Abstract:

Music teacher learning and flourishing in Australian Kodály Certificate courses – Presented by Jason Boron and Jason Goopy 

Contemporary scholarship calls for reframing deficit-oriented professional development as opportunities for teacher growth that consider the complexity of career stage and context. This study draws together teacher learning, positive psychology, and music education to examine how a professional association course supported positive music teacher learning. Twelve participants who had completed at least one level of the Australian Kodály Certificate (AKC) were invited to complete an online, individual, semi-structured interview. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and the PERMA model to articulate characteristics of the AKC that facilitated teacher flourishing across all five wellbeing elements. Participant data reveal the reciprocal relationship between teacher learning and flourishing, each shaping and deepening the other. Flourishing was experienced differently by teachers with different backgrounds and contexts. Music teacher professional associations were found to be platforms for career-long and life-wide flourishing, offering valuable lessons for existing and new teacher learning contexts.