Back to
the Future: Pre-Service Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs about General Music Instruction
Daniel
C. Johnson, University of North Carolina - Wilmington
As
the basis for all other musical study (Regelski,
2004), general music instruction holds a unique place in K-12 music education,
being a one of the most foundational and influential aspects of music teaching
(Edwards, Kerchner, & Knight, 2003). Both in
terms of teaching positions and promoting music learning, the impact of general
music has the potential to engage every child and inspire a life-long love of
music.
The
purpose of this qualitative study was to trace the progression of general music
studentsÕ attitudes and beliefs during their university classroom methods
course. Because college students are closest in experience to participating in
secondary choral or instrumental ensembles, they often identify with
high-school music teachers when imagining their career path (Rickels, et al.,
2013). While this presents a challenge for general music teacher educators, it
also presents an opportunity for students to re-discover the importance of and
joy in classroom music.
To
explore pre-service teacher attitudes and beliefs about general music pedagogy
during their classroom methods course, twenty-four students served as
participants and completed initial, mid-term, and final versions of an
open-ended questionnaire. In responding, participants articulated: the
definition of general music, why schools teach it, its role in the relation to
the rest of the school curriculum, the requisite skill set for general music
teachers, the level of difficulty in teaching general music, and how general
music might fit into their future teaching career.
Initial
questionnaire responses reflected studentsÕ attitudes and beliefs before
studying general music. As a key instructional activity at the middle of the
semester, respondents began presenting a series of mini-lessons in area
schools. Therefore, mid-term responses reflected corresponding attitudes and
beliefs after beginning their mini-lesson experiences, while final responses
indicated their summative views after completing the mini-lessons and final
classes.
Using
axial coding, the researcher found that the respondentsÕ journey through
general music methods paralleled their preparation and delivery of
mini-lessons. Participants moved from an introduction through observations to
practical teaching experiences. Emergent themes included three shifts: from the
conceptual to the practical; from the general to specific; and from naivetŽ to
appreciation. For triangulation, the researcher performed peer and member
checks to provide internal validity for the findings (Creswell, 2008).
Future
research includes re-examining college syllabi to identify what teaching and
learning experiences are most impactful for pre-service music teachers. Potential
applications include using backward design (Wiggins & McTighe,
2005) to parallel the new national standards for music education. A
quantitative instrument to measure changes in the beliefs and attitudes among
pre-service teachers on their journey through general music pedagogy may also
be an outgrowth of this research.
Implications
for music education include guiding student development of music-teacher
identities and socialization into the profession (Dolloff,
1999). Understanding studentsÕ attitudes and beliefs before, during, and after
their general music methods class may enable teacher-educators to mentor and
guide future teachers to a successful career. Examining the studentsÕ attitudes
and beliefs could also provide valuable insights into the efficacy and impact
of general music methods courses.
References
Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting,
and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd Edition), Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.
Dolloff, L. A. (1999).
Imagining ourselves as teachers: The development of teacher identity in music
teacher education. Music
Education Research, 1(2), 191-208.
Edwards, K., Kerchner, J., & Knight, J. (2003). Prelude to music education (p. x198). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Regelski, T.
A. (2004).
Teaching general music in grades 4-8: A
musicianship approach. Oxford University Press.
Rickels, D. A., Brewer, W. D., Councill, K. H., Fredrickson, W. E., Hairston, M., Perry,
D. L., ... & Schmidt, M. (2013). Career influences of music education
audition candidates. Journal
of Research in Music Education, 61(1), 115-134.
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding
by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.