effectiveness of preservice music teacher education ... · practice of teachers in the music...

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EFFECTIVENESS OF PRESERVICE MUSIC TEACHER

EDUCATION PROGRAMS: PERCEPTIONS OF EARLY-

CAREER MUSIC TEACHERS

Julie Ballantyne

A.Mus.A, B.Mus, B.Ed

Centre for Innovation in Education

Submitted in response to the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy

2005

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KEYWORDS

Music teacher education

Teacher education

Curriculum

Music education

Early-career teachers

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ABSTRACT

The quality of teaching occurring in schools is directly linked to the quality of

preservice preparation that teachers receive (Darling-Hammond, 2000). This is

particularly important in the area of music teacher education, given the unique

challenges that classroom music teachers commonly face (Ballantyne, 2001). This

thesis explores early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their

preservice teacher education programs in Queensland. It also explores influences

impacting upon early-career music teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness and early-

career music teachers’ perceived needs in relation to their preservice preparation.

The study addresses the research questions through the use of questionnaires and

semi-structured interviews. In Stage 1 of the research, questionnaires were completed

by 76 secondary classroom music teachers in their first four years of teaching in

Queensland, Australia. In Stage 2 of the research, 15 of these teachers were

interviewed to explore findings from the questionnaire in depth.

Findings suggest that preservice teachers perceive a need for teacher education

courses to be contextualised, integrated and allow for the continual development of

knowledge and skills throughout their early years in schools. This research provides

an empirical basis for reconceptualising music teacher education courses and raises

important issues that music teacher educators need to address in order to ensure that

graduates are adequately prepared for classroom music teaching.

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PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS FROM THIS

THESIS

Refereed Journal Articles:

Ballantyne, J., & Packer, J. (2004). Effectiveness of preservice music teacher education

programs: Perceptions of early-career music teachers. Music Education Research,

6(3), 299-312.

Refereed book chapters:

Ballantyne, J. (2004). An analysis of current reform agendas in preservice teacher education.

In S. Danby, E. McWilliam & J. Knight (Eds.), Performing research: Theories,

methods and practices (pp. 265-276). Flaxton, QLD: PostPressed.

Ballantyne, J. (2001). The distinctive nature of music education and music teacher education.

In P. Singh & E. McWilliam (Eds.), Designing educational researchers: Theories,

methods and practices. Flaxton, QLD: PostPresssed.

Refereed conference proceedings:

Ballantyne, J. (2005). Identities of music teachers: Implications for teacher education. Paper

presented at the Australian Teacher Education Association Conference, Gold Coast

July 2005

Harrison, S., & Ballantyne, J. (2005) Effective teacher attributes: perceptions of early-career

and pre-service music teachers. Paper presented at the Australian Teacher Education

Association Conference, Gold Coast July 2005

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Ballantyne, J (2003). Current trends in teacher education: Some theoretical implications.

Paper presented at the New Zealand Association of Research in Education/Australian

Association of Research in Education Conference, Auckland, New Zealand

November 2003.

Conference presentations:

Ballantyne, J (2004) Reconceptualising preservice teacher education courses for music

teachers: The importance of pedagogical content knowledge and skills and

professional knowledge and skills. Paper presented at the Australian Association of

Research in Education Conference, Melbourne, Victoria, 28th November -2nd

December 2004.

Ballantyne, J (2004) Preventing praxis shock in music teachers: Suggestions for professional

development. Paper presented at the Research and the Future of Catholic Schooling

Forum, Australian Catholic University October 2004.

Ballantyne, J (2004) Teacher education traditions – early-career teachers’ understanding of

these and emergence of a single construct. Paper presented at the Australian

Association of Research in Music Education Conference, Tweed Heads, Queensland

September.

Ballantyne, J and Packer, J. (2004) Effectiveness of preservice music teacher education

programs: Perceptions of early-career music teachers. Paper presented at the

International Society of Music Education, Teneriffe, Spain July 2004.

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Ballantyne, J (2003). Current trends in teacher education: Some implications. Paper

presented at the NZARE/AARE conference, Auckland, New Zealand and at the

Q.U.T Faculty of Education Postgraduate Student Conference, Brisbane.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .............................................................................8

2.1 Teacher education..................................................................................................................9

2.1.1 The four teacher education reforms................................................................................10

2.1.2 Teacher education in Queensland ..................................................................................14

2.1.3 Trends in teacher education reform ...............................................................................15

2.1.4 A consensus in teacher education...................................................................................20

2.1.5 Teacher professionalisation in Australia........................................................................21

2.1.6 A way forward ................................................................................................................24

2.2 The early years of teaching..................................................................................................25

2.2.1 Teacher knowledge.........................................................................................................25

2.2.2 The socialisation of teachers ..........................................................................................28

2.2.3 Preparation for the early years of teaching....................................................................31

2.2.4 Discipline-specific problems ..........................................................................................34

2.2.5 Summary.........................................................................................................................36

2.3 Music education ..................................................................................................................37

2.3.1 The arts in education ......................................................................................................37

2.3.2 The distinctive nature of music education ......................................................................42

2.3.3 The quality of secondary classroom music teaching ......................................................47

2.3.4 Early-career music teachers’ perceptions of current teacher education programs .......49

2.3.5 Music teacher education in Queensland.........................................................................52

2.3.6 Content analysis of the three curriculum studies units ...................................................55

2.3.7 Summary.........................................................................................................................57

2.4 The need for an investigation of preservice music teacher education programs in

Queensland ..........................................................................................................................57

2.5 Chapter summary: Key concepts.........................................................................................60

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................64

3.1 Summary of research aims ..................................................................................................64

3.2 Overview of research design ...............................................................................................65

3.2.1 Mixed-methods design ....................................................................................................66

3.2.2 Focus of study.................................................................................................................68

3.2.3 Limitations of study ........................................................................................................69

3.2.4 Research settings ............................................................................................................70

3.2.5 Ethical issues associated with the research....................................................................70

3.3 Stage 1 data collection and analysis ....................................................................................70

3.3.1 Participants and procedure ............................................................................................70

3.3.2 Design of questionnaire..................................................................................................75

3.3.3 Analysis of the data.........................................................................................................84

3.3.4 Limitations associated with questionnaires ....................................................................85

3.4 Stage 2 data collection and analysis ....................................................................................86

3.4.1 Participants and procedure ............................................................................................86

3.4.2 Design of interviews .......................................................................................................89

3.4.3 Analysis of interview data...............................................................................................90

3.4.4 Limitations associated with interviews ...........................................................................92

3.5 Chapter summary ................................................................................................................92

CHAPTER 4: STAGE 1 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...............................................................93

4.1 Perceived importance of various aspects of the preservice program...................................94

4.2 Perceived performance of various aspects of the preservice program.................................98

4.3 Importance-Performance Analysis ....................................................................................103

4.4 The impact of teacher education tradition preferences and early years of teaching

experiences on early-career music teachers’ perceptions ..................................................116

4.4.1 Teacher education traditions........................................................................................116

4.4.2 Impact of early experiences ..........................................................................................119

4.4.3 Demographic influences ...............................................................................................121

4.5 Chapter summary ..............................................................................................................126

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CHAPTER 5: STAGE 2 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.............................................................129

5.1 Perceptions of course effectiveness and teacher needs......................................................131

5.1.1 Course content..............................................................................................................132

5.1.2 Course structure ...........................................................................................................157

5.1.3 Course delivery.............................................................................................................165

5.1.4 Course philosophy ........................................................................................................166

5.1.5 Summary.......................................................................................................................175

5.2 Perceptions of early music teaching experiences ..............................................................176

5.2.1 Unique problems faced by early-career music teachers...............................................176

5.2.2 Extent to which preservice preparation prepares early-career music teachers to cope

with early experiences ..................................................................................................189

5.2.3 Summary.......................................................................................................................195

5.3 Perceptions of self and professional identity .....................................................................195

5.3.1 A passion for music.......................................................................................................197

5.3.2 Professional identity .....................................................................................................201

5.4 Summary of findings .........................................................................................................205

6 CHAPTER 6 - CONCLUSION ......................................................................................209

6.1 Summary of research findings in relation to research questions .......................................210

6.1.1 How do practicing early-career secondary music teachers regard the effectiveness of

their preservice course in preparing them for teaching in schools? ............................210

6.1.2 How do teacher education tradition preferences and early years of teaching experiences

impact on early-career music teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness?.........................212

6.1.3 What other influences impact upon early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the

effectiveness of their preservice preparation?..............................................................214

6.1.4 How do early-career music teachers perceive their needs in relation to preservice

preparation? .................................................................................................................215

6.2 Implications and areas for future research.........................................................................216

6.2.1 Contextualisation..........................................................................................................216

6.2.2 Integration ....................................................................................................................217

6.2.3 Continuity .....................................................................................................................218

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6.3 Significance of the study ...................................................................................................219

6.4 Limitations.........................................................................................................................220

6.5 Final concluding comments...............................................................................................221

APPENDIX A: SUMMARY: DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE..........................223

APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EARLY-CAREER TEACHERS ................................227

APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE.....................................................................................235

APPENDIX D: LETTERS SENT TO QUESTIONNAIRE PARTICIPANTS .............................237

APPENDIX E: LETTER TO CONSULTANTS..............................................................................240

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................242

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 A conceptualisation of teacher education reforms 18

Table 3.1 Demographic characteristics of questionnaire respondents (Stage 1) 73

Table 3.2 Rotated Factor Matrix of items in Question 11 a 82

Table 3.3 Characteristics of interview participants 87

Table 4.1 Frequencies of areas mentioned as being the most useful to early-career teachers (question

3a) 95

Table 4.2 Frequencies of responses to the question “In what ways have [the things you found to be

useful] been useful to you?” 96

Table 4.3 Frequencies of categories mentioned as being not useful to early-career teachers 97

Table 4.4 Ratings of the organisation areas of the preservice course 101

Table 4.5 Participants’ ratings of Importance and Performance 106

Table 4.6 Number of respondents who gave first preference to each of the four teacher education

traditions 116

Table 4.7 Descriptive statistics - experiences in the early years of teaching 120

Table 4.8 Crosstabulation – satisfaction, relevance and years teaching 122

Table 4.9 Crosstabulation preferences for teacher education tradition and number of years teaching

124

Table 4.10 Crosstabulation preference for traditions and number of years teaching 125

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Pathways to becoming a secondary classroom music teacher in Queensland......................53

Figure 4.1 Importance-Performance Analysis of music teacher education programs in Queensland 107

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or

diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and

belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another

person except where due reference is made.

Signed: ____________________

Dated: ____________________

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2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My sincere thanks go to my supervisors Ian Macpherson and Jan Packer for their

unfailing support, advice and critical comment over the past four years. The time and

effort you spent (even on your holidays) was amazing. I also thank Adrian Thomas

and David Hawke who were involved as supervisors along the way.

I am very grateful for the financial support provided to me by the Owen J

Wordsworth foundation, QUT and the Centre for Innovation in Education.

To John Knight, Brian Hansford, Elizabeth Warren and Janelle Young who made

comments on drafts of research papers emerging from this thesis – many thanks.

This thesis would have been much more difficult, if not for the encouragement and

support of my colleagues at QUT – Julie, Alison, Karen, Katherine, Po Li, Mike,

Wendy, Geof and Julie – many thanks for your support which I always found

uplifting.

Thank you to my teacher colleagues for their willingness to share their perceptions of

their preservice experiences with me.

To my family and friends who persisted in asking me about my progress and who

provided me with the emotional support necessary for such an undertaking – I

sincerely thank you. I particularly thank my father, Roy Ballantyne for your detailed

comments and counselling on the final draft of my thesis.

Finally, I would not have been able to complete this thesis without my husband

Rory’s enduring love, patience and understanding – thank you darling.

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3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The nature and quality of students’ experience of school music is dependent upon the

practice of teachers in the music classroom. Research suggests that music teachers are

often viewed as having lower teaching skills than non-music teachers (Hamann, Baker,

McAllister, & Bauer, 2000). One indication that the quality of music teaching in

schools may be low is the number of school students enrolling in the subject.

Ballantyne (2000) for instance has argued that low enrolments into classroom music

are indicative of unsatisfactory teaching. In addition, some research suggests that

music classes in Australia have a much smaller intake than other arts subjects

(Fullarton & Ainley, 2000) and that music programs in Victoria, Australia are

ineffective and under-resourced (Lierse, 1999).

Preservice music teacher education programs1 are designed to equip prospective

music teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach music in the classroom. As the

quality of teaching occurring in schools can be directly attributed to the preservice

teacher preparation that teachers receive (Carter, Carré, & Bennett, 1993; Committee

for the Review of Teaching and Teacher Education, 2003; Darling-Hammond, 2000;

Iredale, 1996; Temmerman, 1997), it is clear that the quality of music teacher

education is of vital importance to the music education profession. Accordingly,

improving the effectiveness of preservice music teacher education programs is vital if

the quality of classroom music teaching is to improve.

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How effective then are music teacher education programs in preparing their students

for the realities of the classroom? A literature search of major academic databases

(FirstSearch, AEI, Ovid, ERIC, Proquest, EBSCOhost, MENC, BAMER) indicated

that there is little international research investigating the impact of preservice music

teacher education on teachers’ preparedness to teach music effectively. In Australia,

Leong suggests that “[music] teachers were not very positive about their preservice

education experience” (1996, p. 110), and of all music teachers in Australia, “music

teachers in Queensland were most likely to consider a career change or focus” (1996,

p. 114). In Queensland, where this research study is set, there appears to have been

no investigation into the quality of music teacher education programs and whether

they are meeting the needs of their major ‘clients’ or stakeholders,2 viz., university

students who become classroom music teachers.

Although evaluations of education courses are routinely conducted in Queensland

both within universities (Grieshaber et al., 2000), and in government departments

(Education Queensland, 2000), the perceptions of specialised teachers such as music

teachers have not been explored. For example, a study of all beginning teachers in

Queensland reveals that they perceive deficiencies in their preservice education

courses in the areas of ‘assessment and reporting’, ‘learning experiences’,

‘professional relationships’ and ‘community relationships’ (Education Queensland,

2000, p.4). It is impossible however, to ascertain what the experiences of music

1 Throughout this thesis, preservice music teacher education programs (or courses) refer to the specific coursework pathway taken by students wanting to become secondary classroom music teachers.

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teachers are from these studies. Whilst there are many facets of teaching skills that

are generic to all discipline areas, each also requires skills that are discipline-specific

(Martinez, 1994) and it is common for teachers to view themselves as discipline or

age-level specialists (Martinez, 1994; Ramsey, 2000; Shulman & Sparks, 1992).

Accordingly, it is necessary to investigate the effectiveness of music teacher

education programs as a strand within the accredited education degrees.

In order to justify a study that specifically explores music teacher education programs,

it is necessary to establish what it is about this strand of teaching that is special.

Music is unique within the arts, in that it is a purely aural form of communication and

effective music teaching involves students in aesthetic musical experiences. Thus,

due to the nature of the art, facilitating such experiences is unique to the practice of

the music teacher and therefore teaching music requires specific knowledge and skills.

In addition, music teachers have to contend with many specific challenges that pertain

to the role of music education in the school. Accordingly, it is expected that the

experiences of classroom music teachers in their first few years of teaching are likely

to be different to those of other teachers.

Asmus, in an editorial for the Journal of Music Teacher Education (2000), argues that

research into the development of good preservice music teacher education courses is

scarce, and needs attention. This is clearly the case in Queensland where research

needs to be conducted into the effectiveness of preservice music teacher education

2 “Stakeholders are those who are personally involved in the program, who derive some or all of their income from the program, whose future status or career might be affected by the quality of the

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programs in order for teachers to be well prepared to provide school students with the

highest possible quality of music education.

Accordingly, this study explores how practicing early-career3 school music teachers

perceive their preservice preparation with regard to its effectiveness in preparing them

for classroom music teaching. The specific research questions are:

1. How do practicing early-career secondary music teachers regard the

effectiveness of their preservice course in preparing them for teaching in

schools?

a. How do early-career music teachers perceive the importance of various

aspects of their preservice preparation?

b. How do early–career music teachers perceive the performance of

existing preservice programs in addressing various aspects of their

preservice preparation?

2. How do teacher education tradition preferences and early years of teaching

experiences impact on early-career music teachers’ perceptions of

effectiveness?

3. What other influences impact upon early-career music teachers’ perceptions of

the effectiveness of their preservice preparation?

4. How do early-career music teachers perceive their needs in relation to


program, or who are the clients or potential recipients of the program services” (Posavac & Carey, 1992, p. 28). 3 Throughout this thesis, the term ‘early-career teacher’ refers to teachers in their first four years teaching.

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The study addresses the research questions through the use of questionnaires and

semi-structured interviews with early-career teachers in Queensland schools. The

early-career teachers involved are graduates from the University of Queensland (UQ),

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Griffith University (GU). These

are the institutions that qualify the vast majority of secondary classroom music

teachers in Queensland. Whilst early-career teachers’ perceptions of their courses

will be the primary focus of the study, other stakeholders (such as teacher educators

and supervising teachers) will be involved, particularly in the development of the

questionnaire (Stage 1 of the research).

