Creative Musical Activities in Undergraduate Music Education Curricula

2020 ◽  
pp. 105708372094846
Author(s):  
Erik S. Piazza ◽  
Brent C. Talbot

Music education majors report low exposure to creative musical activities (CMAs) despite increased discourse surrounding the inclusion of CMAs in standards, curricula, publications, and practice. The purpose of this study was to compare preservice music teachers’ (PMT) and music teacher educators’ (MTE) experiences with CMAs. We used an anonymous survey instrument to explore definitions, perceived importance and preparedness, and the incorporation of CMAs within undergraduate music education curricula. MTEs and PMTs valued the inclusion of CMAs in preK–12 curricula, PMTs felt most prepared to teach arranging and least prepared to teach composing with their future preK–12 students, and PMTs valued and desired more opportunities to practice CMAs in undergraduate curricula. MTEs should consider integrating these activities as regular components in undergraduate music curricula.

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Woody ◽  
Danni Gilbert ◽  
Lynda A. Laird

For music teachers to be most effective, they must possess the dispositions that best facilitate their students’ learning. In this article, we present and discuss the findings of a study in which we sought to explore music majors’ self-appraisals in and the extent to which they value the disposition areas of reflectivity, empathic caring, musical comprehensiveness, and musical learnability orientation. Evidence from a survey of 110 music majors suggested that music education students possess and value the dispositions of reflectivity, musical comprehensiveness, and musical learnability orientation more highly after they have matured through their college careers. Additionally, based on their responses to music teaching scenarios, it appears that senior music education majors possess greater empathic caring than do their freshman counterparts.


Author(s):  
Michael Raiber

The impact of teacher dispositions on the professional development of preservice music teachers (PMTs) has been substantiated. This chapter describes an approach to dispositional development within the structure of an introduction to music education course. A teacher concerns model is used to organize this systematic approach through three developmental stages that include self-concerns, teaching task concerns, and student learning concerns. A series of 11 critical questions are presented for use in guiding PMTs’ dispositional development through these developmental stages. Activities to engage PMTs in the exploration of each of these questions are detailed for use by music teacher educators desiring to engage PMTs in dispositional development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-70
Author(s):  
Crystal Sieger

Students choosing to enter the music teaching profession after having already obtained undergraduate degrees in other music fields may experience unique forms of socialization and teacher identity development. Participants were four students enrolled in a 3-year master’s program with a music teacher licensure component. Through individual and focus group interviews, participants shared their perspectives on program experiences, course elements, and interactions with peers and professors as important influences on their developing music teacher identity. I examined the data for emerging patterns and applied open and axial coding to the most prominent responses, resulting in themes centered on participants’ socialization experiences, desire for independence, need for self-justification, and “outsider” status among peers. To combat lack of peer recognition or support, participants developed strong, collaborative relations with each other. Implications for music teacher educators are considered.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-474
Author(s):  
Lori F Gooding ◽  
D Gregory Springer

Abstract Music teachers play an important role in exposing students to career options in the field of music. As a result, there is a need to explore music education students’ interest in and knowledge of music therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate music education students’ exposure to, knowledge of, and willingness to promote music therapy as a career option for prospective collegiate students. A survey was given to 254 music education majors from four research institutions, two with and two without music therapy degree programs. Participants answered demographic, yes/no, Likert-type scale, and open-ended questions about their exposure to, knowledge of, and willingness to promote careers in music therapy. Results indicate that exposure to music therapy occurred in both pre-collegiate and college settings, and that music teachers appear to be influential in exposing students to music therapy. Students often sought out information on music therapy independently, which played an important role in how individuals learned about music therapy, though it has the potential of providing misinformation. Significant differences were found in participants’ knowledge and willingness to promote music therapy as a career option based on the presence of music therapy degree programs. Exposure seemed to be a key factor in music therapy knowledge and promotion; thus, music therapists need to ensure accurate dissemination of music therapy-related information in both pre-collegiate and college settings. Increasing the visibility of the field has the potential to expand interest and potentially attract young musicians well suited for a career in music therapy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-99
Author(s):  
J. Si Millican ◽  
Sommer Helweh Forrester

