scholarly journals Intercultural Competence as a Premise for Professional and Personal Teacher Development: the Case of Master Degree Studies in Music Education

Pedagogika ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-96
Author(s):  
Jolanta Lasauskienė ◽  
Xiangou Wang ◽  
Yiwei Zhang

The aim of the article is to analyse intercultural experience of foreign students enrolled in Master study programmes of Music Education, revealing tendencies in expression of intercultural competence and possibilities of its development in the university. The sample of the research included 27 foreign Master’s degree students (Chinese) of the Department of Music of the Faculty of Education at Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. The research problem is determined by the question how intercultural competence of foreign Master students – future music educators – is expressed and what possibilities of its development at university are observed. Research methods. The data was collected in accordance with the method of written student reflections. The analysis of qualitative data was done through qualitative content analysis. The following conclusions are drawn in the article: Contemporary music educators have to be ready to conduct research, to critically evaluate and creatively improve current educational environment in terms of cultural, artistic and educational needs. Intercultural competence of music educators is determined as a person’s quality, an aggregate of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary for successful activity of music educators in the context of interaction among different cultures. The results of the qualitative content analysis revealed that the foreign Master’s degree students in Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences relate music educator’s intercultural competence with knowledge and understanding of cultural phenomena, foreign language skills, involvement in musical cultural activities, ability to communicate with representatives of other cultures as well as with attitudes and personal qualities that facilitate music educator’s activities. Foreign students envisage a significant importance of intercultural knowledge, cultural identity and learning from other cultures to intercultural competence of music educators. Studies abroad are considered to be a priority factor in music educator’s intercultural competence, which encourages learning of other cultures, confirms importance of foreign language skills and opens a path towards personal and professional improvement. The results of the qualitative content analysis highlighted that the academic environment (study content and methods, relations between university teachers and students) has the most considerable impact on intercultural competence development.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-66
Author(s):  
Chamil Arkhasa Nikko Mazlan ◽  
Mohd Hassan Abdullah

This article proposes a pragmatism approach useful in explaining the logic of learning jazz guitar reharmonization techniques. Music and practices are both unseparated and unified in the field of music education. This poses challenges for traditional and western music consolidation because reharmonization technique is only known in western music repertoires while traditional music normally utilizes old-style repertoires. Some practitioners rooted in dogmatic thinking still maintain authenticity and traditions. In this study, our data is gathered using qualitative content analysis. We then identified similarity of pragmatism principles along with the interpretation of jazz reharmonization techniques. We suggest that pragmatism approach is a useful pathway for music educators to reconceptualize teaching and learning of traditional music using jazz reharmonization technique and then, recreate and innovate a new sound and context of learning jazz harmony rather than using jazz standards repertoires.


PMLA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 130 (5) ◽  
pp. 1476-1480
Author(s):  
Logan J. Connors

Literary representations of emotions fascinate us as readers; they connect to us logically and naturally because we experience in our daily lives many of the emotional events depicted in novels, plays, and poems. Students are intrigued by the similarities and differences between their everyday feelings and the emotions represented in literature. Emotions are thus interesting processes to study, and in classroom discussions and activities most students have something to say about them. For this reason, I use emotion (broadly defined) as an important subject of inquiry in my literature and culture classes. In what follows, I share a structured journaling assignment based on emotion that helps students read with more detail, improves their foreign language skills, and boosts their engagement with difficult subject matter.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Józef Jarosz

Abstract The contemporary teaching of foreign languages assumes the development of the ability to use a foreign language in different communication situations. Apart from language competence, also the cultural competence is developed as it is a necessary component of communication. A successful transfer of knowledge and language skills in the process of foreign language learning is determined by a textbook (in addition to other factors). The goal of this article is to analyze the content and assess three Danish textbooks, which were published in Germany in the years 2008-2010. The textbooks are examined in terms of knowledge about Danish life and institutions, the transfer of intercultural competence and the presence of stereotypes. The textbooks were studied based on the list of criteria and it resulted in stating that the textbooks fulfill the objective of providing the knowledge about the country to a great degree. The intercultural component and the issue of stereotypes are dealt with in a different manner.


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