The assumptions that underlie this study are:

• the quality of teaching occurring in schools is greatly influenced by the

preservice preparation that teachers receive (Carter et al., 1993; Darling-

Hammond, 2000; Hamann et al., 2000),

• the major task of effective teacher education courses is to produce teachers

who are well prepared for the realities of classroom teaching;

• teacher education courses should be based on the needs of their principal

stakeholders;

• early-career teachers are the principal stakeholders in the teacher education

process;

• early-career teachers have the ability to reflect critically and evaluate their

experiences both in the university and in their work environment; and

• the nature of music education determines the necessity to explore music

teacher education as a separate entity.

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In Chapter 2, this study places music teacher education within the larger context of

general teacher education, as this is how it occurs in Queensland courses. This is

useful because much research has been conducted within the area of general teacher

education, whilst very little attention has been given to music teacher education. A

review of historical trends in teacher education reform by Zeichner and Liston reveals

that teacher education reforms can be divided into four categories or ‘reform

traditions’ (Zeichner & Liston, 1990). These traditions reflect different ways of

viewing the attributes and qualities of good or effective teachers, the teacher

education processes that foster effective teaching, the skills and knowledge required

to be an effective teacher and the ideal outcomes of teacher education courses

(Cochran-Smith, 2002). However, in recent times it appears that the focus is

increasingly on what the ‘outcomes’ of teacher education should be and the

professionalisation of teachers.

In Section 2.3, the early years of teaching are discussed. This is particularly relevant

to this study, as it is important to understand not only the context of early-career

teachers’ university experiences, but also how experiences in schools impact on their

perceptions of their preparation. Once the context of general teacher education in

Australia has been established, the nature of music education and music teacher

education in Australia and Queensland is explored.

Chapter 3 outlines the methodological rationale and framework of the thesis and

describes the design and development of the questionnaire and interview questions.

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Chapter 4 presents and discusses the questionnaire data, and addresses the first two

research questions –



schools?








effectiveness?

Chapter 5 presents and discusses the interview data. As well as elaborating on

research questions 1 and 2, Chapter 5 addresses the final two research questions:





Chapter 6 summarises the findings from the two stages of research and explores their

implications for ongoing review and reconstruction of music teacher education

programs. The limitations of the research are also discussed.

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2 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This chapter explores a number of areas that contribute to the development of a

conceptual framework for the study. These areas have been divided into four sections:

Teacher education: This section discusses historic and key trends in teacher

education worldwide and in Australia.

The early years of teaching: This section explores the nature of the first few years

of teaching, the impact of socialisation and praxis shock, and the perceptions teachers

have of themselves as discipline-specialists.

Music education: This section discusses literature on the unique nature of music

education, how this impacts on music teachers’ work, previous research into music

education, music teacher education and music teacher dissatisfaction with their

teacher education preparation. The section concludes with a content analysis of music

curriculum units at the three universities that are the focus of the study.

The need for an investigation of preservice music teacher education: This

section discusses the lack of research in the field of music teacher education, and the

resultant need to conduct the proposed study.

It should be noted that a summary is provided at the end of each section, and it is from

these summaries that the essence of a conceptual framework is developed. Thus, this

chapter proceeds firstly with an analytical exploration of each area and secondly with

an articulation of the conceptual framework of the study (chapter summary).

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2.1 Teacher education

Many education faculties in Australia have recently undergone processes of

reconceptualisation (Australian Council of Deans of Education, 2001; Grieshaber et

al., 2000; Ramsey, 2000). It is important to critically analyse this process and its

outcomes to ensure the development of quality teacher education programs.

A considerable body of research has shown that preservice teacher education has a

significant impact on early-career teachers’ pedagogical skills and their philosophies

of teaching (Carter, Carré, & Bennett, 1993; Committee for the Review of Teaching

and Teacher Education, 2003; Darling-Hammond, 2000a; Iredale, 1996; Temmerman,

1997). Although some writers maintain that teacher education has relatively little

impact on classroom practice (Lampert & Ball, 1999; Stuart & Thurlow, 2000; Su,

1992), it is argued here that this is more likely to occur when the type and design of

teacher education is not constructivist in nature. Constructivist teacher education4 has

been shown to have a positive impact on student teachers’ perceptions of their own

teaching competencies, leading to increased confidence and also improved teaching

practice within schools (Byo, 1999; Chen, 1996; Darling-Hammond, 2000a; Ghaith &

Shaaban, 1999).

A framework for viewing the ways that teacher education reforms (and their

underlying philosophies) may impact on the effectiveness of teacher education has

been constructed by comparing Zeichner and Liston’s (1990) analysis of American

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reforms in teacher education and Cochran-Smith’s four key themes in teacher

education research. In particular, it is argued that the theoretical underpinning of the

professional reform agenda is similar to Zeichner and Liston’s (1990) social

efficiency tradition, which in turn is cognate to Cochran-Smith’s (2002) outcomes

questions. This provides a useful framework for addressing the current state of

teacher education in Queensland and in Australia more generally.

2.1.1 The four teacher education reforms

In 1990, Zeichner and Liston suggested that throughout the twentieth century there

were four clear traditions of American teacher education reforms - academic, social

efficiency, developmentalist and social reconstructionist. Zeichner has since referred

to these as ‘traditions of practice’ (1993), and most recently as ‘approaches to reform’

(2003). These articles appear to share the same purpose – to describe the different

approaches to reform in teacher education over time, to clarify the theoretical and

political assumptions underlying reforms (Zeichner, 1993; Zeichner & Liston, 1990),

and to argue for finding “some common ground across these often warring camps”

(Zeichner, 2003, p. 491). Zeichner and Liston’s (1990) traditions (as they shall be

referred to in this thesis) represent four ways of viewing teacher education, and may

arguably therefore be useful in examining teacher education reforms in Australia and

4 The definition of constructivist teacher education used throughout this thesis is “learning to teach [is] a deeply personal activity in which the learner examine[s] beliefs and prior knowledge in light of their learning in programs and teaching contexts” (Dangel & Guyton, 2004, p. 2).

11

particularly Queensland.5 Each of the four traditions will be briefly summarised below

and then applied to the Queensland teacher education context.

The Academic Tradition focuses on the importance of disciplinary knowledge for

preservice teachers, gained through a classical liberal arts education combined with an

apprenticeship in schools. Here, the “mastery of subject matter is the most important

goal in the education of teachers” (Zeichner & Liston, 1990, p. 4). As such, teachers

should be educated in their subject matter at university, but should learn how to teach

in the company of more experienced teachers once they get to the schools (a

disciplinary and apprenticeship model). An academic approach to preservice teacher

education would attract academically talented students, who would otherwise be

turned away by the ‘doubtful intellectual value’ of many education courses.

For exponents of the Social Efficiency Tradition, the scientific study of teaching

provides the best basis for building a teacher education curriculum. This tradition has

tended to examine the nature of teacher work in order to provide a basis for studying

teaching, and was largely influential in developing such reforms as

Competency/Performance Based Teacher Education (C/PBTE) in the United States in

the 1960s and 1970s. Here competencies (skills and knowledge) are specified in

advance along with the criteria to measure mastery of these competencies. Once the

5 Zeichner has recently written an article (2003) commenting on the past decade in American teacher education reform. In this, he identifies three traditions – renamed, and essentially the same as his initial traditions, although he does not mention the developmentalist tradition. It is necessary, when writing about teacher education in Australia, however, to include the developmentalist tradition, as it is still evident in teacher education programs in this country. While these four traditions are used as a bases for framing an analysis for preservice teacher education in this study, it is acknowledged that the

12

competencies have been demonstrated, the teacher is viewed as ‘effective’. The trend

towards C/PBTE became widely popular in teacher education literature both in the

United States and worldwide, although it attracted criticism regarding its

behaviouristic underpinnings (Zeichner & Liston, 1990).

Many contemporary teacher education reforms reflect the social efficiency

perspective, under the label ‘research-based teacher education’. This perspective is

evident in reforms that incorporate new versions of the (behaviourist) C/PBTE

combined with broader (cognitive) reforms. Here Zeichner and Liston conclude that:

teaching demands an approach to teacher preparation that reflects the

complex and uncertain nature of the work. The crucial task from this

point of view is to foster teachers’ capabilities to exercise judgement

about the use of teaching skills. (1990, p. 9)

In this framework, the ‘outcomes’ of teacher education should be consistent with the

realities of teaching. Since 1990, this approach (which is associated with the terms

‘outcomes’ and ‘professional standards’) has become increasingly evident in teacher

education reforms (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2001).

The Developmentalist Tradition asserts that the “natural development of the learner

provides the basics for determining what should be taught both to pupils in the public

schools and to their teachers” (Zeichner & Liston, 1990, p. 9). Although this tradition

traditions are to some degree arbitrary. However, they are useful in establishing and extending the analysis as evidenced by reference to Zeichner’s (2003) paper.

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is quite varied, Crook (1974, as cited in Zeichner and Liston, 1990, p. 11)6 found that

developmentalist teacher education programs have the following in common:

A commitment to involvement in one’s own learning, an active

approach to learning in terms of direct experience with materials, an

encouragement of children’s communication and prospective teachers’

communication with children using skills of observing, reading,

speaking, and writing; early field experiences, offerings in the

expressive arts as well as in academic areas, and an understanding of

children’s development which reflects the writings of Jean Piaget.

This approach is also associated with ‘humanistic teacher education’ and the

‘personalised teacher education program’, grounded in Fullar’s studies of teacher

concerns. Fullar’s assumption is that if a teacher education program is aligned with

student teachers’ developmental needs, it will guide them towards maturity as a

teacher (Fullar, 1969).

In the Social Reconstructionist Tradition, “schooling and teacher education are crucial

elements in a movement towards a more just society” (Zeichner & Liston, 1990, p.

12). This tradition encourages student teachers to take a critical look at the prevailing

social and political orders that are associated with education, and aims to break the

poverty cycle by preparing teachers to teach in low-income areas.

6 This is a secondary reference because it comes from an unpublished PhD dissertation.

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2.1.2 Teacher education in Queensland

In Australia, despite a plethora of policy and Green Paper recommendation at State

and Federal levels, there has arguably been little real or substantial change to teacher

education programs over the last two decades (Jasman, 2002; Sachs & Groundwater-

Smith, 1999). Australian teacher education programs have, in much the same way as

the United States up until now, reflected aspects of all four of Zeichner and Liston’s

reform traditions. This is clearly seen when viewing the nature and structure of recent

Queensland teacher education programs.

In Queensland, the impact of the academic tradition has been particularly notable in

the preparation of secondary teachers. Students studying to become secondary

teachers typically study academic subjects in their discipline area along with non-

education students. They then spend the second half of their studies concentrating on

education units. Most of these units are not specifically related to their teaching areas

and are generic in approach. The main exceptions are the discipline curriculum units,

which focus on teaching in the chosen discipline.

The concept of the ‘teacher as professional’ has arguably emerged from within the

social efficiency tradition with terms such as ‘outcomes’ and ‘standards’ being used

increasingly in mainstream literature. This is perhaps the most influential perspective

in Queensland, with outcomes-based education already operating within state schools,

and documents such as the Professional Standards for Teachers (Education

Queensland, 2002) currently being used as a professional learning framework for

teacher education programs.

15

Teacher education courses in Queensland also reflect the developmentalist tradition to

some degree. This is evident in the structure and order of units over the four years (the

placement of practicum towards the end of the course, and development from general

to more specific units in education), and particularly in educational psychology units

that are incorporated into all education degrees.

The social reconstructionist tradition is also discernible in Queensland teacher

education courses, most notably in units where the social, cultural and political

contexts of schooling are explored within a sociological framework (Griffith

University, 2003; Queensland University of Technology, 2003).

Despite evidence that there are certain ‘commonly held teacher education principles’

(Jasman, 2002) in Australian teacher education courses, the theoretical assumptions

that lie behind them are often quite disparate - even to the point of tension or apparent

contradiction (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2001; Zeichner & Liston, 1990). It is

interesting to explore how a common framework for teacher education caters for such

different positions.

2.1.3 Trends in teacher education reform

Cochran-Smith (2002) proposes four key questions that have driven teacher education

reform in the United States over the last century.7 Zeichner and Liston’s traditions

represent four separate ways of viewing teacher education, and can thus provide a

7 As Cochran-Smith points out, these questions are broad, and are continuing to be answered to this day. She also concedes that these questions may leave out a lot (Cochran-Smith, 2002).

16

theoretical basis to answer Cochran-Smith’s questions in four alternative ways. The

questions that Cochran-Smith identifies as having driven reform in the United States

over the past century are (in chronological order):

a) the attributes question

- what are the attributes and qualities of good teachers, prospective teachers,

and/or teacher education programs?

b) the effectiveness questions

- what are the teaching strategies and processes used by effective teachers?

- what teacher education processes ensure that prospective teachers learn these

strategies?

c) the knowledge question

- what should teachers know and be able to do?

d) the outcomes questions

- what should the outcomes of teacher education be for teacher learning,

professional practice, and student learning?

- how, by whom, and for what purposes should these outcomes be documented,

demonstrated, and/or measured?

Cochran-Smith (2002) argues that the outcomes questions are currently at the

forefront of teacher education reform.

Table 2.1 explores four possible responses to each of Cochran-Smith’s key questions

in teacher education reform over the past century using Zeichner and Liston’s

traditions to represent various ways of conceptualising teacher education. The

purpose of this table is to explore the ways that Cochran-Smith’s questions relate to

the reform traditions described by Zeichner and Liston. It seems that the various

17

theoretical positions represented by Zeichner and Liston’s traditions may not be able

to be fully represented in the current climate of teacher education reform.8 The

relevance of this table to the context of Queensland, Australia is found in Section

2.1.5.

8 It is acknowledged that this may be viewed as a reductionist way to view reforms, but in the context of this study, an historical overview of teacher education reforms is useful.

18

Table 2.1

A conceptualisation of teacher education reforms

Zeichner and Liston (1990)

Cochran-Smith (2002) Academic tradition Social efficiency tradition Developmentalist tradition Social reconstructionist tradition

Attributes question What are the attributes and qualities of good teachers, prospective teachers, and/or teacher education programs?

Teachers: are foremost scholars and subject matter specialists. T.E. Programs: In this tradition, Faculties and Schools of Education are thought as largely irrelevant and ineffective, and that subject matter knowledge should be developed in other parts of the university.

Teachers: have the ability to demonstrate required competencies. This is the best determinant of teaching ability. T.E. Programs: have clear guidelines/objectives for teachers to achieve, based on research into teacher work.

Teachers: can understand and respond to the developmental stages of their students. T.E. Programs: align with the learning stages and needs of preservice teachers. They also promote the understanding of learning development in students.

Teachers: are able to view the education process critically, in order to promote a more just society. T.E. Programs: promote critique of the cultural and political assertions that lie behind education programs and awaken social consciousness in teachers and teacher educators.

Effectiveness questions. What are the teaching strategies and processes used by effective teachers?

Effective teachers have good skills and knowledge in their discipline areas. They should use the teaching strategies and processes that prove most effective from their apprenticeship experience.

The strategies and processes of effective teachers can best be determined through the scientific study of the nature of teacher work.

The teaching strategies and processes used by effective teachers are developed across their preservice experiences. Effective teachers are acutely aware of the developmental stages of their students and can utilise this knowledge to facilitate meaningful student learning.

Effective teachers use strategies and processes designed to encourage critique of society’s cultural/social/political ‘norms'.

What teacher education processes ensure that prospective teachers learn these strategies?

Discipline Faculties should educate preservice teachers in their discipline areas. Teaching skills and knowledge should be gained through an ‘apprenticeship’ approach once in the schools, and also through subject-specific curriculum studies.

Teacher education courses should be designed to ensure that preservice teachers develop the competencies required by effective teachers. A way of addressing the development of teaching competencies is through the use of microteaching in preservice courses.

Effective teacher education courses encourage the understanding of child developmental psychology, as well as utilising the developmental stages of preservice teachers’ professional growth to enhance their own learning. Teachers should be educated in the same kind of supportive and stimulating environment that they are expected to provide for their students.

Teacher education courses should focus on developing social consciousness and reform capabilities among prospective teachers through inquiry-oriented student teaching programs.

19

Knowledge question What should teachers know and be able to do?

Teachers should first and foremost know their subject matter. They should be able to confidently teach within their discipline area, using teaching approaches that are appropriate to the discipline area.

Teachers should be prepared for the realities of the teaching world. This can be clearly stated through outcomes or objectives of a teacher education program.

Teachers should be familiar with the developmental learning stages of their students, and be able to utilise this knowledge to provide appropriate and relevant learning tasks.

Teachers should be “critically oriented, compassionate, and impassioned, reflective and socially engaged practitioners who can aid in the process of education improvement and social change” (Beyer, as cited in Zeichner & Liston, 1990, p. 14-15).

Outcomes questions What should the outcomes of teacher education be for teacher learning, professional practice, and student learning?

Teacher learning: strong foundations in discipline areas Professional practice: ability to utilise these skills and knowledge in a useful way. Student learning: sound grounding in content knowledge and skills

Teacher learning: skills to be an effective teacher Professional practice: can achieve the outcomes deemed necessary. Student learning: improved, evidenced through test scores.

