Music Educators Who Take the Lead©
Doctoral Research (2018)

Reference

Porcino Dolamore, Jeanne. 2018. Music Educators Who Take the Lead: A Phenomenological Study of School Leaders with Formal Backgrounds in Music and Experience as Music Educators. Doctoral dissertation, ProQuest LLC, Ann Arbor, MI.

Available via institutional repository: Digital Commons @ Concordia–St. Paul [digitalcommons.csp.edu]

Research Overview

Music Educators Who Take the Lead© is grounded in a qualitative research study whose findings invite music educators to reflect on a fundamental premise: From the moment they produce their first musical notes, they have already begun amassing, rehearsing, and refining leadership competencies.

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Throughout the study, it became clear that from their earliest musical experiences, participants had been building bridges between skill, relationship, and purpose—foundations that later supported effective leadership across schools and communities.

The study explores how these deeply rooted and well-rehearsed competencies translate into educational leadership by examining leadership through a three-tiered conceptual framework that brings together established components of effective educational leadership, the high-level leadership competencies cultivated through music education, and the developmental transition from teacher to educational leader.

Using an interpretive, interview-based approach, the research focused on music educators who later assumed school- and district-level administrative roles, including assistant principals, principals, and superintendents. Through a series of reflective, semi-structured interviews, participants examined their lived experiences as musicians, students, teachers, and lifelong learners, and considered how these experiences informed their leadership identities and daily leadership practices.

Rather than following a linear path, participants described leadership development as an evolving process—one informed by experience, reflection, performance, assessment, and relationship-building over time.

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Key Findings

Leadership in Action: The “Action Duets”

Across the study, participants’ leadership practices were consistently expressed through five interrelated action duets—paired ways of thinking and acting that characterize effective educational leadership:

1. Shaping Vision / Launching Mission
2. Building Capacity / Inspiring Growth
3. Cultivating Leadership / Confirming Shared Purpose
4. Ensuring High-Quality Student Learning / Focusing on Outcomes
5. Fostering Partnerships / Embracing Community

For music educators, these action duets often feel familiar, reflecting habits of mind and practice cultivated through years of musical study and teaching.

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What the Study Revealed

“While music educators consistently demonstrated leadership competencies, many had not previously identified themselves as leaders or considered leadership pathways beyond music education.”

The study revealed that music educators who transitioned into school- and district-level leadership did so through a developmental, non-linear process, rather than a single career pivot. Across participants’ experiences, three interrelated findings consistently emerged:

High-Level Leadership Competencies Were Already in Place
Participants had developed a broad range of leadership competencies—such as strategic thinking, creativity, communication, differentiation, collaboration, adaptability, and reflective decision-making—well before entering administrative roles. These competencies align with established, research-supported practices of effective educational leaders.

Relationship-Building Was Central to Effective Leadership
Participants emphasized the importance of building productive, nurturing, and reciprocal relationships with teachers, students, families, and community stakeholders.

Values-Driven Action Supported Transformational Change
Leadership decisions were grounded in shared individual and community values, supporting purposeful and sustainable change within schools and districts.

Synthesis
Together, these findings highlight music educators as a distinct and under-recognized leadership reference group—one whose competencies, relational skills, and values are effectively developed through musical study and teaching and should be intentionally encouraged and recruited into educational leadership roles.

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Conference Presentations & Professional Engagement

Since 2020, the research informing Music Educators Who Take the Lead© has been shared through professional presentations and scholarly forums focused on music education, leadership, and teacher development. These presentations—titled “Why Music Educators Should Take the Lead”—invite educators and administrators to reconsider leadership pathways and to recognize the leadership capacity already present within the music education profession.

Dr. Jeanne Porcino Dolamore is available to engage with music educators, schools, districts, and professional organizations through conference presentations, workshops, and mentoring conversations. These sessions draw directly from the research and are designed to support music educators who are exploring leadership roles—whether within their classrooms, schools, districts, or broader professional communities.

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Continuing the Conversation

Music Educators Who Take the Lead© is intended as an ongoing conversation—one that invites reflection, dialogue, and shared learning among music educators and educational leaders.

If you would like to connect or learn more about this work, I welcome your inquiry.