Adapting music education to pandemic regulations: Conceptualizing the school demands-resource theoretical innovation through autoethnography

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted the wellbeing of students and teachers around the world. Job demands-resource theory has been an integral theoretical framework to understand how workers navigate strenuous conditions. Further, the study demands-resource model was conceptualized to understand how students’ school-based responsibilities affect their wellbeing and performance. There is a gap, however, in unifying these models to understand how teachers’ and students’ wellbeing are co-influenced by school-based demands and resources. To address this, I conceptualized the school demands-resource model to explore the intersections of this phenomena. Through autoethnography, I reflected upon my own professional practices as a public school music teacher facilitating learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings generated provide new understandings into the intersections of job demands-resources and study demands-resources and how public health regulations impacted music program function. Increased school demands included physical distancing, teaching and learning without singing or movement, and increased sanitation of classroom materials, but were alleviated via successful job/study crafting. School resources were also affected by pandemic-related health protocols, including changes in classroom relationships, school materials, and self-efficacy. Implications for future research include exploring how classroom relationships and job/study crafting may optimize engagement and wellbeing in school music programs.