Associate Professor of Music and Human Learning
Justin J. West, Ph.D., is assistant professor of Music and Human Learning in the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. He was previously assistant professor of music education at LSU, where received a 2021 Rising Faculty Research Award. Dr. West teaches courses on children’s musical development, qualitative research, and law and policy in arts education.
Dr. West is a scholar of teacher learning and professional development (PD). His quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Journal of General Music Education, and Arts Education Policy Review, among others. In 2022, he co-edited an International Journal for Research in Education special issue on pandemic-era PD. He was from 2019-2023 facilitator of the professional development for music teachers working group in the Society for Music Teacher Education. As a PD provider–researcher, Dr. West has designed, led, and studied reciprocal peer coaching programs for music teachers in Louisiana and Texas. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, and Texas Music Education Research. At UT Austin, his research has been supported by fellowships to the Sandra E. New Endowed Professorship in Music Education and the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music Endowment as well as grants from the Office of the Vice President for Research.
Dr. West holds degrees in music education from the University of North Texas (Ph.D.), Columbia University (M.A.), and Lamar University (B.M.). A native Texan, he taught choir, AP music theory, and piano in the Houston area and has Texas principal and teacher certifications. Dr. West, a longtime church choir director, pianist, and organist, is director of music at Calvary Episcopal Church in Bastrop.
MUS 354C
Musical Development of Children I
MUS 354D
Musical Development of Children II
MUS 393
Qualitative Research in Music
MUS 393
Law and Policy in Arts Education
West, J. J., & Sanderson, D. N. (2024). Strengthening music teacher professional development: The P–12 music administrator’s role. Arts Education Policy Review.
West, J. J. (2024). Professional development among music and non-music teachers in the United States: Comparative evidence from the 2017–2018 National Teacher and Principal Survey.
West, J. J. (2023). How to (re)build the secondary school choir program: Cues from a recent case study. Choral Journal, 63, 27–29.
Frey-Clark, M. L., Tucker, O. G., & West, J. J. A phenomenology of first-year music teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Research in Music Education.
West, J. J., & Bowers, J. P. (2022). (Re)building the secondary school choir program: An organizational perspective. International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, 10, 19–44
West, J. J., & Bautista, A. (2022). Global perspectives on teacher professional development: Navigating the pandemic. International Journal for Research in Education, 46(1), 1–27.
West, J. J., Stanley, A. M., & Appova, A. K. (2022). Exogenous shocks and teachers’ motivation to learn: Pandemic and professional development in the United States. International Journal for Research in Education, 46(1), 261–308.
West, J. J., Stanley, A. M., Bowers, J. P., & Isbell, D. S. (2021). Attrition, (de)motivation, and "effective" music teacher professional development: An instrumental case study. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education.
West, J. J., & Bautista, A. (2021) Greater than the sum of its parts: Promoting systemness in music and arts teacher professional development. Arts Education Policy Review, 122(1), 54–64.
West, J. J. (2020). Is music teacher professional development becoming more effective? Evaluating practice and policy in the U.S., 1993–2012. Journal of Research in Music Education.
West, J. J. (2020). Understanding the process of proximate change following music teachers’ participation in large-scale conferences: A grounded theory. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 225, 67–94.
West, J. J. (2019). From the conference to the classroom: Elevating short-term professional development for lifelong learning. General Music Today, 31(1), 24–28.
West, J. J., & Frey-Clark, M. L. (2019). Traditional versus alternative pathways to certification: Assessing differences in music teacher self-efficacy. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 28(2), 98–111.
West, J. J. (2019). Social capital and music teacher professional development: Principle, policy, and practice. Arts Education Policy Review, 120(1), 33–44.
Contact Information
Email address
justin.
MRH 2.204B
Teaching Areas
Music & Human Learning
Research Areas
Music Teacher Learning and Professional Development
Arts Education Policy
Music Program Building
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
University of North Texas
Master of Arts
Columbia University
Bachelor of Music
Lamar University