Observation and Analysis of Expert Teaching in Beginning Band

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify common characteristics among expert teachers in beginning band settings. Three subjects were observed across three consecutive classes for a total of approximately 370 minutes. Data sources included on-site and videotape observations, field notes, analysis of instructional goals, and frequency and duration data collected on specified teacher and student behaviors. Organizing field notes using thematic headings revealed that the teachers were proactive in managing student behavior, they prioritized the development of characteristic tones via fundamental concepts of breathing, embouchure, and posture and instrument carriage, and they provided musical models on wind instruments. Twenty-five rehearsal frames were identified and analyzed to determine their instructional targets and the frequency and duration of specified teacher and student behaviors. Pitch Accuracy, Multiple Targets, and Posture/Instrument Carriage were the most frequently observed rehearsal frame target categories. Instructional pace differed from what has been reported in middle school, high school and college settings; subjects talked and modeled for greater proportions, longer durations and lower rates, while students performed for smaller proportions, shorter durations and lower rates than what has been observed in other settings.

Measures of music teacher expertise in three early career levels in America

“…I adapted instructional target categories for choir from Derby (2001) and Patterson’s (2009) studies and adapted instructional target categories for instrumental settings from the Cavitt (2003) and Worthy and Thompson’s (2009) studies. Two instructional targets worth mentioning outside of Supplemental Table 1 are unidentified targets and multiple targets.…”

“…Using videos to assess teacher behavior and identify rehearsal frames and instructional targets has been well-documented and can provide more information about the development of expertise (Bergee, 2005;Bonds, 2015;Cavitt, 2003;Derby, 2001;Goolsby, 1997Goolsby, , 1999Orman, 2002;Patterson, 2009;Taylor, 2006;Worthy, 2005;Worthy & Thompson, 2009). Utilizing video as a main source of analysis for measurement from a longitudinal perspective are currently lacking in extant literature.…”

“…Researchers have emphasized that skill acquisition in early career educators is paramount to developing expertise (Chingos & Peterson, 2011; Marsh, 2007; Rivkin et al, 2005). The concept of expertise has been studied by reviewing individual career levels (Hester, 2013; Patterson, 2009; Schleuter, 1991; Worthy, 2005; Worthy & Thompson, 2009) and comparing early career and experts (Bergee, 2005; Goolsby, 1999; Pike, 2014). No quantitative studies to track growth amongst the three early career levels of the same participants were found after an exhaustive search of the literature.…”