Perceptions of Early-career School Music Teachers Regarding Their Preservice Preparation

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceptions of early-career music teachers regarding their preservice music education program, with respect to its success in developing competencies needed to be effective in school music classrooms. An online survey was completed by 101 school music teachers designed to elicit responses related to the following questions: (a) What are early-career music teachers' perceptions of their preparation for teaching in school music classrooms? (b) What aspects of their work do early-career music teachers find most challenging and rewarding? (c) What aspects of their preservice training do early-career music teachers perceive as most important for successful teaching in the early years of their careers? Most teachers expressed a need for more hands-on experiences, more discussion of pedagogical problems in a variety of settings, and classroom management. Implications for teaching and research are discussed.

Perceptions of Course Value and Issues of Specialization in Undergraduate Music Teacher Education Curricula

“…The comments promoting the value of field experiences and mentorships support findings by Brophy (2002) and Legette (2013) who also found that music education students desired more effective field experiences with quality teachers. These findings, in consideration of Taylor's (1970) counterpoint that decontextualized field experiences lacked value, may suggest that field experiences could be incorporated into existing courses.…”

Teaching Careers: Exploring Links Between Well-Being, Burnout, Self-Efficacy and Praxis Shock

“…This study examined the perceptions of music teachers specifically, as it has been consistently argued that the experiences of early career music teachers are characterized by practical challenges associated with teaching the discipline area (Krueger, 2001;Scheib, 2006;Ballantyne, 2007;Conway, 2012;Legette, 2013). This is implicated in the findings by Buonomo et al (2017), who argue that the contextual stressors provided by teaching roles which require extracurricular responsibilities and workload (like music teachers) are at greater risk of burnout.…”

Comparing Field-Teaching Experiences: A Longitudinal Examination of Preservice and First-Year Teacher Perspectives

“…Experiences in real classrooms are considered a critical part of music teacher preparation, and various hands-on teaching activities are thought to allow students to make connections between theory and practice in real time and in authentic contexts. Research has shown that practicing teachers rate fieldwork as one of the most valuable parts of teacher preparation and also recommend more of these authentic field-teaching activities (Brophy, 2002;Conway, 2002Conway, , 2012Groulx, 2016;Legette, 2013;Roulston, Legette, & Womack, 2005). Teachers also have consistently recommended broader approaches to the preservice music education curriculum incorporating more "detracked" experiences outside of the chosen music specialization (Conway, 2002;2012;Groulx, 2016).…”