ABSTRACT
FOCUS In this chapter we invite you to “learn from others,” and become more familiar with teaching as a lifelong career. We have several aims: first, to engage you in the process of looking beyond your immediate concerns and goals of learning to teach music and peek into the future; and second, to expand your field of vision by considering the various influences, factors, knowledges, skills, competencies, and dispositions that can shape a life in teaching over time. A key concept in this chapter is coming to understand that the general progression of one’s career is not just shaped by the conditions and environments in which we find ourselves. Rather, we can act as agents in shaping conditions and contexts. In other words, we can be the “authors” of own careers.