Teacher learning: understanding of the developmental stages of students Professional practice: ability to use this understanding in practice Student learning: for what purpose? learning appropriate to developmental stages

Teacher learning: social critical skills Professional practice: reflective and socially engaged Student learning: development of a social conscience

How, by whom, and for what purposes should these outcomes be documented, demonstrated, and/or measured?

How documented? In teacher education programs, outcomes should be documented in teacher education curriculum documents. It is expected that these outcomes would be synchronised with the outcomes expressed in other documents relating to teacher education, such as school curriculum documents, professional association curriculum documents and government policy documents, reflecting the wishes of all stakeholders. How demonstrated? This has not been consistently answered across the field, although in Queensland, evidence of competency is collected throughout the preservice program. This evidence can be direct, indirect or supplementary. How measured? Measured through demonstrable performance in the outcome area Documented by whom? This has not been consistently answered across the field, although in Queensland, this is determined by each tertiary institution. Demonstrated by whom? Preservice and practising teachers Measured by whom? This has not been consistently answered across the field, although in Queensland, competence is measured predominantly by teacher educators, supervising teachers, in conjunction with preservice teachers. For what purposes? Outcomes have been developed to standardise and professionalise the area of teacher education

20

2.1.4 A consensus in teacher education

Table 2.1 demonstrates that the answers/solutions to the questions being asked in

teacher education have not been consistent. Rather, the philosophical and political

positions underlying the different traditions have determined their various

answers/solutions. As shown by the shading in Table 2.1, both the social efficiency

tradition and the outcomes questions assume that teacher education should produce

teachers who can achieve minimum ‘standards’ of teaching knowledge and skills

which are determined by policy documents and based on research. In this way, the

‘outcomes questions’ seem most appropriately ‘answered’ by the social efficiency

tradition. Accordingly, the centrality of the ‘outcomes questions’ in the current

climate of teacher education internationally (Cochran-Smith, 2002), and the resultant

intensification of a policy approach to teacher education (Cochran-Smith, 2004) has

arguably resulted in the social efficiency tradition becoming the dominant reform

tradition.

Nevertheless, the move towards outcomes-based teacher education may be

problematic, particularly because it is unlikely that these conflicting perceptions of

teacher education can easily be addressed in one model. Cochran-Smith has well

observed:

Notwithstanding the growing – and many say unprecedented –

consensus about standards for teaching and teacher education within

the profession itself (Darling-Hammond, 1996, 2000; Darling-

Hammond, Wise & Klein, 1999), it is important to acknowledge that

there is considerable variation both within and outside the profession

in terms of how the outcomes question is being constructed and upon

what grounds it will be decided. (Cochran-Smith, 2002, p. 3)

21

It would therefore seem unlikely that this ‘unprecedented consensus’ will result in the

realisation of integrated social efficiency-style teacher education programs. In

particular, the underlying assumptions of social efficiency and measurable outcomes

make it difficult to incorporate or reconcile fully with the agendas of the other

traditions with their varying theoretical and philosophical differences. Despite this,

from a review of literature it appears that there is a definite move towards a unitary

teacher education model in Queensland and Australia arranged around the notion of

teacher professionalisation.

2.1.5 Teacher professionalisation in Australia

Reflecting the trend towards a social efficiency style of teacher education, the concept

of teacher professionalisation is increasingly prominent in recent Australian teacher

education literature (Jasman, 2002). Professionalisation can be defined as the drive

towards creating teachers as professionals. A professional is a person who has the

ability to “continue learning throughout [their] career, deepening knowledge, skill

judgment, staying abreast of important developments in the field and experimenting

with innovations that promise improvements in practice” (Sachs, 1997, p. 266). In

this way, teacher professionalisation in Australia reflects a contemporary incarnation

of the social efficiency tradition of reform by attending “to the cognitive and

dispositional aspects of teaching in addition to the technical dimensions” (Zeichner,

2003, p. 498).

The push for a social efficiency model of teacher professionalisation in Australia has

been largely driven by economic and political agendas (Knight, Lingard, & Bartlett,

1993; Sachs, 1997; Sachs & Groundwater-Smith, 1999; Smith, 1999). The

22

government’s “market orientation towards the provision of services and a

managerialist approach to their delivery” (Sachs & Groundwater-Smith, 1999, p. 217)

has driven Australian school reforms throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. At a tertiary

level, this has begun to be expressed through ‘standards’ and ‘accountability’

expectations of teachers and therefore teacher education courses. The dominance of

the social efficiency tradition through professionalisation can be seen in Queensland,

where the Professional Standards for Teachers: Guidelines for Professional Practice,

developed by Education Queensland describes the knowledge, skills and abilities that

teachers require in order to provide worthwhile learning experiences for their students.

These professional standards are designed to:

• provide a platform for teachers to identify and then drive their

continuing professional development;

• inform program development for preservice education; and

• represent the aspirations of the teaching profession.

(Education Queensland, 2002, p. 2)

Indeed, the Board of Teacher Registration (the organisation which controls the

accreditation of all teacher education courses in Queensland, referred to as the BTR),

has already adopted the Professional Standards for Graduates and Guidelines for

Preservice Teacher Education Programs (Queensland Board of Teacher Registration,

2002). This document describes:

• professional standards for graduates of teacher education

programs, defining attributes considered necessary for effective

beginning teaching;

• mandatory program components, to enable programs to be

approved by the Board; [and]

• guidelines on program consultation and acceptance. (Queensland

Board of Teacher Registration, 2002, p. 1)

23

The BTR’s Professional Standards “provide a professional scaffold for preservice

teacher preparation and serve as a measure of accountability of the readiness of

graduating teachers … They indicate what graduating students will know, understand

and be able to do as a result of their preservice preparation” (Queensland Board of

Teacher Registration, 2002). Teacher education institutions must demonstrate to the

BTR how the Professional Standards for Graduates will be met in order to become

accredited.

The BTR document reflects the current trend towards professionalising teacher

education in Australia. When examining the BTR’s standards in detail, they appear to

cover, in a nominal fashion, aspects of all four of Zeichner and Liston’s reform

traditions. However, despite drawing on elements from all four traditions, the

underlying assumptions associated with standards and demonstrable outcomes

indicate that the Professional Standards have substantially emerged from within the

social efficiency tradition in response to the ‘outcomes questions’ currently in teacher

education (see Table 2.1). That said, the overwhelming acceptance of the

Professional Standards (and therefore social efficiency tradition) make it difficult to

interrogate and critique these recent directions and to reconstruct alternative future

pathways for teacher education in Queensland.

If such critique does not occur, then despite a common language being used to

describe ‘what teacher education is really all about’, the reality may become confused

(Jasman, 2002).

Many of the discussions that pertain to the outcomes question depend

on the claim that there is an unprecedented professional consensus

24

about how to reform education by developing closer and closer

alignment of standards for teaching and learning, assessments of

students and teachers, and new models of teacher education, licensing,

and certification. There is, however, a fair amount of evidence that

just below the surface of common language and agreement at the

abstract level, there are deep differences. (Cochran-Smith, 2002, p. 11)

2.1.6 A way forward

In Australia, current constructions of the professionalisation of teaching have largely

gone unchallenged. This ‘unprecedented professional consensus’ regarding the ideal

future of teacher education appears to incorporate aspects of many reform traditions.

However, the underlying assumptions reflected in these different reform traditions are

often contradictory.

To ensure that teacher education courses are providing the best possible preparation

for preservice teachers, it is desirable to review the reconceptualisation and reform

agendas which appear in both teacher education literature and reform documents.

Whereas the outcomes questions seem to have emerged from within the social

efficiency tradition, there are arguably questions that are equally worth asking from

within the other traditions. It is argued here that current teacher education programs

in Australia, and particularly in Queensland, should be examined critically to ensure

that they are an improvement on previous courses. This section of the literature

review has sought to provide a conceptual framework to address the dilemma faced

by those who wish to interrogate and critique these recent directions and to

reconstruct future pathways for teacher education in Queensland.

25

2.2 The early years of teaching

It is maintained in this section that the experiences of teachers in their first few years

of teaching are crucial with regard to their professional development and success. If

preservice teachers are adequately prepared to deal with the realities of school culture,

then the early years of teaching can be turned into a positive experience where

teachers are enabled to grow and develop their skills (Gratch, 2001; Kelchtermans &

Ballet, 2002). If teacher education is viewed as a process by which the ‘outcome’

should be effective teachers, it is firstly necessary to explore what knowledge and

skills they require in order to function effectively (Section 2.2.1). It is argued that

although early-career teachers often experience praxis shock9 during their first few

years of teaching, the literature suggests that there are ways to counter this both in the

schools and in the universities (Sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3). Research indicates that

discipline area specialisation presents unique problems for early-career teachers

(Section 2.2.4). Teachers also tend to view themselves as discipline or age-level

specialists (Martinez, 1994; Ramsey, 2000). Therefore, when considering the

effectiveness of teacher education programs, discipline areas should be a major focus.

2.2.1 Teacher knowledge

Prior to determining what the outcomes of teacher education should be, it is necessary

to determine what teachers should know and be able to do (Cochran-Smith, 2002).

The Ramsey report argues that the very best teachers ground their teaching in “a

sophisticated knowledge of the curriculum and how it is best taught” (Ramsey, 2000,

9 This term is fully explored in Section 2.2.2.

26

p. 25). They must be adaptable to changes in society and in their schools, and able to

reflect on their own teaching practice (Ramsey, 2000). Beijaard, Verloop and

Vermunt (2000) argue that teacher knowledge is both experiential and implicit and

that it is a combination of “craft knowledge, practical knowledge, personal practical

knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge” (p. 749). Shulman proposes another

way to address the knowledge question. His seminal article on teacher knowledge

(1987) is central to this study because his list of the knowledge bases of teachers

encompasses all of Zeichner and Liston’s (1990) traditions of teacher education

reform, and as such, provides a useful framework to develop an understanding of

what knowledge and skills teachers need prior to leaving university. Shulman argues

that a knowledge base for teachers should include:

• Content knowledge;

• General pedagogical knowledge, with special reference to those broad

principles and strategies of classroom management and organisation

that appear to transcend subject matter;

• Curriculum knowledge, with particular grasp of the materials and

programs that serve as “tools of the trade” for teachers;

• Pedagogical content knowledge, that special amalgam of content and

pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special

form of professional understanding;

• Knowledge of learners and their characteristics;

• Knowledge of educational contexts, ranging from the workings of the

group or classroom, the governance and financing of school districts,

to the character of communities and cultures; and

• Knowledge of educational ends, purposes, and values, and their

philosophical and historical grounds. (Shulman, 1987, p. 8)

Research conducted by Martinez in Queensland (1994) suggests that beginning

teachers are better equipped if they are confident and competent in Shulman’s

27

categories of professional knowledge. Teacher education programs that provide

preservice teachers with learning in these categories produce teachers with an

understanding of what constitutes ‘good’ teaching. She notes, however, that “such a

knowledge base does not necessarily help these new teachers to deal with the contexts

they live and work in” (Martinez, 1994, p. 137). Martinez acknowledges that

although Shulman’s categories are reflective of the real work of teachers, such an

understanding needs to be combined with the development of techniques and

strategies to deal with contexts of teaching. Research suggests that constructivist

teacher education is likely to be instrumental in the development of such techniques

and strategies (Byo, 1999; Chen, 1996; Darling-Hammond, 2000a; Ghaith & Shaaban,

1999).10

The extent to which teacher education has an impact on the development of teacher

knowledge is a point of particular contention, with some authors arguing that it has

little impact (Lampert & Ball, 1999; Stuart & Thurlow, 2000; Su, 1992). However,

many writers (Carter et al., 1993; Darling-Hammond, 2000a; Iredale, 1996) argue that

teacher education improves teacher knowledge and skills, and that this continues to

develop throughout a teacher’s career.

As shall be seen in Section 2.2.2, the argument that preservice teacher education has

little impact on teacher knowledge and skills (Beijaard et al., 2000; Lampert & Ball,

1999; Stuart & Thurlow, 2000; Su, 1992; Walls, Nardi, von Minden, & Hoffman,

2002) is grounded largely in research that suggests that teaching context is more

10 This will be explored further in Section 2.2.3.

28

influential on beginning teachers’ practice than preservice teacher education.

However, rather than assuming that teacher preparation can never be effective due to

the powerful impact of teaching contexts, it is helpful to ask the question – what needs

to be done in preservice teacher education courses to enable early-career teachers to

utilise the knowledge and skills from their preservice courses, regardless of their

context?

2.2.2 The socialisation of teachers

Becoming part of the school community is central to beginning teachers’ development

(Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002). The process by which an individual becomes part of

the society of teachers is known as teacher socialisation (Gratch, 2001). Studies have

shown that early socialisation of teachers in schools is crucial in determining

beginning teachers’ attitudes towards teaching, their understanding of the job, their

professional behaviour, their classroom practice and their longevity in the profession

(Flores, 2001; Ghaith & Shaaban, 1999; Gratch, 2001; Hawkey, 1996; Wideen,

Mayer-Smith, & Moon, 1998). These early experiences combine with personal

beliefs and prior experiences to form the professional identity of a teacher, which

informs teachers’ future practices (Hawkey, 1996).

It is important for preservice courses to foster a realistic understanding of the realities

of teaching life. Unrealistic expectations of teaching life may result in early-career

teachers being unable to deal with the socialisation process in a dynamic way once

they get into the culture of a school (Gratch, 2001; Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002).

When they reach their first schools, teachers typically experience a “confrontation

with the realities and responsibilities of being a classroom teacher” which “puts their

29

beliefs and ideas about teaching to the test” (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002, p. 105).

The discrepancies between teachers’ expectations of school life and the realities of

teaching often contribute to what is known as praxisschock11 (Mark, 1998) and is also

referred to as ‘praxis shock’ or practice shock. If teacher education preparation has

not been effective in preparing teachers, teachers may reject the knowledge and skills

that they learned at university and adopt the knowledge associated with the teaching

culture at their school. When teachers’ expectations of teaching life are ‘shattered’ in

such a way, they tend to focus on survival rather than on learning how to teach more

effectively (Wideen et al., 1998), i.e., the school environment becomes more

powerful than preservice education in determining teacher practice (Lampert & Ball,

1999; Stuart & Thurlow, 2000; Su, 1992).

Teacher socialisation can thus be seen as a process of interaction between the school

experience and the teacher (Ghaith & Shaaban, 1999; Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002).12

Although the context of the school experience is seen to have a large impact on the

nature of the teacher socialisation process, the teacher is not necessarily a ‘passive

receptor’ of social norms within the school (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002). Rather,

socialisation is largely dependent on teachers’ interpretation of an induction process

and their reaction to it. It is therefore important that preservice education programs

prepare teachers for the emotional turmoil that they can expect in their first year,

providing them with skills to deal with difficulties that they are likely to face as

beginning teachers. Indeed, Stokking, Leenders, De Jong, and Van Tartwijk (2003)

11 This is the German spelling of the term, and is how it is spelt in Mark’s (1998) review of music teacher education research. 12 This is known as an interactionist understanding of socialisation (Parry & Gregory, 1998).

30

argue that “a thorough and realistic preparation of candidate teachers may reduce …

the intensity of the practice shock and the resulting dropout of prospective and novice

teachers” (p. 331).

Moir (1999) details five stages that teachers typically experience in their first year –

anticipation, survival, disillusionment, rejuvenation, and reflection. These five stages

emerged from studies of nearly 1500 beginning teachers, and are experienced by most

(but not all) new teachers. Goddard and Foster (2001), who also noted that there were

distinct stages of development in the first year of teaching, found that teachers tended

to move from one stage to the next at different rates, depending on critical

experiences that are particular to individual teachers.

The extent to which context impacts on teachers’ concept of self and resultant

teaching practice depends on how they view themselves as teachers before they begin

teaching, and whether or not this is challenged or ‘shattered’ by the context (Hawkey,

1996). Teachers’ belief in their ability to be effective teachers is known as personal

efficacy (Gerges, 2001). Efficacy beliefs impact on teachers’ professional identity by

influencing their perceptions of their own teaching ability, ability to cope with change

in the workplace, and ability to be effective and innovative teachers. Higher teacher

efficacy is also consistently linked with higher student achievement (Beijaard et al.,

2000).

Whilst most literature suggests that ‘high’ teacher efficacy is needed for effective

teaching (Beijaard et al., 2000; Gerges, 2001) an alternative view has been proposed

by Wheatley (2002). He claims that teachers’ doubts about their efficacy may in fact

31

be beneficial to teacher development and the success of educational reform (Wheatley,

2002). His argument is that personal efficacy doubts have the potential to foster

disequilibrium, reflection, increased motivation to learn, productive collaboration and

support teachers’ responses to diversity in the classroom. Such responses to efficacy

doubts can be the catalyst for teaching reforms and personal teacher growth. He does,

however, acknowledge that “not much is known about the conditions under which

teacher efficacy doubts will be beneficial for teachers and their teaching” (Wheatley,

2002, p. 17). The key lies in teacher education, where future teachers need to be

taught about teacher efficacy doubts and how to deal with them in a manner that

benefits their own growth (Wheatley, 2002).

