A Case Study of Preservice Music Teachers’ Experiences With Play in a General Music Methods Course

Abstract

Preservice music teachers may devalue play as a teaching approach unless music teacher educators reintroduce them to play through role-playing, cooperative games, and other playful activities. I designed a 4-week unit on play as part of an elementary general music methods course. Student participants engaged in, reflected on, and planned play activities over the course of the unit. My data sources, which included video recordings, written responses, lesson plans, and researcher notes, were analyzed through the lens of Gray’s conception of play as intrinsic, imaginative, and mentally active. Participants reflected on play experiences and play-based teaching in individualized ways, but also appeared to increasingly value play over time. I discuss implications for implementing play in preservice music teacher education.

The practice of interactive knowledge sharing in the course of music education: exchange between classmates and the teacher (Intercambio interactivo de conocimientos en la educación musical: intercambios entre el alumnado y el profesorado)

“…En este estudio se afirma que el conocimiento del docente y la complejidad de la pieza musical son los elementos más importantes del proceso de aprendizaje, y que el uso de la visualización contribuye a la creación de composiciones musicales estéticas. Por otro lado, Wolfe (2020) muestra la interacción que ocurre entre alumnos y profesores en torno al juego. El proceso de formación consistía en cuatro semanas de estudio de un curso musical mediante el juego.…”

“…This study declares teachers' knowledge and complexity of the music piece in the programme to be most important in the learning process, whereas the use of visualization is claimed to contribute to the writing of aesthetic musical compositions. Wolfe (2020) shows the interactive interaction between teachers and students based on games. The training process was based on a four-week study of a music course in a playful way.…”

Self-Examination of Music Methods Teaching in a Reggio Emilia-Inspired Learning Community

“…The REA was founded in principles of democracy, demonstrating respect for individual learners, and a social environment (Cagliari et al, 2012). Initially, the REA was designed for preschool children, but because the approach can be molded to the strengths, interests, and needs of learners, teachers have successfully adapted practices to different settings, including secondary (Soble & Hogue, 2010) and postsecondary education (Wolfe, 2020). Through the REA process of pedagogical documentation, a small group of teachers and a pedagogical coordinator share student artifacts in order to better understand student learning, interrogate current teaching practices, and plan alterations to the learning environment.…”

“…Due to its context-flexible nature, aspects of REA have been adapted for a wide variety of settings. Some researchers have examined music within generalist Reggio Emilia-inspired learning environments (e.g., Bond, 2012Bond, , 2015Reynolds & Filsinger, 2013;Reynolds & Waters, 2014;Waters, 2015;Westlake, 2015), while others have examined implementation of REA teaching practices in music classrooms (Gould, 2006;Smith, 2011;Yanko, 2015) and music education courses in higher education (Wolfe, 2020), but none has focused on the process of pedagogical documentation. Music teacher educators engaged in collaborative professional development have found value in such experiences and offered suggestions for others who would undertake similar activities (e.g., Bond & Koops, 2014;Conway et al, 2010;Conway et al, 2016;Draves & Koops, 2011;Kuebel et al, 2019;Pellegrino et al, 2014;Pellegrino et al, 2019).…”