Ikääntyvän pianonsoitonopettajan kokemuksia : Tapaustutkimus työn vaatimuksista ja voimavaroista

Abstract

This research aimed at studying job-related experiences of an aging piano teacher at a music institution. It used job demands and resources as a theoretical framework and applied case-study methodology to show a real example and interactions between experiences; as such it complemented earlier studies. As data, the study used four texts written by the teacher with a focus on ageing experiences.

The data-driven analysis resulted in a five-level structure with demands and resources as the main themes, both divided into three categories (personal, society related, and institutional), and further into subcategories, classes, and units. Some results were similar to those found in earlier studies with schoolteachers (e.g. autonomy at work, possibility to support students, and support received from family as resources, and lack of collegial support, lack of knowledge about various types of learners, and curriculum change as demands). In addition, our study revealed a substantial amount of new information about experiences related to ageing, playing abilities, constant change, educational level of the worker, and power relations at work. The data was also rich in revealing the connections between the various aspects. We hope that this research opens discussions about ageing instrument teachers’ work conditions.