Preservice teacher education provides an opportunity for future teachers to form

realistic conceptions of their professional identity. Strengthening preservice teacher

efficacy has been suggested as a way to enhance teacher efficacy (Gerges, 2001;

Ghaith & Shaaban, 1999), but efficacy doubts may not be detrimental, if preservice

courses provide students with the skills to utilise them in a positive way.

2.2.3 Preparation for the early years of teaching

Negative experiences occurring as teachers interact with the school culture, and the

praxis shock which can result, are best addressed by maintaining a gradual transition

from the preservice course to the profession (Stokking et al., 2003). Praxis shock can

be addressed at two sites – in the universities and in the schools (McCormack &

Thomas, 2003). Within the universities, a constructivist approach to preservice

preparation has been shown to have a positive and lasting impact on teachers in their

early years of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2000a, 2000b; 1997; Thompson & Zeuli,

32

1999; Wideen et al., 1998). Constructivist teacher education courses focus on

participatory learning and reflection, whereby preservice teachers create their own

understandings of their professional practice. Consequently, it seems that much

literature suggests a constructivist style of teacher education will provide preservice

teachers with the ability to reflect on their preservice preparation and early

experiences in schools, creating realistic understandings of ways to improve and cope

in their professional practice. In the schools, a constructivist approach seems to be

facilitated by a warm, supportive environment, coupled with effective induction and

mentoring programs (Flores, 2001; Weasmer & Woods, 2000; Yourn, 2000).

Although socialisation occurs in the school environment, listed below are some ways

that researchers suggest universities and schools can address teacher socialisation to

ensure it is a positive experience.

In the universities

• Preservice courses need to have collaborative and integrated approaches to

curriculum, as the fragmentation of subjects and the cellular nature of higher

education do not enable an articulated and holistic view of teaching (Flores, 2001).

• Preservice teachers need to be provided with basic understandings of the

organisational life of schools. They also need to develop the political skills to

deal with the problems and challenges associated with the organisational pressures

of schools (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002).

• Preservice teachers need to be provided with the skills to take advantage of

socialisation opportunities. This involves the continual examination and

reconstruction of their images of themselves as teachers (Gratch, 2001).

33

• Preservice courses should be linked with the secondary curriculum (Cuoco, 1998),

and incorporate both theory and practice (Flores, 2001; Mark, 1998; Yourn, 2000).

• Student teachers and beginning teachers should be provided with ample

opportunities to analyse and reflect on their own beliefs and implicit theories of

learning. Hawkey (1996, p. 101) calls for early articulation of image to help

“preservice and beginning teachers to start the process of interpreting their

experiences within class and of developing as reflective professionals”.

• Preservice programs should reflect the link between teacher efficacy and teacher

effectiveness (Gerges, 2001). By addressing personal teaching efficacy, teaching

in the schools is likely to improve (Gerges, 2001; Ghaith & Shaaban, 1999;

Wheatley, 2002).

• Teacher education programs should offer subject specific methods courses, so that

teachers may learn how to teach their specialised subjects (Gerges, 2001).

In the schools

• Schools should provide an induction process that supports teachers in their first

few years of teaching (Flores, 2001; Hobart, Self, & Ward, 1994). Research

shows that “beginning teachers in supportive and informative settings are more

likely to seek advice and to overcome their doubts and difficulties more

effectively” (Flores, 2001, p. 145). Such an outcome is strongly linked to the

presence of effective mentors in these years (Knudsen & Zapf, 1999; Weasmer &

Woods, 2000; Yourn, 2000).

• To foster growth in new teachers, it is necessary to have administrative support,

networking and university support (Weasmer & Woods, 2000).

34

• Schools need to be ‘safe for uncertainty’ (Wheatley, 2002), so that early-career

teachers can examine their efficacy doubts and grow from them.

It is suggested then that teacher socialisation should be addressed at both university

and school. This study focuses on how to improve preservice courses, in order to

prepare teachers for the difficulties many of them face when they begin teaching, but

it is acknowledged that schools also play an important role in teacher socialisation.

2.2.4 Discipline-specific problems

The nature of teaching practice is largely dependent on the discipline being taught and

the ages of the students (Martinez, 1994). As found in a recent Australian review of

teacher education, “it is impossible in any discipline to separate the content from the

pedagogy” (Ramsey, 2000, p. 37). This review of teacher education involved a

variety of information sources including 206 written submissions, comments made in

over 130 meetings, forum reports, research, and analyses of statistical data and policy

trends. Ramsey’s report found that:

Teachers do not have a strong, shared identity as professional

practitioners. They are more likely to identify with:

• Employer-determined structures such as primary school grade, a

secondary subject faculty or the school in which they teach

• A professional association covering a subject discipline, with

priority generally given to supporting teachers’ knowledge and

understanding of the curriculum rather than a focus on pedagogy.

(Ramsey, 2000, p. 33)

This evidence indicates that teachers view themselves primarily as discipline or age-

level specialists. It also suggests that teachers desire curriculum knowledge and skills

35

pertaining directly to these areas. This is likely to be the case particularly in

Queensland secondary schools, where teachers are required to be discipline specialists,

usually in no more than two discipline areas.

Shulman and Sparks (1992) offer an explanation for teachers’ affinity with their

discipline area:

Teachers never teach something in general – they always teach

particular things to particular groups of [students] in particular

settings … Individuals who have studied teaching and learning over

the past decade have become increasingly convinced that most human

learning and teaching is highly specific and situated. There is much

less broad transfer and generalizability from one domain to another

than we have thought. (p. 14)

Arguably, if human learning is ‘highly specific and situated’ and teacher education

programs are being developed using models which do not reflect this, then early-

career teachers may be finding that they are not well prepared for the realities of

teaching, which are situated within the realm of their specific discipline.

If teachers view themselves primarily as content and age-level specialists, and teacher

education courses are being designed without this in mind, then it may be argued that

the latter will not serve the needs of the former. The Professional Standards for

Teachers document (Education Queensland, 2002), which has been designed as a

template for teacher education reforms, is not discipline area or age-level specific,

although it does feature in a minor way such terms as ‘content area and trans-

disciplinary knowledge’. In this way, it may not reflect the needs of teachers.

Similarly, a recent evaluation of teacher education courses in Queensland (Education

36

Queensland, 2000) did not distinguish between discipline or age-level. This is in spite

of criticisms aimed at reviews of teacher education which are generic (Grieshaber et

al., 2000). A recent review of teacher education conducted in New South Wales,

Australia, highlights the importance of framing teacher education reforms within the

context of discipline areas. In particular, the review recommended that “the

preparation of teachers for their content areas” (Ramsey, 2000, p. 39) be a key policy

direction.

2.2.5 Summary

The process by which an individual becomes part of the society of teachers is known

as teacher socialisation. Socialisation impacts on teachers’ long-term attitudes

towards teaching, their understanding of the job, professional behaviour, classroom

practice and longevity in the profession. The way that early-career teachers react to

the socialisation process depends on their sense of teacher efficacy, their concept of

professional identity, and the support that they receive in the schools.

It is important for preservice teachers to be prepared for their early teaching

experiences so that they are able to approach problems in a dynamic way. Before

teachers reach the schools they should be taught how to engage with the teaching

environment in ways that promote improved teaching practice. It is important that

preservice teacher education programs aid preservice teachers to develop knowledge

in all of Shulman’s (1987) areas of teacher knowledge (see Section 2.2.1). In

particular, it seems that teachers require support in regards to their discipline

specialisation. Accordingly, it is proposed that when reviewing teacher education it is

important to do so within the context of teaching area and age-level specialisation.

37

2.3 Music education

As has been argued above, teachers’ discipline area specialisation plays a strong role

in early-career teachers’ identity development and socialisation. This section explores

issues arising from the distinctive nature of education within the arts in general and

music in particular, leading to an exploration of the specific nature of secondary

classroom music and the challenges faced by music teachers in Queensland.

2.3.1 The arts in education

‘The arts’ is an umbrella term normally used to describe the disciplines of Drama,

Visual Arts, Media, Dance and Music. These disciplines are united by the common

goal of expression - whether emotions, stories, discourses or ideas. Philosophers have

for many years striven to define the arts and the artistic experience. The view that “art

is related to the experience of life at the deepest levels of life’s significance” (Reimer,

1989, p. 52), is known as the aesthetic perspective.13 The aesthetic value of art lies in

its experience, because it is only through this experience that the meaning of art can

be understood. In particular, the artistic experience is associated with emotions and

expression - “our senses are saturated by the appearances of things, which take us on a

13 Philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Gant and Dewey have written on the idea of the aesthetic experience. Reimer is a modern philosopher in music education who has drawn on the ideas of these writers, particularly Dewey (Pellitteri, Stern, & Nakhutina, 1999).

38

fascination that is especially significant, in that its origin lies in us” (Scruton, 1997, p.

86).14

Other philosophers focus on the extra-artistic benefits of the artistic experience – this

is called a utilitarian viewpoint (Austin & Reinhardt, 1999). Utilitarian experiences

are ‘functional’ or ‘referential’ - the purpose is not to experience the intrinsic nature

of the art. Many music educators tend to acknowledge that whilst studies within the

arts will provide cognitive, physical and social learning, it is the aesthetic domain of

the arts that provides students with a unique and fundamental human experience

(Reimer, 1993b).

The instrumental claim that the arts can be used to buttress the 3Rs …

is a double edged sword. If the arts are given a role in schools solely

because people believe they cause academic improvement, they could

lose their position within the school curriculum …The arts should not

be justified primarily in terms of what they can do for maths or reading

or any other subject. Instead, the arts should be justified in terms of

what they can teach that no other subject can teach. (Wright, 2002, ¶

1)

Arts education should ensure that students experience art, and enjoy the sensuous,

perceptual and creative aspects of the experience, so that they might engage with the

arts as a matter of free choice after they have finished formal schooling (Shuler, 2001).

14 It is acknowledged that the philosophy of the arts as an aesthetic domain in the classroom is a matter of debate. Criticisms by such writers as Elliott and Bowman, who prefer a praxial view of music education, have been prominent in the literature. However, these writers themselves have critics (Westerlund, 2003), and the relevance of the debate is only relevant to this study insofar as the relevant philosophies are present in curriculum documents, and in the philosophies of early-career music teachers. Accordingly, this study has chosen to look at aesthetic arts education, because this philosophy is still reflected in curriculum documents.

39

This requires that teachers within the arts are equipped with the knowledge and skills

to provide these experiences for students.

In Australia, there are currently eight Key Learning Areas (KLAs) in schools, of

which The Arts is one. In Queensland, The Arts: Years one to ten syllabus15 divides

The Arts into five equal areas - Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Arts. These

areas are all understood to incorporate “aesthetic and sensory learning, cognitive,

physical and social learning” (Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2001, p. 12).

When describing the nature of The Arts, the syllabus details their aesthetic value:

many people are personally passionate about the arts in their lives.

They value the enjoyment and satisfaction they get from their

involvement in these expressions of the human spirit. (Queensland

School Curriculum Council, 2001, p. 5)

The utilitarian philosophy is also evident:

Through education in the arts, students develop creative talents,

competencies and skills that can be transferred to their working and

recreational lives. They experience and come to understand both the

collaborative and the self-managing aspects of arts practice. Students

become aware of the socialising influence of the arts and are

motivated to participate in and enjoy the arts as discerning

practitioners and consumers. As well, arts activities, museums,

festivals, performances, organisations and industries contribute

significantly to the Australian economy. (Queensland School

Curriculum Council, 2001, p. 5)

15 Capitalisation of “The Arts” refers to the specific Queensland syllabus understanding of the area. No capitalisation - “the arts” – refers to the broader theoretical area.

40

The tone of this document suggests that the utilitarian philosophy16 is used

predominantly to advocate for music within the schools where The Arts are not

valued for their intrinsic benefits, yet the specific discipline areas appear to require

teachers of arts subjects to adopt an aesthetic pedagogy within their classes

(Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2001). The implications of this could be

that teachers are being required to deliver lessons rich in aesthetic experiences that

are valued for their benefits to the non-aesthetic areas of students’ lives. The impact

of this on students, teachers and the role of music within the schools is not known.

Austin and Reinhart’s literature review (1999) reveals that as experiences within the

arts are highly theoretical and indeterminate by nature, it can be difficult for arts

educators to teach in a way that provides a valuable aesthetic experience (Austin &

Reinhardt, 1999). It is likely that this is due to the difficulty of providing authentic

artistic experiences within the classroom context.

The challenge for art[s] teachers involves helping others to rediscover

the act of perceiving and form making, encircling and informing

consciousness and helping students to engage their world with an

informed mind and spirit. Creating and responding to art are at the

core of art instruction … In the future, as in the present and past, we

will be dealing with the expression and realisation of ideas and

feelings that give meaning, significance, and pleasure to our lives.

(Hausman, 2000, pp. 17-18)

Hausman’s (2000) comments on arts education highlight the abstract nature of the arts

and therefore aesthetic arts education. In contrast with most other subjects within the

16 The term utilitarian is not explicitly used in the Queensland School Curriculum Council document.

41

school curriculum, subjects within the arts rely heavily on interpretation, reflection

and creative expression. Indeed, the concept of aesthetic education is a difficult one

to grasp, and therefore it is suggested that it is pedagogically quite specific and

demanding.

There may be a link between the abstract nature of the arts and the way they are

viewed in Australian society and within Australian schools. Recently, it was written

in The Australian newspaper - "we do not value the arts … in this country. It exists as

some kind of nebulous concept of national identity or elitist preoccupation for most

Australians" (Snell, 2001, p. 1). The belief that the arts are not as important as other

more ‘practical’ subjects may be impeding the development and continuation of the

arts within schools and the community.

When investigating teachers’ perceptions of their preservice courses, it is necessary to

be aware of the specialised nature of teaching within the arts. The experiences of arts

teachers are likely to be dissimilar to those of non-arts teachers. Given that The Arts

in Queensland form a separate Key Learning Area, it is desirable to investigate the

experiences of arts teachers separately from those of non-arts teachers. Further, it is

desirable to examine the experiences of music educators separately from the

experiences of other arts teachers, as within secondary schools in Australia, teachers

tend to specialise in one of the strands of The Arts. The following sections explore

the distinctive nature of music education and particular challenges for classroom

music teachers.

42

2.3.2 The distinctive nature of music education

It has been widely argued that music is a unique subject area (Baney, 1999; Hodges,

2000; Reimer, 1989; Spencer, 1996; Swanwick, 1988; Weinberger, 1998). This

argument gained much momentum through the writings of Gardner, who argues that

music is a unique form of intelligence – one of seven identified in his book Multiple

intelligences: The theory in practice (1993).17 Gardner maintains that music is

universal, biologically rooted and unique in the skills it employs, and as such stands

separately from all other subjects within the school (Gardner, 1993).18 Despite such

arguments, there is an on-going struggle in many schools to justify the presence of

music in the curriculum (Watson, 2000). In schools where the purpose of education is

seen to be to prepare students directly for their years of work, music is viewed as

subsidiary to most students’ futures, and therefore of little value (Lierse, 1999). In

many ways, such perceptions of music determine its role in the school. As with the

arts generally, there are two ways of valuing music – for its use (utility) to other areas

of life, or for its intrinsic value (aesthetic). These two perspectives are evident in

schools, and therefore are briefly outlined below.

Utilitarian value of music and music education

The utilitarian value of music and music education is commonly used to demonstrate

the unique place of the subject within the school program. To view music as valuable

17 Gardner’s other six forms of intelligence are namely – bodily/kinaesthetic, logical/mathematical, verbal/linguistic, visual/spatial, intra\personal and interpersonal intelligences. In 1995, he added an extra intelligence, labelled naturalist intelligence (1996).

43

due to the extra-artistic benefits of the musical experience is to take a utilitarian

viewpoint (Austin & Reinhardt, 1999). Music has unique utilitarian benefits, which

enhance a child’s extra-artistic development. Research shows that engagement with

music as a child:

Optimizes brain development;

Enhances multiple intelligences;

Facilitates genuine bonding between adult and child;

Builds social/emotional skills;

Promotes attention to task and inner speech;

Develops impulse control and motor development; and

Communicates creativity and joy. (Baney, 1999, Conclusion section, ¶

2)

Thus, when Queensland students take part in music lessons which require them to

aurally and visually identify and respond to music, sing, play, read and write music

(Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2001), utilitarians contend that they are

learning in a different and unique way that benefits many other aspects of their lives.

Advocates of music within schools often refer to its utilitarian benefits to justify its

important role within the curriculum (Kelstrom, 1998). Although music does have

extrinsic benefits, arguably this is not the essential reason that people play or listen to

it. To maintain that music education is only important because of its utilitarian

benefits is to underplay the importance of the intrinsic (aesthetic) benefits of studying

18 Those who link emotional intelligence and musical intelligence still acknowledge that music is a “unique medium that arouses the emotions, provides a means of expression and is naturally motivating” (Burns, 2000, pp. 189-194, 205-8, 212, ). However, linking these intelligences does not negate the concept of musical intelligence as ‘unique’.

44

music, thereby marginalising its unique role within the school curriculum (Reimer,

1993b).

