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The Professional Identity

In the April 1976 issue of MEJ, Gene Wenner presented a provocative article entitled "Arts in the Mainstream of Education" wherein he presented both theoretical principles and operational examples that documented that "interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning were far more effective for them [the teachers] than previous means they had used" (p. 31). Regardless of his ability to discount the major reservations about these approaches, he concluded that "many specialists are suspicious of, even hostile to, the concept of relating their art to another art or to any other area of the curriculum" (p. 30). Thus, to assert that there is resistance to integrating music into the general education program is an understatement. Since there exists convincing evidence that the AGE approach will result in teaching and learning processes being more effective than a separated-subjects format, it is important to clarify more subtle factors that may be inherent in the resistance to an integrative effort. Perhaps the foremost noncognitive factor is professional identity. The underlying assumption is that an integration into the AGE movement would create a threat to the professional identity of the music educator. An analytic unraveling of this threat reveals two major issues: multidisciplinary versus interdisciplinary functioning and evolution of the professional-self concept, with the latter deserving collective and individual considerations. Organizational research in a myriad of contexts supports such pragmatic factors as a shared-service objective or a need to maximize resources to encourage professionals to join together and attain functional efficacy. In these ways, they are functioning in a multidisciplinary manner. On the other hand, true interdisciplinary functioning, which requires a thorough integration (as is the case with the AGE approach), is very difficult to obtain and is, in fact, fulfilled only through highly complex group dynamics. In practical terms, the interdisciplinary model requires that a particular discipline be relinquished. Thus, the music educator integrating into an AGE program must give priority toward being an educator in the field of music as opposed to being a musician in the field of education-that is, being an educator is primary whereas being a specialist in music is secondary. The concept of self is generally thought of as self-esteem, which is globally true, but there are many more facets, such as religious self, family self, social self, and-of relevance to this discussion-professional self. The professionalself concept is an amalgam of motives, needs, and personality constructs manifested in a career development plan that results in a particular job choice. To understand the implications of the professional-self concept within the AGE movement, it is necessary to consider the uniqueness that accompanies the discipline and the individual. Personality research has documented that artists have distinguishing characteristics as compared to other vocational groups. They are stereotyped as more sensitive, nonaggressive, introverted, and less willing to conform. Arts specialists are even known to differ significantly among themselves according to the academic level they teach. Perusal of these investigations reveals that a number of personality factors would not adapt well to an integration into an AGE program. That the artist often purposefully avoids changing, ostensibly to avoid risking a lessening in creative ability, is supported by psychoanalytic research. And there is reason to believe that because the identity of an artist is stereotyped as eccentric in our society, the artist acquires a sense of approved isolation, something that is needed by persons with fear of intimate relations; such isolation would not fit in well with an AGE program. An individual's self-concept naturally seeks a resting state, and any environmental pressure to change is met with automatic resistance. When this is fused with the artist's personality, it suggests that programmatic integration might be more difficult for arts specialists than for other professionals. As Wenner indicated, AGE programs can enhance teaching and learning processes and both faculty and students can benefit; moreover, the priorities of society, such as accountability and maximization of resources, require strategies of this nature. In view of efficacy and societal mandate, it would seem that the answer is that music education can be strengthened by AGE programs; but it must also be recognized that a compatible integration will require that the music educator be prepared to make a highly personalized adaptation by allowing the professional-self concept to grow and expand to embrace a posture of the "compleat educator."Robert Henley Woody, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska