The purpose of this mixed-method study was to determine how music educators define culture and identity and the relationship between those definitions and their pedagogical practices in the classroom. Culture and identity are aspects of the human experience that are negotiated and developed throughout our lives (Appiah, 2005). Many use the word culture interchangeably with ethnicity and race, typically as a euphemism. However, when asked to define the term, culture is often described as a people group's language, traditions, values, beliefs, and rituals. Society influences large parts of a person’s identity and transmits conceptions of how a person with a particular identity is to behave (Althusser, 1971; Hall, 1990, 1996). Culture is a dynamic and ever evolving aspect of collective identities. For this reason, Ladson-Billings (2014) through culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), and Paris and Alim (2014) through culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) call on educators to utilize pedagogical practices that foster and sustain cultural and linguistic pluralism and engage in sociopolitical consciousness. These authors challenge educators to honor and celebrate the home and youth cultures of their students in their teaching practices. While some educators may claim to engage in culturally relevant or sustaining practices, their actions depict otherwise, calling into question what they understand about culture and identity and how that relates to their practices (Sierzega, 2024). Music educators in a Midwest metropolitan area completed a survey with items that relate to identity, culture, teaching practices, and personal demographics. Upon completing the survey, participants had the opportunity to opt in for a semi-structured interview or focus group to get more in-depth descriptions about the topics of the survey. I present my findings in this poster session.