The Singing Choral Director: A Performance-Based Professional Development Curriculum for Choral Music Educators

Abstract

The purpose of this DMA dissertation is the creation of a performance-based professional development curriculum for choral music educators based on recommendations from current research, the experiences of the author, and feedback from choral directors who also participate in a community choir.The document includes a review of literature on the following subjects: music teacher-artist identity, music teacher professional development, and backward design curricular framework. Interviews with four choral music educators who sing together in an auditioned chamber ensemble inform the design of the professional development curriculum. Selected participants offer reflections about their own experience with teacher-artist identity, music teacher professional development, and practical advice for implementing the curriculum. Recommendations from the literature, participating choral directors, and author are synthesized into 24 total credit hours of PD split between two units. Each unit is delivered over eight weeks and focuses on the integration of teacher-artist identity through singing and conducting in a learning cohort alongside other choral directors. Three research questions for this study guided my review of the literature and the feedback I gathered from choral music educators. (1) How does singing in a community choir support the well-being and teacher-artist identity of choral music educators? (2) How does singing in a community choir support the lifelong learning and professional development of choral music educators? (3) What are the desired results, acceptable forms of evidence, and learning experiences for this performance-based professional development curriculum?