590361

research-article2015
IJM0010.1177/0255761415590361International Journal of Music EducationAndrews

Research Article

International Journal of

Towards the future: Teachers’

Music Education
1­–12
© The Author(s) 2015
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development in the arts DOI: 10.1177/0255761415590361
ijm.sagepub.com

B. W. Andrews
University of Ottawa, Canada

Abstract
Teachers enrolled in a professional development program involving artists on site at cultural
institutions participated in a study in which they expressed their views on upgrading in the
arts. Findings indicate that they were influenced in their own schooling by passionate teachers
who conveyed the importance of the arts. Their progress was impeded by a self-perception of
their own limited artistic ability. Community experiences, such as private lessons and amateur
productions, played a more significant role in their development. The ideal scenario for their
personal and professional development in the arts is an environment where discipline-based
and integrative curricular activities are offered, and both the creative process and the creative
product are valued. Lack of personal expertise, limited professional development opportunities,
and inadequate funding are obstacles that can be overcome by teacher commitment to upgrading
in the arts, a range of arts courses offered by education faculties, and involvement by arts
stakeholders in program design and delivery, respectively.

Keywords
teacher development, arts upgrading, artist-teacher collaboration

Introduction
The teaching profession has raised concerns about the effectiveness of professional development
for its members. In response, faculties of education across Canada during the past decade have
developed new partnerships with their stakeholders to deliver programs that are both effective and
relevant (Andrews, 2002, 2008a, 2011; Gurney & Andrews, 1998, 2000). To improve the teaching
of the arts disciplines—dance, drama, music and visual arts—in school classrooms, an innovative
summer program featuring professional artists was developed by the Arts Education Consortium,
a partnership involving the Canadian Conference of the Arts, the Canadian Museum of Civilization,
the National Arts Centre, the National Gallery, the National Library, the School of Dance and the
University of Ottawa. Teacher development and research in arts education are supported and pro-
moted through the educational mandates of these organizations.

Corresponding author:
B. W. Andrews, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, 145 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.
Email: b.w.andrews@uottawa.ca

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2 International Journal of Music Education 

The Odyssey Project is a series of studies conducted for the Consortium members and funded
by the Laidlaw Foundation and University of Ottawa. The research assesses the effectiveness of
the partnership program for enhancing teachers’ arts learning and developing their instructional
effectiveness. Phase four of the research, reported herein, focuses on the teachers’ vision for pro-
fessional development in the arts. Previous phases focused on teachers’ beliefs and practices
(Andrews, 2008a), teachers’ experiences developing arts expertise with professional artists
(Andrews, 2010), and the impact of artists on teachers’ personal growth and professional practice
(Andrews, 2012).

Research context
Phase one of The Odyssey Project, ‘Fostering teacher learning in the arts’ (Andrews, 2008a),
focused on a description of those classroom factors within in-service that promote changing teach-
ers’ beliefs and practices about arts instruction. The study combined themes from journals, class-
room observations and video sessions of the integrated arts partnership program during a summer
session. An emerging group culture within the class characterized by a sense of community, com-
fort and mutual support fostered trust, emotional openness and personal risk-taking. These aspects
of the program enable teachers to explore their own creativity, examine their thoughts and feelings,
acknowledge each other’s views, understand different perspectives, and engage successfully in
artistic activities. Further, they develop an understanding of the significance of the arts for society
and for their own professional practice.
Phase two, ‘Seeking harmony: Teachers’ perspectives on learning to teach in and through the
arts’ (Andrews, 2010), examined teachers’ perspectives on their experiences with professional art-
ists in the integrated arts partnership program. The study combined questionnaire, focus group and
survey data. When artists, selected for their interest in education and ability to collaborate with
teachers, are involved in in-service, teachers acquire the confidence to express themselves freely,
they are willing to teach the arts in their own classrooms, they realize the potential and value of the
arts within the school curriculum, and they develop arts-specific teaching expertise. Further, the
teachers’ sensitivity to their own creativity and openness to experimentation is heightened, and an
awareness of the potential of the arts to develop a student’s imagination, intuition and personal
expressiveness is developed.
Phase three, ‘Creative osmosis: Theory into practice in professional development in the arts’
(Andrews, 2012), examined the impact of the integrated arts partnership program on the partici-
pants’ personal growth and professional practice over a three-year period. It was the creative activi-
ties with artists, the opportunity to discuss and reflect on their personal perspectives, and the
inspirational settings that promoted the teachers’ personal growth. Participation in a wide variety
of arts activities increased their willingness to teach the arts in their own classrooms. These experi-
ences enhanced their tolerance for ambiguity in the classroom and sensitivity to different learning
styles. During their professional development experience, the reflective journal was a powerful
tool for making the practical theoretical. It enabled them to relate their arts experiences to learning
theory, and to develop and nurture new ideas. The major obstacles to implementing arts lessons in
their own schools outlined by the participants were inadequate resources to teach the arts effec-
tively, limited peer support for curriculum development, insufficient expertise to assess student
achievement in the arts, and lack of time to teach all the arts disciplines. These obstacles could be
addressed through arts advocacy by teachers and parents, development of school-wide cross-cur-
ricular arts themes by teachers and artists, professional development courses in arts assessment
offered by faculties of education, and implementation of an integrated approach to arts instruction,
respectively.