Aesthetic value of music

Aesthetically, music enables people

to discover, share, express, and know about aspects of the human

experience that we cannot know through any other means. Musical

insights into the human condition are uniquely powerful experiences

that cannot be replaced by any other form of experience. (Hodges,

2000, p. 54)

Music as a discipline relies solely on the aural perception of sounds – “much that

seems strange in music can be traced to the strangeness of the sound world itself.

Nevertheless, music is a special kind of sound, and not any art of sound is music”

(Scruton, 1997, p. 16). Aesthetically, music has the ability to connect with human

emotions on a purely aural level – something which none of the other arts disciplines

can do. The aesthetic justification for music is well articulated by Herzog:

Whoever sings or plays an instrument acquires a second language.

The language of music ... crushes walls of solitude, brings people into

contact with each other. A person practising music also trains

abilities for concentration, empathy and persistence. He gains a

rhythm of life which helps him to develop his own personality ...

Through music education and in music schools the foundation for

musical culture is laid. (as cited in Mark, 1998, p. 3)

As Herzog implies, the ‘language of music’ is indeed unique and engaging in music in

turn requires certain knowledge and skills that are in many ways unique. It is not

possible to investigate here the intricacies of the aesthetic musical experience. It is

45

sufficient to mention that there are distinguishing features of music that are inherent

in the aesthetic musical experience. Examples of these are the organisation of tones

and sound, the ways imagination is linked to the production and experience of music,

music as an aesthetic rather than representative art, and music as a language (Scruton,

1997). As such, the learning of music needs to be accomplished so that it reflects the

distinctive experiences associated with music playing, listening and composing

(Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2001; Reimer, 1989; Swanwick, 1988). For

this to occur, it is necessary that teachers possess the knowledge and skills to be able

to teach music in a way that reflects the distinctive nature of the subject.

Teaching music aesthetically19

To learn the discipline of music, students need teachers who can teach musically, that

is, teachers need to have the specialist skills for their particular area and the ability to

provide valuable aesthetic experiences for students (Reimer, 1989). The role of the

music educator is to make accessible the aesthetic meanings of music (Reimer, 1989).

This is a difficult task , and as a result, Austin and Reinhardt (1999) argue that music

teachers’ classroom practice rarely reflects their aesthetic philosophies, or the

aesthetic philosophies evident in the syllabi. So how does a music educator teach in

an aesthetic manner?

19 This section of the literature review is included because it contributes to an understanding of the distinctive nature of music teachers’ work. It is not a major component of the study, and has therefore been kept very brief.

46

In order for ‘musical understanding’ to take place, there must first be a musical

experience. In order for this to occur in the music classroom, Reimer suggests the

following:

Music, which is genuinely expressive, must form the core of the

curriculum material used. The higher the artistic quality of the music,

the richer and more powerful the musical experience can be …

The expression of music should be the focus of every class.

The study of music should concentrate on characteristics of music,

which make it expressive …

The language and techniques used by the teacher should reflect the

nature of music as an expressive form. (Reimer, 1989, p. 95-97)

In summary, it has been argued that music education is qualitatively different from

other curriculum subjects, and as such, it requires teaching skills that are unique to the

discipline of music. The knowledge and skills required of music teachers wanting to

teach aesthetically are detailed and difficult to put into action in the classroom, and

this needs to be specifically addressed in teacher education programs.

In addition, whilst there are many generic problems that early-career teachers

experience, there are differences in the perspectives of beginning teachers from

different subject areas (Martinez, 1994). As has been discussed in Section 2.2.4, the

discipline specialisation of a teacher is likely to cause unique problems in the early

years of teaching. Accordingly, it is to be expected that early-career secondary

classroom music teachers face many challenges in their workplaces that arise from the

distinctive nature of music and therefore the music programs in schools. Limited

research in this area suggests that music teachers face difficulties because of their

involvement in non-teaching administrative tasks associated with the extracurricular

47

music program (Kelly, 1999) as well as isolation within the school (Kelly, 1999;

Kreuger, 1999; Krueger, 2000). For these reasons, it is proposed that music teachers

require specialised training in order to deal with the issues associated with being a

secondary classroom music teacher.

2.3.3 The quality of secondary classroom music teaching

There is very limited literature available regarding how early-career teachers view

their preservice preparation. However, when looking at music education in general,

there are indicators that music teacher preparation could be improved. One such

indicator is the quality of classroom music teaching.

The quality of music teaching in schools worldwide is well below that found in other

subject areas (Spencer, 1996) and music teachers are often viewed as having lower

teaching skills than non-music teachers (Hamann et.al, 2000). As teacher quality is

linked inextricably to the quality of learning occurring in schools (Darling-Hammond,

2000b), it is necessary to provide teachers with the skills and knowledge to be good

music teachers. If teachers are not prepared adequately, then their teaching is likely to

suffer, and consequently this will affect students’ perceptions of the value of the

subject and their quality of learning. The premise behind all preservice education

courses is that they improve the quality of teaching and learning occurring in the

schools.

Leong’s recent study of music teachers in Australia found that secondary school

students “did not seem to be gaining much from general music lessons. Only a

minority of students had indicated positive gains in the important music skills of

48

performing, creating and arranging” (Leong, 1996, p. 59). This finding is supported

by Lierse’s study, which showed that most music programs (in Victoria, Australia) are

ineffective and under-resourced (Lierse, 1999). In addition, music teachers also

believe they are unable to effectively implement the secondary school curriculum if

their job expectations and the curriculum stay as they are (Kelly, 1999; Leong, 1996;

Lierse, 1999).

Limited research in this field seems to indicate that the situation is much the same in

Queensland as in the rest of Australia. Statistics from the Board of Senior Secondary

School Studies (2000) and research by Fullarton and Ainley (2000) show that students

in Queensland are rejecting music as a secondary school subject in favour of other arts

subjects. In 1999 there were 14 449 students studying Senior Art, 12 795 studying

Senior Drama, and only 3911 studying Senior Music in Queensland (Board of Senior

Secondary School Studies, 2000). A study by Ballantyne (2000)20 indicated that this

might be due to students ‘rejecting’ their teachers’ teaching style.

The preparation of teachers has been linked to the quality of teaching occurring in the

classroom (Darling-Hammond, 2000b). Therefore improving teacher education may

contribute to raising the quality of teaching in the schools. As early-career teachers

are the major ‘clients’ in the teacher education process, it is important to determine

20 A case study conducted in two Metropolitan Brisbane schools showed that one of the main reasons for students rejecting secondary classroom music as a subject is that they feel that music is not useful for their jobs or careers, other subjects are more important, and that music is not useful for getting into university (Ballantyne, 2000). The study also showed that students who choose not to take music do not find the subject’s content interesting. Those students who do not choose music as a senior subject rated their dislike for the teacher and his/her teaching style as an important factor in their choice to reject the subject in their senior years of High School (Ballantyne, 2000).

49

whether early-career music teachers perceive deficiencies in their preservice courses

in preparing them for these first years of teaching music.

2.3.4 Early-career music teachers’ perceptions of current teacher

education programs

Whilst there have not been any specific reviews of the preservice music teacher

programs in Queensland, a recent study indicates that among Australian music

teachers, Queensland music teachers are the least satisfied with their preservice

courses and are those who are most likely to change their careers at an early age

(Leong, 1996). Why are they feeling dissatisfied?

Research indicates that preservice music teachers seem to hold unrealistically

optimistic views about their teaching abilities and expectations regarding their

beginning teaching experience (Richards & Killen, 1993). As a result, when they

reach their first schools, they find that the job is far more difficult than they expected,

and as such tend to reject the knowledge and skills that they learned at university

(Wideen et al., 1998). This experience of praxis shock has been discussed in Section

2.2, and is common to many early-career teachers regardless of discipline

specialisation. However, whilst early-career music teachers express generic concerns

with areas such as classroom management, teaching materials, becoming a good

teacher and their mentor teacher (Yourn, 2000), they also seem to focus around the

need for increased support regarding how to teach music specifically (Mark, 1998).

Generally, it seems that, although music teachers view music skills as useful to their

profession, they value content delivery or teaching skills more (Ferguson & Womack,

50

1993; Hamann et al., 2000; Saunders & Baker, 1991; Teachout, 1997). In an

American study by Teachout (1997), it was found that “personal skills and teaching

skills were considered by both … current music teachers and … pre-service music

teachers to be more important to initial teaching success than musical skills” (p. 49).

Australian studies similarly indicate that the competencies early-career music teachers

most value involve music-teaching skills (Leong, 1996).

As a result of the difficulty of teaching music and the experience of praxis shock, it is

not surprising that many music teachers maintain that their preservice music teacher

education did not prepare them well enough for the realities of teaching. It appears

from the limited research available that music teachers are not happy with their

preservice preparation with regard to teaching skills. In a Viennese study, music

teachers viewed didactics, general pedagogy and music pedagogical areas as very

important to their professional roles as music teachers, yet more than 75% of current

music teachers felt that they had gained very little from general pedagogy at the

university (Mark, 1998). These findings suggest that although music teachers may

value content delivery and teaching skills, they feel that they have not been

adequately prepared in these areas.

Such dissatisfaction is strongly linked to the weighting of preservice courses towards

the practical and theoretical side of music, and away from the preparation of teaching

activity (Mark, 1998). Balancing music skills and pedagogy in preservice courses can

be difficult:

Subject matter and pedagogy have been peculiarly and persistently

divided in the conceptualisation and curriculum of teacher education

and learning to teach. This fragmentation of practice leaves teachers

51

on their own with the challenge of integrating subject matter

knowledge and pedagogy in the contexts of their work. Yet, being able

to do this is fundamental to engaging in the core tasks of teaching, and

it is critical to being able to teach all students well. (Ball, 2000,

abstract)

As suggested by Ball (2000), an imbalance in music skills may result in music

teachers manipulating the curriculum to marginalise those areas in which they are

least confident (Rynne & Lambert, 1997). In the same way, if teachers are not

provided with adequate teaching skills in their preservice teacher education courses,

they may be less likely to provide varied and relevant learning experiences for their

students. It is therefore important that preservice programs provide future music

educators with a balanced curriculum, incorporating both theoretical and practical

skills in music and teaching (Reimer, 1993a; Stegman, 2000).

It is hypothesised that teacher education programs are not ‘situated’ in the working

realities of being a music teacher, and therefore early-career music teachers are at

serious risk of praxis shock. Richards and Killen (1993) make a call to address praxis

shock21 in the preservice music education courses in Australia. The literature

reviewed would indicate that praxis shock among early-career music teachers may be

linked strongly to the nature of the subject within the school, and also to the

inadequacy of preservice preparation in music education.

21 These authors do not refer specifically to praxis shock - the reference is implied.

52

2.3.5 Music teacher education in Queensland

The three Queensland universities that educate most of the secondary classroom

music teachers are the University of Queensland (UQ), Queensland University of

Technology (QUT) and Griffith University. Although it is acknowledged that there

are other universities that contribute in part to the preparation of Queensland music

teachers,22 these three universities are by far the most significant in terms of music

teacher education. As a result, this study will focus specifically on graduates from

these universities. All accredited teaching courses have to comply with the

Queensland Board of Teacher Registration’s (QBTR) ‘Guidelines on the acceptability

of teacher education programs for teacher registration programs’ (1999). This

document details course requirements in terms of philosophies, goals, structure and

content of programs, the teaching and learning approaches of the program and

assessment of student work. Accordingly, the course designs at all Queensland

universities are fairly similar in order to meet accreditation requirements and it is

expected that the educational experiences of early-career teachers are fairly consistent

throughout the State.

Music teachers in Queensland are required to attend university full-time for at least

four years. Students may choose to combine their education degree with a degree in

music or arts, or enrol in the graduate programs. A previous degree in music (or

demonstrable skills equivalent to significant tertiary musical studies) grants students

credit for the content studies aspect of the course. These students are then required to

22 These universities include the University of Southern Queensland, Central Queensland University, the Australian Catholic University and James Cook University.

53

complete four full semesters of education-related studies to qualify as a secondary

music teacher (Queensland Board of Teacher Registration, 1999). Figure 2.1

indicates the pathways that music teachers in Queensland may take in order to qualify

to teach in secondary schools:

Figure 2.1

Pathways to becoming a secondary classroom music teacher in Queensland

Undergraduate Content Degrees Bachelor of Music (to be followed by a teaching qualification) Bachelor of Arts with a major in Music* (to be followed by a teaching qualification) Undergraduate Education Degrees or Double Degrees Bachelor of Education (4 years full-time) Bachelor of Music/Bachelor of Education (4-5 years full-time) Bachelor of Arts (Music)/Bachelor of Education (4-5 years full-time) Bachelor of Arts (with a major in Music) /Bachelor of Education (4-5 years full-time) Graduate qualifications in Education Graduate Diploma of Education (1 year full-time) Graduate Bachelor of Education Master of Teaching * All three universities in this study require demonstrable skills in music prior to being accepted into the graduate education course. This usually consists of an interview and a music skills test. This is not the situation at all Queensland universities

Preservice teacher education courses are divided into two sections – content studies

and professional studies. According to the Queensland Board of Teacher Registration

(1999), following their content studies, teacher education graduates should have:

an understanding, at a level appropriate to higher education, of the

subject areas they are prepared to teach: their central concepts, their

relevant content knowledge, their structures and characteristic modes

of enquiry. These expectations will vary relative to the age-range of

54

students which preservice teachers are prepared to teach. (Queensland

Board of Teacher Registration, 1999, p. 8)

As preservice music teachers’ experience will depend on students’ coursework paths,

it is not viable to explore the content studies of the preservice music teacher education

program in depth. It is sufficient to note that a certain amount of content knowledge

and skills (evident through tertiary studies in music) are required to qualify as a music

teacher.

The professional studies portion of the Queensland preservice music teachers’

preparation is divided into education studies, curriculum and teaching studies and

cross-curricular areas, teaching and learning studies, teacher roles and professional

experience. All of these areas are covered in the preservice education degrees at QUT,

UQ and GU, and all graduating teachers should have had similar experiences within

these areas. Due to the similarities of the three courses, it is viable to consider

graduates’ experiences together, in order to gain an appreciation of the generic

requirements of a preservice music teacher education course in Queensland. It is

interesting to note that there appears to be little emphasis within the QBTR document

pertaining specifically to the development of skills within specified curriculum areas,

although teachers are expected to be “prepared for the teaching of students in

specified age ranges and in specified curriculum areas” (Queensland Board of

Teacher Registration, 1999, p. 9).

As Section 2.3.4 has indicated, it seems from the limited research available that the

subjects music teachers most value are those that teach them how to teach music. In

particular, the classroom music education units and teaching practice are most valued

55

by music teachers (Chen, 1996). In Queensland, the question arises as to whether

enough coursework time is allocated to this aspect. The knowledge and skills that

specifically apply to teaching music are mostly covered within the curriculum

subjects at Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology and the

University of Queensland. There are two curriculum subjects (graduate students take

16 subjects and undergraduate students take 36 subjects in total). It is relevant to this

study to determine how universities address the skills that music teachers value most.

In the following section, a brief content analysis of these subjects at the three

universities is presented, in order to provide a framework from which to view early-

career teachers’ comments on their preservice teacher education experiences.

2.3.6 Content analysis of the three curriculum studies units

A content analysis of the music curriculum studies units at QUT, UQ and Griffith

reveal considerable similarities between the universities. This content analysis has

been conducted using the published subject outline documents, which detail the

content and objectives for the subjects. By completion of the music curriculum units,

students from these universities should be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of and the ability to critique current literature in music

education;

• articulate their own personal philosophies of music education, which they

have arrived at by studying and critiquing relevant literature in the area of

music education;

• develop a range of appropriate teaching strategies/skills for secondary students,

which are congruent with relevant educational theories;

• select appropriate repertoire for students in secondary school classrooms;

56

• demonstrate understanding of the fundamental principles associated with

teaching and learning of music by developing internally sequential and

educationally appropriate lesson plans; and

• demonstrate detailed understanding of current Queensland curriculum

documents and music education theory by being able to plan and implement

sequential and musically meaningful work programs appropriate to secondary

school classrooms.

It was found that emphases were slightly different at each university, which could

be attributed to differences in the teaching/research orientations of the individual

lecturers. These content areas were found to be present at only one or two of the

three universities:

• ‘youth’ music and music from other cultures;

• vocal pedagogy and repertoire;

• conducting classroom ensembles; and the

• varied ways students learn.

In summary, the preservice teacher education courses in Queensland (at the time of

this study) are similar in design and content, reflecting the need to satisfy QBTR

accreditation recommendations. This brief analysis shows that, according to the

course outlines, music education students at the three universities could be expected

to exit their courses with similar skills and knowledge related to music teaching.

Within the preservice course, there are typically two subjects that teach students ‘how

to teach music’. Once in schools, most early-career teachers have to combine their

knowledge of education pedagogy to the teaching of music skills to students (Reimer,

1993a; Saunders & Baker, 1991) by themselves. It is thus hypothesised that early-

57

career music teachers may feel inadequately prepared in knowing ‘how to teach

music’.

