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I’m the one who’s here: an experienced music teacher, a low-income school, and arts participation as a reform strategy

ABSTRACT According to Duncan and Murnane (2011. “Introduction: The American Dream, Then and Now.” In Whither Opportunity?: Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children’s Life Chances, edited by Greg J. Duncan, and Richard J. Murnane, 3–25. New York: Russell Sage Foundation), questions about teachers’ commitment to schools that primarily serve low-income students should be addressed with a framework that accounts for the resources of families, neighbourhoods, and schools, how those resources interact, and the direct and indirect influences of those resources on teachers’ decisions to remain in their positions. With such an ecological framework, we studied an experienced music teacher who led the performing arts staff at an elementary school where almost 90 percent of students lived in areas of concentrated poverty and more than 60 percent of students were classified as English Language Learners. We addressed two main questions: (a) how did the teacher’s commitment to a school primarily serving low income students develop, and (b) how might her commitment be sustained? We aimed to understand one case in depth, and consequently to develop a provisional model that could be interrogated through further research.