The Hometown Band Director: An Autoethnographic Study on the Needs of Rural High School Instrumental Music Educators

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the needs of the rural high school instrumental music educator. Three research questions guided the inquiry: 1) How do the needs of practicing rural high school instrumental music teachers compare to the unique needs of rural music educators identified by other researchers in previous studies? 2) Why are the needs of a rural high school instrumental music educator unique? 3) How are the needs of a rural instrumental music educator distinctive? Autoethnography was the primary research methodology utilized with additional participant interviews to enrich the data. Four themes emerged from the coding of data: 1) Need of balance, 2) Need of support, 4) Need of identity, and 4) Need of understanding. Based on its findings, this study recommends the creation of mental health support, rural music education support networks, unique program culture, and advocacy of rural instrumental music programs