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Andrews 3

Related research
In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, generalist elementary teachers are expected to teach
the arts within the school curriculum, that is, dance, drama, music and visual arts (Ontario Ministry
of Education, 1998, 2009) as is the case in many countries (Taggart, Whitby, & Sharp, 2004). Most
of them have limited backgrounds and/or training in the arts (Pitman, 1998) and lack fundamental
knowledge of the arts disciplines (Oreck, 2004; Patteson, 2002; Smithrim & Upitis, 2001). Arts
instruction is mandated by the provincial government without adequate professional development
and without sufficient funds from the school boards to offer programs adequately. Consequently
many teachers, although they believe that the arts disciplines are beneficial for student develop-
ment, avoid teaching them in their classrooms because of the anxiety it causes (Andrews, 2004)—a
situation common in many jurisdictions (Arts Education Partnership, 2001; Bamford, 2006; Oreck,
2004; Pitman, 2996).
Most arts-based professional development programs for teachers are designed to develop their
arts expertise and professional practice (Fowler, 1996; Upitis, Smithrim, & Soren, 1999) not to
transform them into arts specialists (McIntosh, Hanely, Verriour, & Van Gyn, 1993; Oreck, 2004).
Arts instruction involves open-ended learning rather than a focus on correct answers (Eisner, 1994;
Gardner, 1990; Zwirn & Graham, 2005). This requires a significant shift in attitudes towards arts
instruction by many teachers who generally are unfamiliar with this mode of learning (Patteson,
2002; Smithrim & Upitis, 2001). Teachers must recognize the benefit of the arts, be confident in
their skills, and understand the instructional purpose of arts teaching (Hord, Rutherford, Hurling-
Austin, & Hall, 1998; Smithrim & Upitis, 2005). The requisite skills and expertise to teach the arts
can be developed through professional development programs (Andrews, 2008a, 2010; Starko,
1995; Upitis et al., 1999), although such instruction requires more specialized instruction than is
the case in other academic subjects (Bamford, 2006; Gurney & Andrews, 2000; Sarason, 1999).
Limited space, time and resources, few professional development opportunities, and the emphasis
on standardized tests are longstanding and significant obstacles to effective arts instruction in
many jurisdictions (Baum, Owen, & Oreck, 1997; Hourigan, 2011; McBee, 2001; Stake, Bresler,
& Mabry, 1991). Moreover, it may take several years for teachers to effectively teach the arts dis-
ciplines and integrate them across the school curriculum (Bamford, 2006; Patteson, 2002; Smithrim
& Upitis, 2005). Research undertaken in Canada (Andrews, 2011), the United States (ARTS, Inc.
& Performing Tree, 2000), and the United Kingdom (Oreck, 2004) has demonstrated that a sup-
portive administration and teacher self-efficacy are keys to ensuring the successful implementation
of the arts in classrooms.
Arts partnerships between arts organizations and educational institutions that feature partner-
ships of professional artists in teacher upgrading programs are beneficial (Arts Education
Partnership, 2001; Brophy, 2011). Many such partnerships involve artist–teacher collaboration and
represent an effective approach to supporting teachers and increasing their arts expertise (Doherty
& Harland, 2001; Smithrim & Upitis, 2001; Upitis, 2005). When teachers and artists work together,
students comprehend, retain and transfer more information and skills, and they are more likely to
co-operate with their peers on learning tasks (Burnaford, Aprill, & Weiss, 2001; Damm, 2006;
Upitis & Smithrim, 2003). Artist–teacher collaboration has been proven effective for improving
teacher expertise and increasing their confidence and willingness to teach the arts in their own
classrooms, both in teacher education (Addo, 2003; Andrews, 2006; Zwirn & Graham, 2005) and
professional development (Andrews, 2010; Catterall & Waldorf, 1999; Naples, 2001; Upitis, 2005;
Zwirn & Graham, 2005). Further, arts organizations can broaden their community base and improve
the quality of arts instruction in their communities (Andrews, 2011; Arts Education Partnership,
2001; Brophy, 2011). Teachers improve their arts expertise when working with artists, and they

