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Abstract

The current study's primary purpose was to compare perceived happiness (meaning, engagement, and pleasure) and gratitude levels of music teachers by grade level taught, certification status, and teaching area. Collectively, mean scores for pleasure and gratitude were comparable to adults in previous studies. Collective mean scores for engagement were slightly lower than comparable studies but were higher for meaning. Results of multivariate and univariate analyses of variance revealed that elementary school teachers reported higher levels of meaning than others. High school teachers reported higher levels of engagement than others, and middle school teachers reported lower levels of gratitude than others. While no significant differences in pleasure or engagement were reported based on certification status, early career teachers reported lower levels of meaning and gratitude than those with more experience. Regarding the teaching area, we found no significant differences regarding pleasure. However, instrumental music teachers reported higher levels of gratitude than others. Both instrumental teachers and those who teach in a combination of areas reported higher levels of meaning and engagement than those in the choral/general music category. In the end, I discuss implications for the profession and areas for further research.

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