All participants completed assessments of self-reported responses to occupational stress and burnout at pretest, midpoint, and posttest. Following completion of the MTME, treatment group participants provided data regarding their experiences with the MTME and its feasibility. Results of mixed effects regression suggested that treatment group participants reported significantly steeper decreases in responses to occupational stress and burnout than waitlist-control group participants. Cross-sectional analyses at pretest indicated that age, female gender, salary dissatisfaction, perceived lack of administrative support, and perceived lack of parental support were significant predictors of increased responses to occupational stress, while teaching secondary school, salary dissatisfaction, perceived lack of administrative support, and perceived lack of parental support were significant predictors of increased responses to burnout. For each additional extracurricular hour worked beyond the school day, there was small but significant decrease in burnout. During the intervention period, the treatment group participants experienced a variety of occupational stressors including managing students, major events, interpersonal conflict, scheduling issues, and illness. Participants primarily responded to occupational stress with emotion-focused coping strategies such as breathing and meditation. Overall, treatment group participants found the MTME to be feasible for reducing stress and burnout while working as a music teacher and would recommend it to a fellow music educator.Item “THE VERY MESSENGERS OF GOD”: THE TEACHERS OF ALABAMA’S FREEDPEOPLE, 1865-1870(2017) Jordan, Sylvia Alyssa; Rowland, Leslie S.; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Using Freedmen’s Bureau records, the papers of the American Missionary Association, and other materials, the author identified 585 individuals who taught ex-slaves in Alabama between 1865 and 1870. The thesis describes their sex, race, and geographical origins, their motives for teaching, the high rate of turnover, and a growing number of black teachers. It examines the teachers’ work in the classroom and the many challenges they faced. It argues that the schools survived only because of the ex-slaves’ own commitment to education and the lengths to which the teachers went in order to keep their schools in operation. Finally, the thesis explores the teachers’ interactions with their surrounding communities. While some white Alabamians were supportive, others expressed hostility through social ostracism, physical assault, arson, and even murder. Especially in the face of such white opposition, the teachers relied heavily upon freedpeople to help build, maintain, and protect the schools.