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4 International Journal of Music Education 

more readily teach the arts in their own classrooms (Damm, 2006; Kind, de Cosson, Irwin, &
Grauer, 2007; Korn-Bursztyn, 2003; Upitis, 2005). Also, schools and education faculties obtain
expertise, funds, resources and facilities not otherwise readily available to them (Andrews, 2011;
Arts Education Partnership, 2001; Brophy, 2011; Upitis et al., 1999).

Methodology
Integrated inquiry, a multi-perspectives methodology, was employed throughout each phase of The
Odyssey Project. This approach to inquiry adopts the metaphor of the professional composer; that
is, one who combines multiple qualitative and/or quantitative judgments in a seamless web of
integration. The researcher operates at a meta level by combining different perspectives to achieve
a holistic view of a curricular challenge, problem or issue (Andrews, 2008b). To substantiate analy-
ses and epistemological stances, such combining of methods is supported in evaluation research
(Creswell, 2002; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Patton, 1990). The
principal investigator has previous experience undertaking research studies and publishing the
findings using this methodology (e.g., Andrews, 2005, 2006, 2008a, 2010).
Phase four of The Odyssey Project, ‘Towards the future: Teachers’ vision of professional devel-
opment in the arts’, discussed in this article, explored practitioners’ views on professional upgrad-
ing in the arts. Nine teachers who had undertaken the summer program across three years—two of
18 enrolled in the first year, four of 12 enrolled in second year, and three of 10 enrolled in the third
year—participated in this study. Of these, seven were female and two male; seven worked in ele-
mentary and two in secondary schools; and five identified themselves as specialists, three as gen-
eralists, and one as working in administration (i.e., a consultant). In this study, each of them
completed a visioning exercise, known as currere, thereby submitting nine in-depth data sources
over a three-year period.
Currere is a framework for the autobiographical reflection on educational experiences devel-
oped by the curriculum theorist Walter Pinar in a series of papers and publications (1975, 1980,
1988, 2000, 2004). It enables practitioners to examine curricular problems and seek practical “real-
world” solutions. Currere is organized into a four-step process which involves retelling the story of
one’s past educational experiences; imagining future possibilities for educational practice; examin-
ing the present situation; and finally synthesizing past, present and future practice to develop new
ways of thinking about education. In this study, the data from the currere exercise from each of the
three years were entered into NVivo, a qualitative software program, where they were coded, ana-
lyzed, cross-referenced, and integrated by the research team, consisting of the principal investiga-
tor and two research assistants (see Figure 1).

Teachers’ vision
Employing currere, the participants re-created the past, imagined an ideal future, examined the
present, and synthesized these three perspectives to formulate solutions to the challenge of profes-
sional development in the arts for practising teachers.

Re-creating the past

The teachers reported experiences in arts education both within the education system and within
the community. Those experiences within the system were both strongly positive and strongly
negative. Positive reflections focused on the support and enthusiasm of teachers. For
example:

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Andrews 5

Year 1 Integrated Year 3

Inquiry
2 teachers 3 teachers

Year 2

4 teachers

Figure 1.  Research process.

I had wonderful teachers starting in elementary school … and right through high school. Because of the
passion of my teachers … I was supported and encouraged to study art, music drama and dance
extra-curricularly.

Negative experiences detailed instances of the teachers’ perceptions of their own limited artistic
skills. For example:

My parents knew that the arts were an interest so they enrolled me in art school. … I only went there a few
times and one day I just decided that I didn’t want to go back … I stopped drawing because I thought that
I wasn’t good enough.

Unlike other school subjects, those arts available within the local community were a significant
factor in the teachers’ arts education. Most of them reported enrolling in private piano lessons or
classes in dance, theatre, or visual arts. Some also participated in community vocal and instrumen-
tal ensembles. The two major factors in their involvement were a supportive environment and
access to quality arts resources.

I was fortunate to have parents, relatives, teachers and the back-drop of living in the nation’s capital to
nurture, expose, encourage and develop my artistic abilities. I took community lessons in piano, dance and
the arts on a regular basis. My parents took us to the ballet, the National Gallery of Canada and musicals.