There is a decades-long history of music education researchers examining characteristics and skills associated with effective teaching and assessing how preservice music teachers develop those competencies. Building on studies of pedagogical content knowledge and the professional opinions of experienced music educators, researchers are now attempting to identity a body of core music teaching practices. We asked experienced in-service music teachers ( N = 898) to think about the skills beginning music teachers must possess to investigate how respondents rated and ranked selected core music teaching practices in terms of their relative importance. Developing appropriate relationships with students, modeling music concepts, and sequencing instruction were the top core teaching practices identified by the group. Results provide insights into knowing, naming, and framing a set of core teaching practices and offer a common technical vocabulary that music teacher educators might use as they design curricula and activities to develop these foundational skills.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-37
Author(s):  
Samuel Escalante

Music teacher educators often work to prepare preservice music teachers to be socially conscious and adopt dispositions toward teaching in socially just ways. Preservice teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and dispositions toward social justice issues may not be sufficiently challenged, however, unless coursework is appropriately conceived. I designed a three-part workshop to introduce and explore the concepts of access, intersectionality, and privilege, and then conducted a basic qualitative study to examine undergraduate music education students’ understandings of and attitudes toward sensitive social justice issues, as well as their experiences with the workshop. I found that exploring sociological concepts related to social justice through interactive activities and allowing students safe methods for expressing themselves, such as journaling, may facilitate the adoption of positive dispositions among preservice teachers toward toward social justice issues.


2020 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Mara E. Culp ◽  
Sara K. Jones

Feelings of shame may contribute to music teachers and music teacher educators being unwilling to discuss needs and concerns for fear of being judged or seen as inadequate. Shame or fear of feeling shame can also lead individuals to withdraw or perpetuate negative behaviors. Although shame is often a natural part of the human experience, the diverse nature of the content in music education, the wide variety of learners in various music education spaces, and music teachers’ beliefs and practices can be sources of shame among music teachers. This article aims to start a conversation about shame in music education and help music educators and music teacher educators feel empowered to use shame resilience theory as a means of understanding and coping with feelings of shame.


Author(s):  
Julie Myung Ok Song

The purpose of this literature review was to analyze and synthesize pedagogical approaches related to developing music education philosophy for preservice music teachers. The literature that I identified covered procedures and strategies that preservice music teachers could apply to their teaching practice. On my analysis of the existing literature, I categorized the development of a philosophy into a four-stage process of (1) discovery, (2) articulation, (3) application, and (4) reflection and revision. Results found in the literature included clear expectations and practical tools for each stage, such as dialogues, reading, writing, and constructive feedback, providing a critical view of music education philosophy and guidelines for effective teaching. Understanding the four-stage process may help preservice music teachers and music teacher educators to establish a concrete plan for the development of music education philosophy, allowing preservice music teachers to acquire more confidence in their transition to inservice teaching.


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford K. Madsen ◽  
Steven N. Kelly

In the study described here, we used an open-ended written essay to identify the factors that lead students to become music teachers. Ninety music education majors were given the instructions to indicate in their own words their earliest remembrances of when they considered becoming a music teacher, including age, place, who was with them, how they felt, their thoughts at the time, and any other aspects they considered important. Essays were analyzed and classified according to these areas of interest; additionally as a more qualitative assessment, total responses were analyzed to discern some of the nuances evidenced in individual responses. Results indicated that the age at which the decision was made and influential people in their lives were the most important factors affecting these subjects' decision to become a music teacher. The decision was vividly remembered, with school music teachers exerting the primary influence. Of the subjects, 76% decided to become a music teacher before entering a teacher preparatory program. Students who did not decide until they were of college age remained ambivalent about their choice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Phillip D. Payne ◽  
Wesley Lewis ◽  
Frank McCaskill

The primary purpose of this article was to establish the current state of mental health among music education majors. Music education majors across the United States ( N = 1137) self-reported indicators of depression, anxiety, and stress. According to the results, music education majors are highly busy, enrolling in an average of 16.5 credit hours (not including zero-credit courses) and rehearsing 9.75 hours a week; a majority of them also work for an average of 13 to 15 hours a week. Participants reported elevated levels of stress, with 57% exhibiting moderate to severe depression and over 70% exhibiting moderate to severe anxiety. We discuss the findings, provide implications for music teacher education, and share suggestions for future research.


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