Teachers’ visions

As has already been stated, the concept of teachers’ visions (Hammerness, 2004) provided a starting point for this research project. This starting point was both in terms RIR൵HULQJDGH¿QLWLRQRIWKHFRQFHSWDQGDUDWLRQDOHIRUDWWHQGLQJWRWHDFKHUV¶YLVLRQV when developing music teacher education.

+DPPHUQHVVGH¿QHVWHDFKHUV¶YLVLRQVDVWKHLU³LPDJHVRILGHDOFODVVURRP SUDFWLFHV«WKDWUHÀHFWWKHLUKRSHVDQGGUHDPV´IRUWKHIXWXUHSDQGDUWLFXODWHV that vision represents what Greene (1988) depicts as “a consciousness of possibility” (p. 23, as cited in Hammerness, 2006). For some teachers these images may focus on the classroom level, encompassing themselves and their students, while for other teachers they may extend to the school and broader community (Hammerness, 2004; 2010). According to Hammerness (2006), it is the fusion of emotion and understanding, or professional knowledge, in teachers’ visions that give them their power. Teachers’ visions are grounded in past and present practices and understandings (Hammerness, DQGDUHXVHGWRERWKJXLGHUHÀHFWLRQRQSDVWDQGSUHVHQWSUDFWLFHDQG to direct future goals and practice (2006; 2010). This is evident in the way teachers may replicate the experiences to which they were exposed as students. Moreover, it has particular implications in this project as formal music education is rare in Nepali schools, leading to questions as to how a lack of experience as students of school music education might shape musician-teachers envisioning of music education in Nepal.

Studying teachers’ visions has implications for teacher education. This is EHFDXVHYLVLRQV³SOD\DVLJQL¿FDQWUROHLQ>WHDFKHUV¶@OLYHVDQGZRUN´+DPPHUQHVV S9LVLRQVLQÀXHQFHKRZWHDFKHUVIHHODERXWWKHLUWHDFKLQJVWXGHQWVDQG school, and guide the choices and changes teachers make in their classrooms, teaching practice, curriculum, and careers (Hammerness, 2006; 2015). Visions impact teacher identity and feelings of success (Hammerness, 2015). When teachers perceive their vision to be attainable or within reach, feelings of success, motivation, commitment, and inspiration arise (Hammerness, 2006). Conversely, when teachers perceive their vision to be too far from their current experience, or when tensions or disconnect arise

between their vision and reality, feelings of discouragement, disillusionment, despair, GRXEWIDLOXUHDQGORVVRIFRQ¿GHQFHFDQHPHUJHDVFDQPRUHFRQVHUYDWLYHWHDFKLQJ practices, changing of schools, or even decisions to leave the profession, all of which have consequences for student learning (Hammerness, 2006; 2008). Attending to visions in teacher education can therefore help future teachers surface and examine their beliefs and tacit understandings about teaching, students and subjects; understand and learn to navigate the gap between vision and practice; and broaden their sense of possibility beyond their own experiences (Hammerness, 2006).

Recently, visions have also been the focus of attention to in music teacher education (e.g. Conkling, 2015a; Westerlund et al., 2020a). In this literature, visions have been recognized as a possible tool “for critical examination of music teaching traditions and beliefs that so often (unconsciously) shape ideas and practices” (Ferm Thorgersen et al., 2016, p. 60). However, Conkling (2015b) has acknowledged the FRPSOH[DQGLQWHUUHODWHGLQÀXHQFHVRIFRPSOLDQFHDQGXWRSLDQWKLQNLQJRQWHDFKHUV¶ visions, “compliance [being] a powerful force in shaping teachers’ visions” and SRWHQWLDOO\³GL൶FXOWIRUSUHVHUYLFHWHDFKHUVWRDYRLG´S:KLOH+DPPHUQHVV (2006) advocates for the need to support future teachers in navigating the gap between visions and practice, Conkling (2015b) similarly asserts that music teacher educators have a responsibility to preservice teachers to acknowledge the policies and practices that may constrain them as future music teachers.

Central to this research project was not merely focusing on asking individual music teachers about their visions of music education in Nepal or engaging individuals in developing their own visions. Rather, the premise was on co-constructing visions with musician-teachers. This decision is supported by literature on the value of shared YLVLRQVLQWKH¿HOGRIHGXFDWLRQ,WKDVEHHQSURSRVHGIRUH[DPSOHWKDWTXDOLW\WHDFKHU education programs are designed around and promote a clear and shared vision of good WHDFKLQJDUHFRKHUHQWDQGR൵HURSSRUWXQLWLHVWROHDUQWKDWDUHDOLJQHGZLWKWKHYLVLRQ and grounded in teaching practice (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Hammerness, 2013; .OHWWH +DPPHUQHVV,QWKH¿HOGRIPXVLFWHDFKHUHGXFDWLRQ2U]ROHN FRQWHQGVWKDW³DXQL¿HGYLVLRQIRUPXVLFWHDFKHUHGXFDWLRQLVWKHPHDQVIRUDGYDQFLQJ our work and meeting all of the challenges that we are facing” (p. x). However, visions have often been found to be individual and not necessarily shared by all colleagues, other educators, or other institutions (Ferm Thorgersen et al., 2016; Hammerness, 2013; Juntunen, 2014). Moreover, while institutional visions tend to be developed by the school leadership alone or only involving a small representation of the faculty, with the expectation that the entire faculty would then commit (e.g. Hammerness, 2010),

this research project takes the opposite approach using musician-teachers’ personal visions to co-construct shared visions for music education in Nepal. This is done with WKHXQGHUVWDQGLQJWKDWWKHUHVXOWLQJFRFRQVWUXFWHGYLVLRQVDUHQRWQHFHVVDULO\XQL¿HG RUUHSUHVHQWDWLYHRI³DOORIWKHFKDOOHQJHV´2U]ROHNS[EXWDUHDVWDUWLQJSRLQW for potentially foregrounding various, and possibly unconscious, traditions, beliefs and other contextually relevant issues and stimulating further exploration, discussion and critical examination (e.g. Ferm Thorgensen et al., 2016). Indeed, visions have been VHHQWRR൵HU³DPHDQVIRUHGXFDWRUVDQGVFKRROIDFXOWLHVWRKHOSLGHQWLI\GLVFXVVDQG sustain attention to the larger purposes of education” (Hammerness, 2010, p. 1046).