Imagining the future

The teachers articulated an ideal scenario for arts education as one in which society values the arts and
promotes artists in schools, and an education system that provides opportunities for discipline-based

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6 International Journal of Music Education 

and integrative arts activities. They expressed concern that young people are enraptured by electronic
media, and that society needs to redress the balance between the living arts and virtual reality.

All students need exposure to the theatre, symphony and dance performances. So many young people are
only exposed to television, videos, not to “live” performances. Professional performances in schools are a
possible way to increase awareness for the arts.

To raise awareness of and appreciation for the arts in schools, the arts disciplines must be inte-
grated both vertically (discipline-based) and horizontally (across the curriculum).

Every child should have access to all of the arts, either separately or in an integrated fashion until grade
eight. In high school, more than one arts should be possible in grade nine.

Moreover, the arts should be central to the curriculum and valued for both the formative and the
summative aspects of the disciplines.

It [the arts] should be celebrated and encouraged and seen as a significant and necessary part of the
curriculum. The arts can involve an opportunity for celebration of both process and performance/product.

Examining the present

The teachers identified three major obstacles in arts education. The primary obstacle, in their view,
is the lack of teacher expertise to effectively deliver the arts within their classrooms. There is a high
level of anxiety concerning the achievement of provincial curriculum guidelines, and, as a conse-
quence, of frustration with the arts.

The fact that the new Ontario curriculum forces school to cover all the arts is a good step. [However] it
panics a good number of teachers without arts backgrounds, and makes it so that they hate having to teach
the arts.

The second major obstacle is the lack of sufficient arts instruction in both teacher education and
professional development programs. Teacher-candidates need time to develop their comfort level
in teaching the arts.

In order to gain a greater comfort level in teaching all of the arts, teachers in training should be given more
intensive training/workshops/experiences … If they are given time to feel confident and good about the
arts and if they are given the time to personally experience its effect, they are more likely to incorporate
these into their classroom in a positive and effective manner.

Similarly, experienced teachers require access to professional development to help them to inte-
grate the arts across the curriculum to meet provincial requirements.

Teachers need to find creative ways to incorporate the arts into the curriculum on a regular basis so that
children are exposed to the arts frequently, so that they can experience the process of being involved in the
curriculum and feel good about it.

The third major obstacle that the teachers identified is the lack of adequate funding to ensure
quality programs. The teachers strongly indicated that additional monies for staffing, resources and
teacher development are essential to ensure that the arts are taken seriously within education.

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Andrews 7

In reality we are not given the tools to deliver them [the arts] effectively to our students. Money is needed
for professional development as well as for bringing artists into the schools and to make sure each school
is well-stocked with supplies required to provide an arts program.

Synthesizing past, present and future

The teachers indicated that a variety of education stakeholders have roles to play in the improve-
ment of arts education: the Ministry of Education, the school boards, the faculties of education, and
the teachers themselves. In their view, the Ministry has a crucial role in targeting funding and
ensuring the sufficient time and resources are allocated to the arts by the school boards. For their
part principals have to become proactive in encouraging teachers to participate in professional
development opportunities in the arts, and school boards have to provide a venue for this within
professional activity days.

We need people to share their expertise within a board, and not at 4:00 p.m. when everyone is exhausted.
We need specific days set aside for rotating workshops to help with the teaching of the arts.

Faculties of education must rethink the offering of arts education courses in both teacher educa-
tion and professional development to deal with the new curricular realities. Time is at a premium,
and the contribution the arts can make to child and youth development has evolved beyond the
parameters of traditional methodologies which emphasize skill acquisition. New partners from the
public and private sectors should be solicited, alternate modes of delivery should be explored, and
courses should be re-conceptualized. However, faculties of education, in the view of the teachers,
have not effectively adjusted to this new reality.

The new reforms expect us to work without resources and without adequate time. We need to re-organize
our efforts and offer to our students a range of themes, including those involving the arts.

The teachers recognized the need to develop professionally and change their practice through-
out their careers. Above all, they indicated that they had to “begin with themselves” to effectively
improve arts education.

I can enhance my program by continuing to experience art myself and by continuing to educate myself in
all avenues of art. I can also improve art education by educating others/the public/parents on the value of
art in education. I can make a further difference by participating in studies like this and by fighting to have
art recognized as a very significant and vital part of the curriculum.

