Alone all together - The conundrum of music teacher isolation and connectedness

Within the typical school structure, music teachers comprise a small number of the entire teaching staff. This can range from a single music teacher in an elementary school to three or more music teachers in a secondary school. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for music teachers to travel to multiple schools as part of their teaching assignment. Given the minority status of music teachers, it is possible that they experience feelings of professional isolation. This phenomenological study sought to examine the lived experience of professional isolation and connectedness among music teachers in an urban school district. The question guiding this inquiry was: How do public school music teachers perceive and describe their experience of professional isolation and connectedness? Four themes emerged from the data: emotional reactions, external factors, social factors, and awareness. Primary findings suggest that music teachers experience professional isolation to varying levels and the lived experience of isolation and connectedness, as portrayed by these teachers, is personally constructed and individually meaningful.