trict; however, when it came to navigating the hierarchi- cal building structure(s) for resources or time, the teach- ers who were more supported by the administration knew how to secure the resources for their classroom. Hence, the nuance of each participant’s teaching context affected the salience of resources and time. (Conway & Rawlings, 2015, pp 34-35)


New teachers who are lucky enough to have supportive admin- istrators need to learn from their mentors how to recognize this support; those new teachers without administrative support will need a great deal of support from mentors and other colleagues when it comes to discussions of scheduling and securing of re- sources. New teachers also need assistance in learning to con- sider themselves as part of a team of school professionals rather than a sort of “us versus them” mentality towards other teachers and administrators. Music teachers are susceptible to (taking on, falling into) the mindset of “My program” which leads to the “us versus them” culture.


Silencing of Beginning Teachers in Relation to Interac- tions with Other Teachers


Beginning teachers often report feeling “silenced” or feeling as if their opinions do not matter. This has been documented for music teachers in relation to their interactions with parents (comments like “when you are a parent, you will understand”), classroom teachers, and other music teachers. The quote below describes a first year teacher in Ohio feeling as if the other mu- sic teachers he works with talk “around” him as if he were not even there:


So anyway, she [music colleague and team teacher] wants, well, her style of teaching seems to be she wants a barrage of people at her disposal to take kids out and do sectionals and team teach. But she doesn’t really utilize me, the way she could be . . . There are times when the three of us are standing there and she [same colleague] will look at Beth [another colleague] and say, “Do what you want with Nick today because I don’t need him, but I could really use him the next day,” and Beth will turn to me and ask me if that works for me. What do I think? What do you think about what the students need? So it’s more like I’m a library resource that is being checked out. (Conway & Rawlings, 2015, p. 35)


We have all heard the adage “The program won’t be yours for five years.” However, new teachers want and need to have their voices heard in relation to their work.


Conclusion


The research in micropolitics confirms that schools can be diffi- cult workplaces for teachers. It is hard for new teachers to know what they don’t know about working with students, parents, other music teachers, other classroom teachers, and communi- ties as a whole. Conway and Rawlings (2015) concluded their work with:


What we do not know is how to prepare teachers in pre- service and inservice programs for this need to adapt to an ever-changing micropolitical landscape. I (Colleen) have suggested elsewhere that teacher education needs to focus on figuring out what only it can do and then needs to leave much of the other work for on-the-job training (Conway, 2015). Continued study of recruitment of music teachers into the profession, preservice coursework and fieldwork, student teaching, mentoring, and induction are all areas where more research is needed with an eye on micropoli- tics. (Conway & Rawlings, 2015, p. 41)


Relying on “on the job training” as mentioned above means that inservice teachers must share the burden for supporting new teachers. It is my hope that experienced teachers in Michi- gan take every opportunity to assist new teachers in grasping the intricacies of micropolitical issues. Think out loud to the new teachers to let them in on your thinking and good luck!


References


Conway, C. M. (2012). Reflections on “beginning music teacher perceptions of district-sponsored induction programs”: Ten years later. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 193, 63-76.


Conway, C. M. (2015). The experiences of first year mu- sic teachers: A literature tions


of Research in Music Education, doi:10.1177/8755123314547911


Conway, C. M., Hibbard, S., & Rawlings, J. (2014). The poten- tial use of micropolitics in examining personal and pro- fessional experiences of music teachers Journal of Music Teacher Education. DOI: 10.1177/1057083714539768


Conway, C. M., & Rawlings, J. (2016). Beginning music teacher induction and the attainment of micropolitical literacy. Bul- letin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 204, 27-45.


Curry, M., Jaxon, K., Russell, J. L., Callahan, M. A., & Bicais, J. (2008). Examining the practice of beginning teachers’ micropolitical literacy within professional inquiry commu- nities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(3), 660-673.


Kelchtermans, G., & Ballet, K. (2002a). The micropolitics of teacher induction: A narrative-biographical study on teach- er socialization. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(1), 105-120.


Kelchtermans, G., & Ballet, K. (2002b). Micropolitical literacy: Reconstructing a neglected dimension in teacher devel- opment. International Journal of Educational Research, 37(8), 755- 767.


Colleen Conway is Professor of Music Educa- tion at the University of Michigan and Editor in Chief of Arts Education Policy Review. She has published more than 70 articles and six books on beginning music teachers, instrumental mu- sic education, teaching music in higher educa- tion, and qualitative research.


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review. Update: Applica- 33(2), 65-72.


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