The purpose of this study was to observe the teaching of five early career music teachers in three early career levels (preservice, student teaching, and novice teaching) to determine if teaching expertise changes over time. A secondary purpose was to find if any specific teacher behaviors associated with effectiveness were more prominent when teaching their peers in pre-service, another educator’s students in student teaching, and their own students in novice teaching. Data consisted of rehearsal frames and instructional targets identified from teaching video transcriptions along with summative evaluations of the videos by expert teachers. Corroborative findings indicated a lack of specificity across all levels which improved somewhat during student teaching and novice teaching. Directives were the most frequently observed teacher verbal category and information and demonstrations were the highest ranked items across all levels in the summative evaluation. However, instructional directive scores were inconsistent. Teacher modeling doubled during novice teaching. Many of the evaluators commented on the overuse of rote teaching, concurrent performance model, and lack of competency-based education techniques. Implications for higher education training including self awareness and accountability are discussed.

Anthony Johnson Showalter (c. 1853–1924) was a music educator, gospel composer, publisher, and considered a pioneer in gospel music and education in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Showalter is notably mentioned in numerous texts and studies related to gospel music; however, little data has been collected regarding the tools he used in singing schools—namely, the rudiment books he wrote and the schools where he used the curriculum. The purpose of this study is to discover Showalter’s possible motivation to begin his career, his determination in writing music education curriculum, organizing singing schools, his reasonings for focusing on seven-shape note style, and his influence into the twenty-first century. Materials analyzed included Showalter’s rudiment books, extant copies of his periodical, “The Music Teacher and Home Magazine,” and interviews at present-day gospel singing schools. Extant research related to four-shape and seven-shape hymnody and education was also reviewed. Findings indicate that Showalter was a progressive student-centered educator who utilized alternate tools in helping many with literacy by organizing the Southern Normal Musical Institute. Showalter created materials and opportunities which were accessible to the advanced and the beginner, hence providing a future for gospel singing schools well into the twenty-first century.