Date

12-16-2025

Department

School of Music

Degree

Doctor of Music Education (DME)

Chair

John Wilkerson

Keywords

Music Education, Social Media, Professional Development, Students with Disabilities, Professional Learning Network

Disciplines

Education | Music

Abstract

Music educators enter the profession with little experience teaching with disabilities. Professional development opportunities are limited, so music educators are left to discover how to do so independently. Many music educators have turned to social media as a form of informal professional development. Guided by Brown and Poortman’s model of Professional Learning Networks, this research study identifies why in-service music educators seek informal professional development in teaching students with disabilities through online social media communities. As educators resort to online communities to gain pedagogical knowledge, results may help current and future music educators in discovering and planning their learning through social media communities. This study will serve as an example of how music educators apply social media to gain specific pedagogical knowledge and may encourage further research into other specific knowledge to assist with teaching their students. Seventeen educators were interviewed to discover reoccurring themes in why music educators chose to use social media to gain pedagogical knowledge in modifying and accommodating curriculum to meet the needs of all their students. Results suggest that music educators enjoy traditional professional development for the connection and musicality that occurs; however, social media does play an important role in their professional development. Eighty-two percent of participants used social media specifically to learn how to modify and accommodate curriculum for their students and deemed the inclusion of the information successful in the classroom.

Download

Share

COinS