2.3.7 Summary

Music as a subject area is arguably unique among other subjects in the school (Baney,

1999; Gardner, 1993; Hodges, 2000; Reimer, 1989; Spencer, 1996; Swanwick, 1988;

Weinberger, 1998). Consequently, the teaching of music requires some skills and

knowledge that specifically reflect the nature of the subject area. Limited research

suggests that challenges to music teachers typically relate to the nature of the subject

area (Kelly, 1999; Kreuger, 1999; Krueger, 2000).

Quality teaching often reflects the quality of teacher preparation (Darling-Hammond,

2000b) and limited research indicates that the quality of music teaching in Australia

and worldwide is well below that found in other subject areas (Ballantyne 2000;

Hamann et.al, 2000; Leong, 1996; Lierse, 1999; Spencer, 1996). In addition, Leong’s

(1996) study suggests that the preservice music teacher programs in Australia, and

particularly Queensland are not meeting the needs of early-career teachers.

Consequently, it is argued that the quality of preservice music teacher education (in

Queensland) needs to be examined.

2.4 The need for an investigation of preservice music teacher

education programs in Queensland

Changes to the tertiary music teacher education curriculum (internationally) have

been at best haphazard and unsupported by research (Coles, 2000; Verrastro & Leglar,

1992). As Asmus (2000) states:

58

Music teacher education has never before needed a base of substantive

information about how best to prepare music teachers as it does now.

We are beset with a number of challenges that include a shortage of

qualified teachers to bring music to our nations' children and a

dwindling pool of qualified individuals to enter the professorial corps

to train teachers ... The field of music education is dramatically

different than it was when the music teacher preparation programs

were originally conceived in the last century ... Solid research that

provides substantive information about how best to prepare music

educators is required to meet today's challenges ... As a profession we

have not done an adequate job of studying our own professional realm

- the training of future music educators. (p. 5)

It has been suggested that research in Australia “should consider the needs and

concerns of beginning music teachers more directly” (Yourn, 2000, p. 189). Clearly,

early-career teachers are well placed to reflect on their preservice preparation and its

effectiveness. They are the ‘learners’ or clients in teacher education programs, and as

such their needs should be reflected in the reconceptualisation of teacher education

reforms. In so doing, teacher education programs can be learner centred, future

focussed and research based (Spady, 2002).

Generalised studies of early-career teachers’ perceptions such as ‘Teachers’ pre-

service tertiary education preparation: The views of beginning teachers and their

principals’ conducted by Education Queensland (2000), suggest themes which are

common to teaching in all subject areas. However, the study does not make a

distinction between the experiences of teachers from different subject areas, and so it

is not possible to ascertain whether arts teachers in Queensland have different

perceptions of their preservice education courses as a result of the nature of their

subject area. Although practicing teachers have been included in the process of

59

developing professional standards, to date early-career teachers’ perceptions of

existing programs have not been the focus of any evaluations in Queensland. In

particular, no studies have been conducted focussing on early-career music teachers’

perceptions.

What knowledge, skills and capabilities do music teachers require to be effective

classroom teachers? One answer to this question is found in a recent publication,

entitled The Professional Standards for Teachers: Guidelines for Professional

Practice (Education Queensland, 2002), which describes “what teachers need to know

and do to provide relevant and worthwhile learning experiences for individuals and

groups of students in Queensland state schools” (Education Queensland, 2002, p. 2).

The standards in this document detail generic skills and capabilities that all graduates

of teacher training courses are expected to have. According to this document,

possession of these skills and capabilities are presented as being the desirable

‘outcomes’ of an effective teacher education course. However, it has been argued in

Section 2.2.4 that such generic skills miss crucial elements relating to specific

discipline differences. Research has shown that although teachers’ work can be

viewed as multi-faceted (Shulman, 1987) music teachers tend to view themselves as

discipline specialists (Martinez, 1994; Ramsey, 2000). Accordingly, more research is

needed to uncover the specific desired knowledge, skills and capabilities of effective

secondary music education teachers. This study seeks to address this need, and

extend knowledge by investigating the following research questions:

1. How do practicing early-career secondary music teachers regard the effectiveness

of their preservice course in preparing them for teaching in schools?

60







experiences impact on early-career music teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness?

3. What other influences impact upon early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the

effectiveness of their preservice preparation?

4. How do early-career music teachers perceive their needs in relation to preservice

preparation?

By considering the effectiveness of music teacher education programs based on the

perceptions of early-career teachers, it is possible to develop an understanding of what

constitutes an effective preservice music teacher education program. This

understanding primarily reflects the needs of early-career music teachers in

Queensland, and as such will be able to inform and provide a context for, the planning

and development of new preservice music teacher education programs in Queensland.

While it is acknowledged that there are other sources of information regarding the

effectiveness of music teacher education programs, information from the ‘client’

perspective is essential.

2.5 Chapter summary: Key concepts

Within this chapter, it has been argued that music teacher education be considered

within the broader context of general teacher education. Historically within teacher

61

education there have been four traditions of reform that reflect different views of

education (Zeichner & Liston, 1990). Teacher education in Queensland currently

exhibits elements of all four traditions. However, recently there appears to be a move

towards the domination of the social efficiency tradition. It is therefore timely that

current teacher education courses be evaluated for their effectiveness, to ensure that

teacher education reforms are relevant and appropriate to early-career music teachers.

The role of a preservice teacher preparation program is to ensure that teachers can

engage with the teaching and learning environment in a dynamic way – promoting

professional growth, healthy teacher efficacy and longevity in the profession.

Although the seven aspects of teacher knowledge proposed by Shulman (1987) are

useful in structuring effective teacher education programs, the context of the teaching

environment also plays a large role in the ability of early-career teachers to apply this

knowledge. Consequently, teachers need to be adequately prepared with the skills to

survive in the teaching environment during their first years of teaching in order to

minimise the negative effects of praxis shock. Arguably, teachers view themselves as

content or age-level specialists and it is important that teacher education programs

reflect this, as the teaching skills and knowledge required for teachers to be effective

differ depending on discipline specialisation (Martinez, 1994).

This study focuses on the discipline of music education, which firstly needs to be

considered within the context of the arts. Artistic experiences are distinct within the

school environment. Students involved in the arts should be interacting with their

subject area on an aesthetic level. It is the aesthetic aspects of the arts that distinguish

them from all other areas, and which make teaching music a specialised practice.

62

Music education differs from other subjects within the arts. Aesthetically, music is

unique in that it provides opportunities for expression through sound. It has utilitarian

benefits to students and to the community through its ability to develop and improve

cognitive, behavioural, psychological and social behaviours (Baney, 1999; Hodges,

2000). Due to the distinctive nature of music, music teachers require specialist skills

to teach the subject as well as the skills to effectively run the music programs within

the school. As a result, it is argued that the nature of preservice music teacher

education differs from general preservice teacher education, and so should be

considered separately.

Unfortunately, it seems that preservice music teacher education programs in

Queensland are not providing the preparation that early-career classroom music

teachers require. Limited research suggests that they are finding teaching difficult,

and are leaving the profession at a young age. Their students are rejecting classroom

music because they don’t like their music teachers’ teaching methods, and music

teachers feel that they were not well prepared for the realities of teaching. One reason

for this is that preservice music teacher education courses in Queensland do not seem

to be addressing music teachers’ desires to be taught the skills and knowledge to teach

music. Whereas preservice music teachers need to develop many generic teaching

skills, they have many needs that arise from the specific nature of the subject. The

design of the preservice courses – the persistent separation of content and pedagogy,

and the consequent difficulties in ‘situating’ the courses in the realities of being a

music teacher has perhaps contributed to teacher dissatisfaction with their preservice

music education courses. It is possible that teachers are not being provided with the

professional competencies necessary for a smooth transition from university to

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teaching music. The limited amount of literature in this area suggests that there is a

need for improvement in preservice music teacher education in Queensland, and

research is necessary to identify the specific areas in greatest need of change.

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3 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Summary of research aims

The general aim of this research is to examine the perceptions of early-career teachers

regarding the effectiveness of music education programs at tertiary institutions in

Queensland. This study contains elements of an evaluative study, but also has wider

theoretical implications for the reconceptualisation of preservice music teacher

education in Queensland. Findings will thus have the potential to influence changes

at the tertiary level that are congruent with early-career music teachers’ perceived

needs. The research questions being investigated were developed directly from the

literature review provided in Chapter 2. These are:



schools?








effectiveness?



65



3.2 Overview of research design

This study was conducted in two stages using a range of methods:

1. Questionnaire survey of early-career music teachers (focussing on research

questions 1 and 2).

In Stage 1, all teachers who had graduated from Queensland University of

Technology (QUT), the University of Queensland (UQ) or Griffith University

(GU) in the years 1998-mid 2002 were sent a questionnaire investigating their

perceptions of the effectiveness of their preservice music teacher education

program.

2. Semi-structured interviews with selected early-career music teachers (focussing

on research question 3 and 4).

In Stage 2, 15 early-career music teachers were interviewed using a semi-

structured interviewing process in order to investigate in depth the trends

identified from the analysis of the questionnaire data.

The benefits and limitations of a mixed methods design will be briefly discussed

below, but will be explained further when discussing the research stages in depth.

66

3.2.1 Mixed-methods design

Mixed methods designs come in a variety of forms, easily adapting to the research

aims.

The advantage of a quantitative approach is that it’s possible to

measure the reactions of a great many people to a limited set of

questions, thus facilitating comparison and statistical aggregation of

the data. This gives a broad, generalizable set of findings presented

succinctly and parsimoniously. By contrast, qualitative methods

typically produce a wealth of detailed information about a much

smaller number of people and cases. This increases understanding of

the cases and situations studied but reduces generalizability …

Because qualitative and quantitative methods involve differing

strengths and weaknesses, they constitute alternative, but not mutually

exclusive, strategies for research. Both qualitative and quantitative

data can be collected in the same study. (Patton, 2002, p. 14)

The design chosen for this research is called an explanatory design (Creswell, 2005)

characterised by the collection and analysis of predominantly quantitative data (to

provide a general picture of the research area) followed by the collection and analysis

of qualitative data (to refine, extend or explain the general picture). This approach

seeks both complementarity and development, which are two reasons commonly cited

for undertaking a study with a mixed-methods focus (Greene, Caracelli, & Graham,

1989).

A complementarity design incorporates “qualitative and quantitative methods, which

are used to measure overlapping but different facets of a phenomenon, yielding an

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enriched, elaborated understanding of that phenomenon” (Greene et al., 1989,

p258).23 The different methods used ensure that depth and breadth are possible, with

each method providing unique and rich data to answer the research questions. The

questionnaire provided a broad picture of early-career teachers’ perceptions of their

preservice courses (research questions 1 and 2), and interviews were used to

investigate at a deep level teachers’ perceptions relating to the same research

questions, but this time in an exploratory, qualitative way. Interviews can elicit

personalised contextualised responses that provide insights into the reflection process,

the school and university experiences of early-career teachers and other issues arising

from the review of literature and questionnaire responses.

A development design uses sequential data collection techniques “where the first

method is used to help inform the development of the second” (Greene et al., 1989, p.

260). This study is built sequentially from the questionnaire to the in-depth semi-

structured interviews. The flexibility of this development design means that new

findings can be explored as the study progresses. Information gleaned from the

questionnaires informed and assisted in the design and focus of the interviews.

From above, it is argued that within the context of this study, the use of a mixed

methods design is appropriate, as it provides both the flexibility (development) and

depth and breadth (complementarity) to examine the effectiveness of the preservice

music education courses in Queensland.

23 Within the social sciences, quantitative data is usually expressed in numbers. Qualitative data is usually expressed using words.

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3.2.2 Focus of study

This study explores the needs of early-career music teachers and their perceptions of

the ways in which their preservice education has and has not prepared them for their

early years in schools. Exploring teacher perspectives in educational research is

useful because teachers can provide "personal practical knowledge ... a particular way

of reconstructing the past and intentions of the future to deal with the exigencies of a

present situation" (Connelly & Clandinin, as cited in Goddard & Foster, 2001, p. 350).

This research reflects an understanding about teacher knowledge as described by

Svensson (1994):

Knowledge is assumed to be based on thinking. It is seen as created

through human thinking and human activity. However, knowledge is

also seen as dependent upon the world or reality external to the

individual and external to human activity and thinking, that which the

activity and thinking is directed towards. The most fundamental

assumption is that knowledge and conceptions have a relational

nature. … Thus the view of knowledge is that it is relational, not only

empirical or rational, but created through thinking about external

reality … The knowledge about reality may be expected to vary

depending upon thinking and it can not be expected to be absolutely

true in any case … Knowledge is seen as dependent upon context and

perspective. (pp. 14-15)

Early-career teachers may not have considered their own practice and its relationship

to their preservice preparation prior to completing the questionnaire (Ghaith &

Shaaban, 1999). In this study early-career music teachers are asked to reflect on the

impact of their university experiences on their professional practice, which also draws

early-career music teachers’ attention to their own practices in the classroom with

69

regards to their training. In this way, this investigation promotes critical reflection,

which helps teachers to “modify and enhance their understanding of professional

practice” (Yost, Sentner, & Forlenza-Bailey, 2000).

It is acknowledged that the different participants in this study bring with them varying

experiences, practices and personal traits. This does not detract from the value of

their perceptions; rather, as they are the major stakeholders in the music teacher

education preparation process, their views regarding the effectiveness of their

teaching preparation provide essential data for the reconceptualisation of preservice

teacher education preparation programs. Although this study focuses on the views of

teachers in Queensland, the results could have wider applications, generating further

questions and areas that need to be investigated in depth within the field of preservice

music teacher education.

3.2.3 Limitations of study

This study is not an exhaustive evaluation of the preservice music teacher education

programs in Queensland (which would include many other stakeholders). It has been

designed to elicit both evaluative and theoretical findings through the investigation of

early-career music teachers’ perceptions of their preservice experience. It is, however,

largely evaluative in nature – asking early-career teachers to evaluate the

effectiveness of their preservice courses based on their experiences.

None of the research instruments used are particularly unusual, and as such the

problems associated with this research will reflect typical weaknesses of each of the

70

instruments. These inherent weaknesses are dealt with in the following sections on

each stage of the research.

3.2.4 Research settings

The research was conducted in participants’ own homes and schools (depending

where they answered the questionnaire and where they were interviewed). The

proximity of participants to Brisbane determined whether they were interviewed in

person (with the researcher travelling to meet them) or by telephone.

3.2.5 Ethical issues associated with the research

All research aims were made clear to respondents before they assisted in the research,

and informed consent was obtained prior to participant involvement.

When reporting findings, pseudonyms were used to protect privacy and no details that

could result in the identification of respondents are included in the report. The

Queensland University of Technology ethics committee approved this research.

3.3 Stage 1 data collection and analysis

3.3.1 Participants and procedure

By far the largest providers of secondary music teacher education in Queensland are

the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the University of Queensland (UQ)

and Griffith University (GU). These universities provided lists of people who were

71

qualified to teach secondary classroom music24 and had graduated in the years 1998 to

mid 2002. It is estimated that this list includes more than 90% of the early-career

music teachers currently teaching in Queensland.25 The questionnaire was distributed

to these 136 early-career secondary classroom music teachers who undertook their

preservice education in Queensland (17% from GU, 44% from QUT, 39% from UQ,

75% female).26 The participants’ mailing details were then gathered from a public

database held at the Board of Teacher Registration. Distribution of the questionnaire

involved contacting participants by mail or telephone up to five times (to increase

response rate) as recommended by Dillman (2000). Completed responses were

returned by 76 people (response rate of 56%).

Respondents to the questionnaire had similar demographics to those expected from

early-career music teachers teaching in Queensland, viz., approximately 17% from

GU, 40% from QUT, 40% from UQ and 78% female.27 In addition, the spread of

experience of respondents was fairly even with 22.4% having taught for one year,

34.2% having taught for two years, 21.1% having taught for three years, and 22.4%

having taught for four years.

24 Secondary music teachers in Queensland, at the time of this study, taught music from Year 8 to Year 12. During the period when this study was being conducted, teachers of Senior Music (Years 11 and 12) were required to use the Queensland Senior Music Syllabus to inform their teaching, in order for students to graduate with an Overall Position (OP) in the State. In Years 8 to 10, some schools required the use of The Arts 1-10 Syllabus, and others did not. Music as a subject tends to be taught in most Year 8 classrooms, and as an elective in Years 9 to 12. Information on the current curriculum requirments of music teachers can be found on the Queensland Studies Authority Website (www.qsa.qld.edu.au), however it should be noted that the Senior Syllabus referred to by participants in this study is no longer in use. 25 Other universities do not always have a cohort of secondary music teachers. 26 As a result of discussions at a professional development meeting, two additional early-career music teachers (not from the 2 universities) also completed questionnaires. These two people are included in the 136 people sent a questionnaire. 27 The two respondents from ‘other’ universities account for the remaining 3% of responses.

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Most respondents (59%) were aged 25-29, and 32% were aged 20-24. These

relatively young teachers mostly enrolled in their education qualification following

the completion of an undergraduate university degree (46.1%), or combined their

education degree with a degree in arts or music (39.5%), with only 9.2% of

respondents completing the four year undergraduate Bachelor of Education.

Most respondents (71.1%) had only taught at one or two schools in their career, which

is unsurprising, considering that 77.5% were employed on permanent full-time bases.