Integration
The polarization of teachers’ reactions to early experiences in the arts during elementary and sec-
ondary schooling is understandable, given the diversity of programs in schools and communities
across the province and the country (Andrews, 2011; Pitman, 1998; Upitis & Smithrim, 2003).
When students are taught by supportive and enthusiastic teachers and the school environment pro-
motes the arts, it is not surprising that young people are positive about arts learning. However, when
they undergo negative experiences, there is a tendency to shy away from arts experiences because
of feelings of inadequacy and lowered self-esteem (Bartel & Cameron, 2004; Green, 2008; Senyshyn,
2004). Unlike other academic subjects, arts learning opportunities are also available in the local
community, such as guitar, art and dance classes, often in both commercial ventures (e.g., music
stores, art academies, dance studios) and public venues (e.g., arts centres, galleries, continuing

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8 International Journal of Music Education 

education). In Canada (Upitis & Smithrim, 2003), the United States (Brophy, 2011), and the United
Kingdom (Green, 2011), these options provide an alternative avenue for student learning when the
local school does not offer sufficient arts instruction or when traditional programs do not appeal to
general student populations. However, there is usually as significant cost over time which restricts
this option to those parents who are able to afford the instruction.
The identification of the ideal arts education for students is a challenge given the diversity of
Canada’s population and the commitment to multiculturalism. The traditional Western-European
approach which involves didactic teaching and the teacher functioning as choreographer (dance),
director (drama), conductor (music), or master teacher (visual arts) is based on the concept of aca-
demic rationalism (Grant & Lerer, 2011; Green, 2008). This approach involves selecting the most
important dances, plays, music compositions, and paintings and sculptures of Western culture and
ensuring that students acquire the expertise to appreciate and re-create them (Bamford, 2006;
Green, 2002). These works and the requisite knowledge and skills become the canon of the school
curriculum. Students of this canon are passive recipients and their voices are seldom heard (Green,
2011). However, as Canadian schools increasingly diversify, young people come to resent the
emphasis on traditional works that are disconnected from their backgrounds and the popular cul-
ture of North America (Andrews, 2011; Senyshyn, 2004). Whether it is square dancing, one-act
plays and choir in elementary schools or classical dance, Shakespearean plays and concert band in
high school, students are increasingly attracted to arts experiences and resources outside the canon
(Green, 2002, 2008; Peters, 2004). Modern dance, music, theatre and visual arts have been impacted
by the electronic field—digital lighting, synthesizers and electric drums, voice amplification and
distortion, and video graphics, respectively. Moreover, the rules are changing as downloading,
remixing, and mash-ups become the norm (McLeod & Dicola, 2011). Students across the school
spectrum have embraced these changes and engage wholeheartedly in more contemporary art
forms (Vitale, 2011). Senior elementary students in playgrounds often sing and dance to rap music.
High school students prefer to learn contemporary dance moves, improv rather than Shakespeare,
and the more recent instruments, such as synthesizer, electric guitar and electronic drums. Young
people now enrol in classes in modern dance, contemporary theatre, guitar, steel drums, computer
music, vocal jazz and world musics. They are more likely to join extra-curricular school-based or
community groups, such as a modern dance group or fringe theatre production, rather than a clas-
sical company or traditional community theatre. In music, students are participating less in tradi-
tional choir, band and orchestra ensembles and engaging more in contemporary ensembles, such as
folk groups, jazz combos, big bands, percussion ensembles, gospel choirs, vocal jazz groups, rock
bands, steel drum bands, and world music ensembles, as researchers in Canada (Grant & Lerer,
2011; Vitale, 2011), the United States (Brophy, 2011), and the United Kingdom (Green, 2011) have
noted. Consequently, teachers must diversify their programs to engage their students in meaningful
arts experiences.
Lack of teacher expertise in the arts disciplines is a common problem in many countries (Oreck,
2004; Pitman, 1998; Taggart et al., 2004). The requirement that teachers teach the arts as a matter
of educational policy causes considerable anxiety and most often an aversion to teaching the arts
(Arts Education Partnership, 2001; Oreck, 2004; Pitman, 1996). It can reach the point that “they
hate teaching the arts” as one participant commented. This situation is counter-productive to effec-
tive instruction and denies young people the benefits of an arts education. Unfortunately, faculties
of education in Ontario have very limited time to allocate to specialist instruction given the inten-
sive nature of the one-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) programs across the province (Ontario
Ministry of Education, 2012). Further, professional development programs recognized by the
Ontario College of Teachers require a significant commitment of time (120 hours) in the evenings
or weekends, they are costly for teachers to enrol in and expensive for universities to operate, they

