Values in Tension: Navigating Institutional Ethics and Collective Responsibility in Schools of Music

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the ethical dimensions of music institutions by exploring how schools of music shape and uphold their institutional values—particularly when individual members hold ethical commitments that stand in conflict with those values. We conducted interviews with faculty and administrators at two large schools of music—one public, one private—in the United States. Our research questions were as follows: (1) How do faculty and administrators understand their responsibilities to shape and uphold their institution’s values? (2) How are ethical tensions and disagreements about those values navigated between the institution and its members? (3) How do misalignments between individual and institutional values shape the perceived emergence of institutional virtues or vices? Using collective belief epistemology and institutional virtue/vice epistemology as theoretical frameworks, our analysis yielded several within-case themes per school site. Between-case analysis revealed three additional themes: (1) Faculty Governance and Policies are Necessary but Not Sufficient ; (2) Stowaways in Resisting Institutional Vice ; and (3) “We Survive by Evolution”: Institutional Virtue as a Long-Term Project . We discuss implications for music education policy and avenues for future research.