Rathgeber, J., & Mantie, R. (2019). Markers of agency in preservice music teachers: A directed content analysis of written coursework. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, (219), 27-46.

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine agentic thinking among preservice music teachers through a “directed content analysis” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) of the written coursework of 2 cohorts of preservice music teachers (N = 66) enrolled in an introduction to music education course in order to advance knowledge of agentic thinking in music teacher education research and practice. We used a theoretical framework informed by Emirbayer and Mische’s (1998) triadic conception of agency that positions human agency at the nexus of 3 temporally oriented elements: iteration (past), projectivity (future), and practical evaluation (present). We investigated the agentic temporalities of different assignment types and analyzed the agentic vocabulary usage in premidterm and postmidterm assignments by cohort, identified gender, year in school, residency status, major, and applied instrument. We found slight differences in overall agentic vocabulary and vocabulary by agentic element between cohorts. Unexpectedly, we noted a marked decline in overall agentic vocabulary usage in postmidterm written assignments compared to premidterm written assignments. Analysis of change over time by agentic element found decreases in iterative and practical evaluative vocabulary and an increase in projective vocabulary usage in postmidterm written assignments. Findings from key-word-in-context analysis, however, suggest that a decline in agentic vocabulary may be related to a refinement in agentic vocabulary usage and an increased openness to different perspectives and career options. Based on our results, we argue that Emirbayer and Mische’s framework may provide music teacher educators and researchers with a nuanced tool by which to investigate, understand, and foster music teacher agency.

Rathgeber, J. (Unpublished). Seeing disability: A content analysis of photographs of disability in the Music Educators Journal, 1932-2015. Unpublished manuscript, Music Education and Music Therapy Division, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.

​Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the what, how, and extent to which disabled persons have been represented photographically in the popular music education publication known as the Music Educators Journal (MEJ). I used captions/text and visual means to identify photographs of disabled persons in 643 issues of the MEJ from 1914 until 2015. Data for this content analysis included every photograph of disabled persons (N = 186) located. Photographs were analyzed for disability labels, setting, integration, activities depicted, percieved race, location in the journal, and decade. The majority of photographs of disabled persons were found in the 1980s, possibly in response to the 1975 legislation PL 94-142 (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Mental impairment was the most frequently represented disability in the photographs (30.1%), followed by visual impairment (9.7%), hearing impairment (7.0%), with 30/1% of photographs depicting persons with unspecified disability labels. Additionally, I found an overabundance of general music classroom settings for photographs (37.1%) as compared to all other music education classroom settings (16.1%). Overall, the limited percentage of disabled persons in the MEJ suggests a marginal status and/or concern for disabled persons within the popular consciousness of music education of the United States.