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Andrews 9

are not offered in close proximity to places of employment, and arts courses seldom run because of
low levels of enrolment (Andrews, 2002, 2004). School boards could also allocate more funds to
ensure professional development opportunities for their staff; for example, hiring artists to work
with teachers during a series of professional development days on site in schools (Andrews, 2011;
Kind et al., 2007). Such an approach would allow teachers to undertake professional development
on site and in the daytime when they are most receptive to learning.
There are a variety of organizational stakeholders in education in most jurisdictions, such as
ministries/departments of education, teachers colleges, unions, and professional associations.
These organizations have a significant role to play in ensuring that sufficient curriculum time,
spaces, resources and qualified teachers are allocated to arts instruction in elementary and second-
ary schools (Arts Education Partnership, 2001). This emphasis on the arts is necessary to ensure
adequate discipline-based instruction across a given jurisdiction (e.g., province, state, county).
Without institutional support, arts learning experiences are inconsistent among grades, among
schools within a school board, and also across schools within a school board/district (Andrews,
2011; Taggart et al., 2004; Upitis & Smithrim, 2003). Administrators, notably principals, have
considerable impact on how their schools are staffed and what aspects of the curriculum are empha-
sized. Unfortunately, in countries where standardized testing is emphasized, resources typically
flow to curricular content that promotes numeracy and literacy (Bamford, 2006; Hourigan, 2011;
Robinson, 2011). In these contexts, the arts are often marginalized even though arts integration
offers the potential of improving learning per se across the school curriculum.
Theme-based instruction and cross-curricular topics in elementary and secondary schools,
respectively, offer the possibility of effectively integrating the content of the school curriculum.
The arts are an effective vehicle for increasing in-depth learning of non-arts subject matter if effec-
tively used by teachers (Kind et al., 2007; Zwirn & Graham, 2005). When elementary students
dress like voyageurs, create a canoe cut-out with corrugated cardboard, and sing a cœur de bois
song in French while making a paddling motion and watching a National Geographic video of the
Ottawa River, they experience the thrill of exploring new lands. When high school students study-
ing the First World War visit the War Museum, view the war posters, walk through the trenches,
and hear both allied and German soldiers singing Lily Marlene in the trenches, they feel the horrors
and absurdity of war. Such is the power of the arts when effectively employed by teachers: in effect
the arts transform the curriculum from black and white to colour.

Coda
Faculties of education in collaboration with education stakeholders must re-conceptualize profes-
sional development in Canada and elsewhere if upgrading courses in the arts disciplines are to
impact significantly on teachers’ classroom practice (Andrews, 2011; Arts Education Partnership,
2001; Bamford, 2006; Taggart et al., 2004). For example, a series of workshops in dance, drama,
music and visual arts in partnership with local arts organizations could be offered on professional
development days on site in schools throughout the school year. These workshops could be fol-
lowed-up in the next school year with a series of arts integration workshops. Unfortunately, the
current Additional Qualification system in Ontario is locked into a three-part certification system
(Part I, Part II, Part III) with 120 hours of instruction for each part. Faculties of education (currently
numbering 14 across Ontario) will need to collaborate with the Ontario College of Teachers to
develop alternative delivery methods for the development of teachers’ arts expertise and more flex-
ible types of certification that meets the needs of practitioners.
The participants in this study were influenced in their own schooling by passionate arts
teachers who conveyed the importance of the arts. Their progress was stalled by a

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10 International Journal of Music Education 

self-perception of their own limited artistic ability. Community experiences, such as private
lessons and amateur productions, played a more significant role in their development. Lack
of expertise by generalist teachers is a serious problem in arts education in many countries
(Bamford, 2006; Oreck, 2004; Taggart et al., 2004). The findings in this study suggest that
the ideal scenario for teachers’ professional development in the arts is a learning context in
which discipline-based and integrative curricular activities are offered, and one which values
both the creative process and the creative product. Lack of personal expertise, limited profes-
sional development opportunities, and inadequate funding are obstacles common to many
jurisdictions that can be overcome by teacher commitment to acquiring arts expertise, the
offering of additional arts courses by education faculties, and the involvement of arts stake-
holders in program design and delivery, respectively.

Funding
This research received funding funding from the Laidlaw Foundation, administered by the Canadian
Conference of the Arts, and the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa.

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