As part of an international mapping exercise to investigate students' motivation to study music as compared to other school subjects, this study examined South Korean students' perceptions of subject value, competence and task difficulty, based on the expectancy-value theoretical framework. A sample of 2671 students was drawn from 11 schools (grades 5-12). The results suggest a decline across school levels in students' perceptions of the value of music, and an increase across school levels in perceptions of task difficulty and parental expectations of effort in test-driven school subjects (i.e., mathematics, Korean, science). These trends among South Korean student motivational profiles may demonstrate the impact of high-stakes college entrance examinations. Students reported high parental expectations for student success in rigorous academic subjects, which might have negatively influenced students' values towards non-tested subjects such as music, art and physical education (P.E.). However, the high ranking of interest in music as a subject, along with relatively stable reported interest in music over time, suggests that South Korean students have a notable interest in music learning, but it is likely that the emphasis on examinations in South Korea may minimize the potential for exploration or expansion of this interest. Downloaded from 90 Research Studies in Music Education 33 (1) which examined students' motivation to study music as compared to other school subjects (e.g., art, mother tongue language, physical education (P.E.), mathematics, science). Readers should refer to the lead article in this series (McPherson & O'Neill, 2010) for a full explanation of the theoretical assumptions underpinning the study, reliability and validity of the questionnaire scales, and description of the methods used to gather and analyse data. Further information on the eight-country analysis can be obtained by contacting the research team leader (McPherson) or, in the case of this article, the lead author.The studies in this series draw on the expectancy-value theoretical framework (Eccles et al., 1983; Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998) to examine the competence beliefs, values, and perceptions of task difficulty of 24,143 students across the eight countries. Competence beliefs were defined as expectations for success or the belief about how well each student thought she or he could do in each subject or upcoming task. Subjective task values were conceptualized in terms of four major components: attainment value or importance, intrinsic value or interest, utility value or usefulness, and the cost of participating in the subject.Four key issues in the overall eight-country analysis as reported by McPherson and O'Neill (2010) were investigated: (a) whether competence beliefs and values declined across all eight countries; (b) whether perceptions of task difficulty increased across school levels; (c) differences in students' rating of competence beliefs, values and task difficulty for music as compared to other school subj...

Professional development for in-service teachers is necessary to meet the changing needs of students and society. This teacher collaboration study examined the experiences of mid-career elementary teachers in Korea in their music professional development. Research questions included: (1) What were the contents of discussion? (2) What was the level of participation among elementary teachers in a collaborative group? (3) How did the focus of the group change over time? The data collection included nonparticipant observation, participants’ reflective journals, researchers’ logs, and artifact collection. Findings showed that participants mainly discussed teaching strategies about music classes and reflected new knowledge that were closely related to confidence in teaching. In addition, teachers in this collaborative group played different roles throughout the group meetings depending on their expertise and interests, but there was also a need for a facilitator. Finally, teachers in the group gradually identified the importance of teacher collaboration for their professional development and attempted to be peer mentors for others outside the collaborative group.

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