However, 13.2% had taught at six or more schools in their career, perhaps reflecting

the 16.9% of respondents employed on a contract basis. Most respondents (62%)

taught at State schools and 23.6% taught at non-Catholic Christian schools. The

majority of teachers (74.3%) were located in the metropolitan areas of Queensland,

with the remainder in the rural areas. However, school location did not impact greatly

on whether or not they were teaching alone – 55.3% of respondents were the only

classroom music teacher at their school. In addition to classroom teaching, a third

(32.9%) of teachers was also employed as instrumental teachers. From above, it is

expected that these teachers may have found the first few years of teaching

challenging due to the isolated nature of their position and a lack of music teacher

mentors. In this regard, it is not surprising to find that three-quarters of respondents

had attended in-service training or undertaken further study since beginning teaching,

as this would bring them into contact with other music teachers. Descriptive data on

questionnaire respondents are summarised in Table 3.1.

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Table 3.1

Demographic characteristics of questionnaire respondents (Stage 1)

Category %

University attended

QUT 39.5 UQ 40.8 GU 17.1 Other 2.6

Course completed at university

Bachelor of Education (Secondary) 9.2

Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education (Secondary) 13.2

Bachelor of Music/Bachelor of Education (Secondary) 26.3

Graduate Bachelor of Education (Secondary) 14.5

Bachelor of Education (Secondary) Graduate Course 5.3

Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) 23.7

Master of Teaching (Secondary) 2.6

Other 5.3

Gender

Female 77.6

Male 22.4

Age

20-24 32.0

25-29 58.7

30-34 5.3

35-39 4.0

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Category % Number of schools taught at

One 39.5

Two 31.6

Three 9.2

Four 3.9

Five 2.6

six or more 13.2

Years teaching classroom music

One 22.4

Two 34.2

Three 21.1

Four 22.4

Current school

Independent non-Christian School 2.8

State School 62.5

Catholic School 9.7

Church/Christian School other than Catholic 23.6

Other 1.4

Metropolitan 74.3

Rural 24.3

75

Category % Current employment situation

Casual 1.4

Contract 16.9

permanent part-time 4.2

permanent full-time 77.5

Attendance at in-service training or further study

No attendance at in-service training or further study since beginning teaching 21.1

Has attended in-service training or further study since beginning teaching 75.0

Only classroom music teacher?

There are other classroom music teachers at school 40.8

Only classroom music teacher at school 55.3

Employment as instrumental teacher

Not employed as an instrumental teacher 67.1

Employed as an instrumental teacher 32.9

3.3.2 Design of questionnaire

A questionnaire was designed to explore the perceptions of early-career secondary

music teachers regarding the knowledge and skills they require to function effectively

in the classroom and the effectiveness of their preservice teacher education program

in developing these. The design of the questionnaire occurred in three stages where

adjustments were made to the questionnaire at every stage, resulting in a

questionnaire that was both valid and reliable. The three stages (detailed in Appendix

A) were:

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1. Eleven stakeholders were consulted on their opinions on the construction and

content of the questionnaire and on their answers to the preliminary questions;

2. The questionnaire was trialed with a group of 15 preservice teachers; and

3. Five experts in the area of questionnaire design and music teacher education were

consulted on final changes to be made to the questionnaire.

By involving stakeholders in the design of the questionnaire, threats to construct

validity (such as construct-irrelevant variances and construct under-representation) are

minimised (Brandon, 1998) and it is possible to ensure that the investigation is based

on valid needs and that “questions being asked do not misrepresent program

implementation, outcomes or context” (Brandon, 1998, p. 326). The justification for

the design of the questionnaire will contain references to both consultations with

stakeholders, and the pilot study.

The final version of the questionnaire (found in Appendix B) reflected the conceptual

framework developed through initial consultations with stakeholders, the pilot study

and literature review. As such, it incorporated questions relating to:

1. a) early-career teachers’ satisfaction with their course in general, and their

opinions on effectiveness of various aspects of their course;

b) early-career teachers’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of various

aspects of the preservice course, including general education subjects,

music education subjects, their practicum experience and music education

lecturers;

77

c) the importance of 24 items relating to music teachers’ knowledge and

skills (measured on a five-point scale from not important to extremely

important with the midpoint important); and

d) the performance of their teacher education program in addressing these 24

items (measured on a five-point scale from very poor to excellent with the

midpoint adequate).

2. early-career teachers’ perceptions regarding what teacher education courses should

focus on – looking in particular at the four teacher education traditions proposed by

Zeichner and Liston (1990); and

3. early-career teachers’ perceptions of their early experiences in schools as indicators

of praxis shock.

The questionnaire contained a total of 25 questions incorporating the three sections as

indicated above.

In order to address these areas, it was necessary to design a questionnaire that was

comprehensive and allowed participants to respond qualitatively as well as

quantitatively. The questionnaire also needed to be short enough to prevent

respondent fatigue.

Adjustments made to the questionnaire following discussions with

stakeholders and the pilot study

The development of the questionnaire following the pilot study will be discussed in

terms of the three sections of the questionnaire (as detailed above).

78

Questions relating to early-career teachers’ satisfaction with their course, and their

opinions on effectiveness of various aspects of their course (questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9,

11 and 12) were located throughout the questionnaire in both closed and open ended

format to keep respondent interest, and to elicit a range of responses as recommended

by Gillham (2000).

The questionnaire began with two questions in a closed format, which applied directly

to the perceived effectiveness of music teacher education programs (research question

1), were easy to answer, and applicable to all respondents. These questions were

designed to attract and maintain respondents’ interest in the study - a technique

recommended by Czaja and Blair (1996). These questions were found to be

successful in this purpose, and remained as they were in the pilot study. In the pilot

study, there were a large number of extended response questions, and feedback from

pilot respondents indicated that this made the questionnaire too long. As a result,

many of the extended response questions were removed.

The pilot study showed that participants commented on their music education

lecturers when asked about their music education subjects.28 Consequently, in

question 5 of the questionnaire, an additional item measuring early-career teachers’

perceptions of their music education lecturers’ abilities was added.

The most detailed questions relating to respondents’ perceptions of course

effectiveness were placed at the end of the questionnaire (questions 11 and 12) to

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prevent the items within it influencing the open-ended responses. Although Burns

(2000) suggests that putting important questions at the end of a questionnaire is

undesirable, in this circumstance it would be likely to sway the responses to other

questions should it be placed early in the questionnaire. In addition, this

questionnaire is not very lengthy, and so the impact of respondent fatigue is slight.

The 24 items in questions 11 and 12 represent the major aspects of knowledge and

skills that general education and music education theorists consider desirable for

successful secondary classroom teachers. In line with the literature review presented

in Chapter 2, where it was argued that the teaching skills and knowledge required for

teachers to be effective differ depending on their discipline specialisation (Martinez,

1994), the categories developed are based on Shulman’s (1987) categories of the

knowledge base of teachers and Leong’s (1996) categories of the specific

competencies required of classroom music teachers. Four additional items identified

as important by early-career music teachers in the pilot study supplement the items

within these categories. The many similarities between Shulman’s (1987) and

Leong’s (1996) categories enabled the 24 items to be divided into four categories,

which loosely reflect the general design of preservice programs viz., incorporating

music studies, music curriculum studies, general education studies and practicum.

The four categories and their corresponding items were:

• Music knowledge and skills (performance skills, musical creativity,

conducting skills, aural perception skills, composition skills and music history

knowledge);

28 This was not the case with the general education subjects.

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• Pedagogical content knowledge and skills (knowledge of music teaching

techniques, engaging students with music in a meaningful way, implementing

the music curriculum effectively, assessing students’ abilities in the various

aspects of music, explaining and demonstrating musical concepts);

• General pedagogical knowledge and skills (knowledge of learners and their

characteristics, knowledge of education purposes and values, ability to cater

for student needs, ability to plan for effective learning, ability to organise the

learning environment, ability to utilise various instructional strategies); and

• Non-pedagogical professional knowledge and skills (organisation of extra-

curricular music activities, legal issues, managing the music budget,

coordination of staff, communication with community, communication with

colleagues, communication with students and parents).

The 24 items used in the questionnaire were designed to represent the four categories

of knowledge and skills considered desirable for early-career music teachers (music

knowledge and skills, non-pedagogical professional knowledge and skills, general

education knowledge and skills and pedagogical content knowledge and skills). A

principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to confirm that the 24

items loaded in an orderly way on the four specified categories. Factor loading after

varimax rotation are shown in Table 3.2. The analysis confirmed that each set of

items loads substantially on just one factor, and that the four major factors correspond

to those expected on theoretical grounds. The only exception is item 2 – musical

creativity - which did not load on any of the four factors but formed a fifth factor. No

other items loaded highly on this fifth factor. This may reflect the view that musical

creativity is a personal quality rather than an item of knowledge or skills. In the

81

following discussion, musical creativity will thus be considered separately from the

four major categories outlined above.29

29 Item 19 loaded equally on factors 2 and 3 but was retained in the general pedagogical knowledge and skills category (factor 3) because it had a general pedagogy focus, rather than a music pedagogy focus (factor 2).

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Table 3.2

Rotated Factor Matrix of items in Question 11 a

Factor

1 2 3 4 5

Q11.1 .108 .068 .016 .633 .341

Q11.2 .063 .000 .169 .350 .633

Q11.3 .225 .328 -.191 .527 -.075

Q11.4 -.024 .276 .096 .616 .004

Q11.5 .060 .052 .257 .605 .074

Q11.6 .306 .090 .116 .744 .048

Q11.7 .762 .145 .016 .163 -.198

Q11.8 .710 .107 .121 .080 .051

Q11.9 .758 .242 .017 -.212 -.084

Q11.10 .846 .068 .011 .151 .136

Q11.11 .800 .003 .247 .128 .140

Q11.12 .682 .015 .290 .304 .103

Q11.13 .596 -.145 .411 .247 .081

Q11.14 .252 .158 .719 .153 .164

Q11.15 .350 .193 .572 .027 .251

Q11.16 .160 .180 .859 .047 .061

Q11.17 .021 .489 .660 .111 -.189

Q11.18 .066 .360 .560 .129 -.014

Q11.19 .046 .509 .459 .160 .175

Q11.20 .002 .679 .159 .186 .071

Q11.21 .108 .626 .425 -.058 .422

Q11.22 .160 .805 .149 .082 -.028

Q11.23 .137 .748 .225 .185 -.254

Q11.24 .119 .490 .188 .356 .186

Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalisation.

a Rotation converged in 8 iterations.

83

The second section in the questionnaire dealt with early-career teachers’ perceptions

regarding what teacher education courses should focus on – looking in particular at

the four teacher education traditions proposed by Zeichner and Liston (1990). This

question (Q6) needed to be adjusted after the pilot study, as it appeared that the

responses in the pilot may have been influenced by the design of the question. The

question in the pilot was too lengthy and unclear in purpose. Consequently, an

explanation and instructions were added, which greatly improved responses. In

addition, the explanation of each of the traditions was simplified, and respondents

were asked to rank each statement from most important to least important.

The third section of the questionnaire dealt with early-career teachers’ perceptions of

their early experiences in school as indicators of praxis shock. The question that

related to this section (question 7) used scaled responses, selected response and open-

ended questions. The scaled responses utilised adjectival labels as recommended by

Fowler (1995). The weaknesses inherent in scaled responses (Gillham, 2000) are

balanced by open-ended questions, which require opinion and value responses. This

section was changed after the pilot study, as Question 8a and 8e (in the trial

questionnaire) produced no variation in responses. To combat this, statements

regarding different aspects of early-career experiences were explored.

It should be noted that content validity and construct validity of the questions in the

questionnaire were established prior to it being finalised. This occurred at various

points – focus groups and individual discussion with stakeholders (including

preservice music teachers, music education lecturers and general education lecturers)

were conducted prior to the development of the questionnaire to confirm content

84

validity, a pilot study was conducted with preservice music education teachers to

establish both content and construct validity, and questionnaire design consultants

were consulted prior to sending the questionnaires out.

3.3.3 Analysis of the data

The questionnaire provided both quantitative and qualitative data, through a variety of

question types. A technique known as Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was

applied to participants’ ratings of the importance of various areas of knowledge and

skills, and the performance of their teacher education program in addressing these

areas of knowledge and skills (questions 11 and 12). This analysis was developed by

Martilla and James (1977) to measure attribute importance and performance in

marketing programs. It has subsequently been advocated as “an easy, flexible and

action-oriented method that can be adapted for higher education [curriculum]

assessment” (Nale, Rauch, Wathen, & Barr, 2000, p. 144). In IPA, the mean scores

from the importance and performance ratings are plotted on an ‘action grid’,

producing four quadrants which separate items into areas of greatest (high importance,

low performance) to least concern (low performance, high performance).

Simple descriptive statistical analyses were undertaken on all of the other quantitative

questionnaire responses. Non-parametric analyses such as Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon

and chi-square tests were also used to investigate differences between teacher groups

and between item responses (Burns, 2000).

The qualitative data were analysed using content analysis and Cavana, Delahaye and

Sekaran’s 15 stages of content analysis (2001) were followed very closely. It was,

85

however, found that the short responses in the questionnaire did not provide much

information beyond the listing of areas of importance to participants and meaningful

quotes were rare. The content analysis is therefore reported in frequencies (see

Section 4.1).

3.3.4 Limitations associated with questionnaires

The broad data produced by questionnaires (Patton, 2002) enabled a realistic cross-

section of the early-career secondary music teacher community experience. Although

mail surveys have been shown to have response bias (Czaja & Blair, 1996), this is

generally associated with questionnaires being administered to respondents who may

have low education, low literacy levels, do not like to write, and who do not have an

interest in the topic. It is expected, therefore, that tertiary-educated early-career music

teachers who are commenting on their personal experiences over the past few years

are more likely to participate in questionnaires. Indeed, if respondents believe that

action will be taken on the basis of their questionnaire answers, then respondent

motivation is likely to increase, resulting in higher response rates (Czaja & Blair,

1996, p. 89). Response bias may occur, however, because teachers may be more

inclined to comment if they feel strongly satisfied or strongly dissatisfied with their

preservice experiences i.e., if early-career teachers had a particularly negative

preservice experience, they may be more likely to respond.

The information provided in the qualitative parts of the questionnaire provided an

opportunity to triangulate the data; however the brevity of the open-ended responses

did not provide the depth of information that was initially desired.

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3.4 Stage 2 data collection and analysis

3.4.1 Participants and procedure

In the questionnaires, participants were able to indicate whether they were willing to

participate further in the research. From this list of possible interviewees, purposeful

sampling (cases chosen because they are expected to elicit the most useful

information) was used to select 15 participants for Stage 2 of the research.

Specifically, this study utilised maximum variation sampling, which “searches for

common patterns across great variation” (Glesne, 1999, p. 29). Participants were

selected to represent varied teaching experiences, perceptions on the effectiveness of

the course, and perceptions of the purpose of teacher education (see Table 3.3).

Briefly, the interviewees comprised 11 females and 4 males, the majority of whom

were either somewhat satisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with their preservice course

and three who were very satisfied with their preservice course. Preferences for

teacher education traditions were fairly evenly spread, with three people being unable

to decide on a preferred teacher education tradition. The interviewees came from a

variety of schools including both metropolitan and rural schools in State, Catholic,

and non-Catholic Christian schools.

87

Table 3.3

Characteristics of interview participants

Participant Teacher education tradition favoured

Satisfaction with course

Degree undertaken

University attended

School type Yrs teach-ing

Carolyn Academic Somewhat dissatisfied

Graduate Diploma of Education

Queensland University of Technology

Metropolitan State School

4

Fiona Academic Somewhat satisfied

Graduate Bachelor of Education

University of Queensland


1

Colleen Academic Very satisfied

Bachelor of Music/ Bachelor of Education



1

Lotte Developmentalist Very satisfied

Bachelor of Education

Griffith University

Rural State School

2

Rory Developmentalist Somewhat dissatisfied



Metropolitan Church/ Christian school other than Catholic

2

Grant Developmentalist Somewhat satisfied


Griffith University

Rural State School

2

Susan Developmentalist Somewhat satisfied



Rural State School

2

Ken Social Efficiency Very satisfied

Graduate Bachelor of Education (Secondary)



2

Roy Social Efficiency Somewhat dissatisfied

Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Education (Secondary)


Metropolitan Catholic School

4

Joy Social Efficiency Somewhat dissatisfied

Graduate Bachelor of Education


Metropolitan Catholic School

2

88

Claire Social Efficiency Somewhat dissatisfied

Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Education



3

Antoinette Social Efficiency Somewhat dissatisfied

Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Education

Griffith University

Rural State School

3

Jackie Could not decide Somewhat dissatisfied



Rural State School

3

Janis Could not decide Somewhat dissatisfied

Bachelor of Music Education

Griffith University

Rural State School

2

Jessica Could not decide Somewhat satisfied




2

Subsequent factors that influenced selection were type of school (metropolitan/rural),

number of years teaching (one to four) and university attended.

Interviews took place at the convenience of participants across a wide variety of sites

and most commonly occurred at the school of the teacher (if in Metropolitan Brisbane)

or by telephone interview.30 Each interview ran for 30 minutes to one hour in length.

All interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed with participants’ consent.

30 Although some very notable responses may come from people who are teaching in rural areas, monetary restrictions dictate that these people must be interviewed over the telephone. Thus it was impossible to read the interviewee’s body language. However, this limitation is outweighed by the advantages of having interviewees from across Queensland.

89

3.4.2 Design of interviews

Interviews enable the exploration of participants’ perceptions of issues in depth.

Semi-structured interviewing in this study combined Patton’s (2002) ‘interview guide

approach’, and ‘standardized open-ended interview’. By combining these, flexibility

is possible where further probing becomes desirable, and certain subjects are able to

be explored in greater depth at the interviewer’s discretion (Patton, 2002, p. 347).

Items were formulated to reflect the research questions and incorporated additional

areas of concern that emerged in Stage 1 of the study. All interviewees were asked

identical questions, but additional questions (not pre-prepared) were also used to

elaborate, probe and expand on particular topics. This flexibility ensured that

important and salient topics were not excluded from the interview, and also provided

sufficient structure to ensure comparability of responses. The interview schedule

questions were as follows (the entire interview schedule is found in Appendix C):

1. How would you describe the job of a secondary classroom music teacher to

someone who is completely unfamiliar with what music teachers do?

2. What feelings do you have towards music teaching?

Probe: Explore perceptions of identity.

3. What impact has your university teacher education course had on your

experiences in your first few years at school?

4. What experiences have you had that have built on the knowledge and skills

that you gained from your university course?

5. What experiences have you had that you were not well prepared for?

Probe: How could your preservice music teacher education program help

with that?

6. Early experiences – re-read their questionnaire answers and ask for comments.

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Probe: Remind them about what they said about the purpose of teacher

education and if necessary ask for elaboration.

7. Could you please describe your ideal teacher education preparation?

8. What recommendations do you have to improve preservice courses?

The results from these qualitative interviews are not intended to be generalisable,

rather, they serve the purpose of exploring in depth the findings and trends of the

questionnaire (see Section 3.2.1).

3.4.3 Analysis of interview data

Interview data were analysed in light of the research questions and the findings

identified from Stage 1. The data were subjected to Cavana et al.’s 15 stages of

content analysis31 to identify themes, concepts and meaning (Burns, 2000). A

summary of the process used in the content analysis in this study are outlined below.

1. Data was transcribed into approximately 200 pages of single-spaced data and

initially organised under the interviewee’s name (one document per

interviewee).

2. The name of the interviewee was used as the source code at the beginning of

every paragraph.

3. All original transcript tapes and both electronic and paper copies of the

transcripts were stored safely.

31 The fifteen stages of content analysis were used as a guide and as such some of the stages outlined by Cavana, Delahaye and Sekaran occurred simultaneously. These will not be described separately.

91

4. The transcripts were read, and as themes emerged, they were noted and coded.

This was initially accomplished through colour coding of the text, but as

subsequent themes became evident, ‘copying’ and ‘pasting’ of extracts into a

new document with the emerging themes as headings became a more efficient

means to manage the data. Themes were continually compared with one

another to ensure internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity (themes

held together meaningfully, and differences between the themes were clear)

(Cavana et al., 2001, p. 173). Adjustments were made as necessary. Some

text was allocated to more than one category at this stage.

5. As the transcripts were re-read, “causes and consequences, conditions and

interactions, strategies and processes” (Cavana et al., 2001, p. 174) were

examined in order to see how categories interrelate and cluster together. Sub

themes and new themes emerged at this stage.

6. Categories were re-read to ensure that each category included similar content,

as well as excluded content that was not relevant (again checking for internal

homogeneity and external heterogeneity). Category names were adjusted to

ensure that they clearly described their category.

7. Relationships across categories were examined and mapped in order to create

a greater understanding of the research area.

8. The report was written (see Chapter 5), and once again at this stage themes

and raw data were frequently revisited to check, question or support various

arguments in the report.

It should be noted that the content analysis used in this study used coding for manifest

content (Wallen & Fraenkel, 2001). Manifest content is that which is directly said in

the interviews, whereas latent content is that which is implied.

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3.4.4 Limitations associated with interviews

Despite the many advantages of interviewing as a research method, interviews do

have their limitations. They can be time and labour intensive to conduct (Seidman,

1991), and analysis can be time consuming and ‘messy’ (Cavana et al., 2001). The

geographical constraints of this study meant that some interviews were conducted

face-to-face (with the possible limitation of interviewer bias), and some were

conducted over the telephone (with the limitation that body language and eye contact

cannot be read by the interviewer in order to know when to probe or not).

3.5 Chapter summary

The methodology chosen for this study demonstrates the effective use of mixed-

methods design. This design provides a general picture of preservice teachers’

perceptions of the effectiveness of their preservice courses, followed by the collection

and analysis of qualitative data which explored their perceptions in depth. The

mixed-methods design provided the opportunity to address research questions 1 and 2

in different ways, enabling complementarity and also provided the opportunity for

flexible development - where the study could develop in new ways following analysis

the questionnaire. This development of the study contributed to the focus of the

interviews, and to the investigation of research questions 3 and 4.

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4 CHAPTER 4: STAGE 1 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter explores results emerging from the analysis of the questionnaire data.

The questionnaire addressed research questions 1 and 2:



schools?


aspects of their preservice preparation? (Section 4.1 and 4.3);



preservice preparation? (Section 4.2 and 4.3);



effectiveness? (Section 4.4).

These questions are addressed in numerical order with research questions 1 and 2

being combined for an Importance-Performance Analysis in Section 4.3, i.e., the

results of the questionnaire will be reported according to the research questions, not in

the sequence that they appear on the questionnaire.32

32 Further statistical details are on file and available on request.

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4.1 Perceived importance of various aspects of the

preservice program

The research question - How do early-career music teachers perceive the importance

of various aspects of their preservice preparation? - was addressed both qualitatively

and quantitatively in the questionnaire. Respondents were asked to:

• think back to their preservice preparation and list three things that they found to be

most useful since they started teaching (question 3a), and comment on the ways

that these things had been useful (question 3b);

• think back to their preservice preparation and list three things that they found to be

least useful since they started teaching (question 4a), and comment on the ways

that these things had not been useful (question 4b); and

• rate the importance of various areas of knowledge and skills to be covered in

preservice music teacher education courses (question 11, reported in Section 4.3

as the ‘importance’ part of the Importance-Performance Analysis).

Firstly, the areas of preservice preparation found to be most and least useful to early-

career music teachers were explored in questions 3a and 4a of the questionnaire. This

was further explored as respondents were asked to describe ways in which these areas

were useful or not useful (questions 3b and 4b). Secondly, question 11 provided

information regarding how important the various aspects of the course were. The

analysis of the short answer questions 3a, 3b, 4a and 4b will be discussed below.

Question 11 will be discussed in Section 4.3, as the ‘importance’ part of the

Importance-Performance Analysis.

95

Question 3a was an open-ended short response item that asked respondents to

identify three aspects of their preservice course that had been the most useful to them

since they had started teaching (see Table 4.1).

Table 4.1

Frequencies of areas mentioned as being the most useful to early-career teachers

(question 3a)

Category descriptor % of responses

Practicum 43.4% Behaviour management 23.7% Repertoire and resource development 22.4% Planning lessons and work plans 21.1% Knowledge of learners and their characteristics 13.2% Music teaching techniques 11.8% Networking 11.8% Aural perceptions skills 10.5% Skills on classroom instruments 9.2%

Analysis revealed that the practicum was by far the most useful aspect of the pre-

service program. This is the area of the pre-service program where students are able

to apply the knowledge and skills learnt in university directly to the music classroom.

There is also a strong emphasis on the usefulness of knowledge and skills associated

with teaching music, with repertoire and resource development, planning lessons and

work plans, music teaching techniques and aural perception skills being rated as very

important. It is interesting that all except two categories of the top seven mentioned

are explicitly covered in music curriculum units. These two categories are behaviour

management techniques and knowledge of learners and their characteristics. As such,

from the analysis of this question it seems that the areas mentioned reflect a desire for

an applied course that is grounded within the context of the secondary music

classroom.

96

Early-career music teachers’ answers to question 3b – In what ways have [the things

you found to be useful] been useful to you? - reveal that developing new and varied

strategies, resources and repertoire for teaching is important to them (see Table 4.2).

Respondents felt that this should be combined with ‘hands-on’ experience (in the

classroom).

Table 4.2

Frequencies of responses to the question “In what ways have [the things you found to

be useful] been useful to you?” (question 3b)


Developing new and varied strategies, resources and repertoire for teaching 38.2%

'hands-on' experience 28.9%

Help with classroom and behaviour management 13.2%

Confidence in content knowledge/skills 13.2%

Knowing HOW to teach 11.8%

Ability to adapt to the teaching environment 11.8%

ability to plan/organise performance and extra-curricular events 11.8%

As well as being ‘hands-on’, early-career music teachers mentioned the need for the

pre-service course to help them develop new and varied teaching strategies, resources

and repertoire for teaching, enabling them to know how to teach. Teachers also feel

the need for the skills and knowledge to be able to adapt to the teaching environment

as well as prepare them to plan and organise performance and extra-curricular events.

The practicum is identified as of particular importance in terms of developing ‘hands-

on’ knowledge and skills, as it enables pre-service music teachers to develop

97

‘relevant’ skills and knowledge pertaining to classroom and behaviour management

and the music knowledge and skill so essential to successful classroom practice.

The areas of the preservice course viewed as least useful to early-career music

teachers (question 4a) were those that dealt with generic teaching skills and

knowledge. Interestingly, a large percentage of respondents cited knowledge of

learners and their characteristics to be an area that was least useful to them, although

it was also viewed as being the most useful area (by other respondents). In this

situation, however, this category was commonly referred to in the context of specific

subjects (such as educational psychology), indicating that although respondents can

see the purpose of this aspect of the course, it is not being dealt with as they would

like (see Table 4.3).

Table 4.3

Frequencies of categories mentioned as being not useful to early-career teachers

(question 4a)


Generic teaching skills/knowledge 32.9%

Knowledge of learners and their characteristics 20.5%

Ability to plan for effective learning 11.0%

Knowledge of educational purposes and values, and their philosophical and historical grounds 9.6%

Responses to question 4b - in what ways have [the things you raised in Question 4a]

been not useful to you since you started teaching? - did not raise any new issues and

98

served to confirm that early-career teachers view subjects as least useful to their needs

if the theory is not linked to real life and teaching practice.

The consistency of responses to questions 3a, 3b, 4a and 4b (which were all

qualitative, and placed at the beginning of the questionnaire) suggest that respondents

have a clear idea about what is important to them in an effective music teacher

education course. It is important to early-career music teachers that they have a

course which prepares them for the realities of their future career by:

• providing opportunities to develop the applied skills and knowledge to teach

in the secondary music classroom; and

• enabling them to cope with the extra responsibilities such as extra-curricular

commitments expected in their career.

The results in this section should be viewed in conjunction with the analysis of

question 11 (Section 4.3), which provides a detailed quantitative analysis of

respondents’ perceptions of the relative importance of various areas of their

preservice education course.

4.2 Perceived performance of various aspects of the preservice

program

The research question - How do early-career music teachers perceive the

performance of existing preservice programs in addressing various aspects of their

preservice preparation? - was addressed both qualitatively and quantitatively in the

questionnaire. Respondents were asked to:

• rate how relevant the course was to their needs as a beginning teacher (question 1);

• rate how satisfied they were with the course (question 2a);

99

• comment on the main reasons that they were satisfied or dissatisfied (question 2b);

• rate and comment on the effectiveness of the three main organisational areas of

the course (question 5); and

• rate the effectiveness of the course in covering specific areas (question 12,

reported in Section 4.3 as the ‘performance’ part of the Importance-Performance

Analysis).

In general, early-career music teachers’ responses regarding the relevance of

coursework to their needs (question 1), and their overall satisfaction (question 2) with

their preservice preparation were not particularly positive. The majority of

respondents (55%) reported being ‘somewhat satisfied’ with their preservice

preparation (3 on a 4 point scale). Only 16% were ‘very satisfied’ and 29% reported

being either ‘somewhat dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’. This finding indicates that

satisfaction levels among these early-career music teachers leave considerable room

for improvement. Similarly, the majority of respondents (52%) reported that their

preservice program was ‘mostly’ relevant to their needs as early-career music teachers

(3 on a 4 point scale). Only 12% considered it to be ‘definitely’ relevant and 36%

found the course to be ‘not really’ relevant, again indicating a need for improvement.

The reported levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction thus reinforce the need for

research into early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their

preservice education.

When commenting on the factors influencing their satisfaction or dissatisfaction

(question 2b), most teachers focussed on the need for improvement within the course.

Overall, responses to this question indicated that early-career music teachers felt that

100

the course was not contextualised enough, and not relevant to real-life classroom

situations. In their responses to this question, it seems most respondents compared

their perceptions of an ‘‘ideal’’ course (addressed in Section 4.1) with their memories

of their course to determine how satisfied they were. As such, the responses to

question 2b included many similar categories as those reported in Section 4.1 in that

aspects of the preservice preparation that explicitly addressed music teachers’ specific

context (the music classroom) were viewed favourably. In particular, teacher

satisfaction and perception of course relevance was linked to teachers’ perceptions of

how ‘contextualised’ or ‘real-life’ their preservice course was. Once again, teachers

mentioned that increased time spent on practicum would aid their preparation for

teaching and that although the music education subjects were helpful, teachers needed

more preparation pertaining specifically to classroom music teaching.

Question 5 was designed to explore the general feelings that teachers had towards the

three main organisational areas of their preservice course. They were asked to rate

each area on a 5-point scale from ‘very poor’ to ‘excellent’. The areas measured were

general education subjects, classroom music subject and practicum experiences. It is

important to note that preservice courses are not divided equally between general

education subjects, classroom music subjects and practicum at any of the universities

involved in this study. Rather, general education subjects occupy the most time in the

course followed by the practicum and then music education subjects. These results

should be viewed accordingly.

As Table 4.4 shows, most areas of the course were seen by respondents to be at least

adequate by the majority of respondents. On average, the practicum was perceived to

101

be the most effective area of the course (Friedman Test, χ2 = 33.71, p<.0001). The

view that the practicum is the most useful aspect of the preservice course is also

reflected in the comments made in the qualitative section of the questionnaire (see

Section 4.1). Classroom music subjects and general education subjects were rated as

the least effective organisational areas. It is interesting to note that the frequencies for

music education subjects are more polarised than those for general education subjects.

Of particular note is that 20% of respondents rated the classroom music subjects as

being ‘less than adequate’. Reasons behind music education subjects having this low

rating is further explored in the importance-performance analysis (Section 4.3), and in

greater depth in the interviews (see Section 5.1).

Table 4.4

Ratings of the organisation areas of the preservice course

Rating Organisational area of the course

Very poor (%)

Less than

adequate (%)

Adequate (%)

More than

adequate (%)

Excellent (%)

Mean score

Median score

General education subjects

4.0% 9.3% 58.7% 22.7% 5.3% 3.2 3

Practicum experiences 4.0% 22.7% 22.7% 50.7% 4.2 5

Classroom music subjects 1.3% 20.0% 34.7% 25.3% 18.7% 3.4 3

Respondents rated the abilities of their music education lecturers to prepare them for

teaching music (median rating of 4, mean rating of 3.6) higher than their music

education subjects (there was no significant difference in the ranking of music

education subjects across the different universities). This indicates that the low rating

102

of music education subjects is not a reflection on the poor quality of teaching

occurring, and is more likely a reflection of the perceived effectiveness of the content

and design of these subjects.

Respondents were invited to comment on their ratings of each area of the course.

Contrary to the results indicated in Table 4.4, teachers’ comments were mostly

negative, which perhaps suggests that their perception of ‘adequate’ is below the

standard than they would ideally expect from a preservice course. The results from

the comments section are briefly summarised below.

Comments referring to general education subjects revealed that early-career music

teachers viewed this area of the course as not detailed or ‘practical’ enough. To

combat this, many respondents suggested linking these subjects more overtly with the

practicum.

Comments offered on the music education subjects indicated that early-career

teachers recognised that the quality of the teaching varied and this had a large impact

on what issues were covered. In addition, it was seen as important for music

education subjects to include a ‘practical’, ‘relevant’ or ‘real world’ approach to

classroom music incorporating:

• sharing of resources in preparation for the first few years teaching;

• increased emphasis on the practicum, as this was seen as the main site for

learning about the music classroom;

• a greater emphasis on teacher musicianship; and

• increased attention on knowing how to teach the elements of music effectively.

103

Early-career teachers’ comments on the practicum revealed that:

• the nature of the practicum depended greatly on the calibre of supervising

teachers;

• they felt that practicum was the best part of the education course, and it was

here that they learnt the most; and

• the opportunity to develop resources was very valuable.

In summary, the results of this section suggest that early-career teachers view the

practicum as the most effective aspect of the course, largely as a result of the calibre

of supervision provided in schools. It seems that ratings of effectiveness tend to relate

to how ‘practical’, ‘relevant’ or ‘real world’ the subjects are perceived to be.

4.3 Importance-Performance Analysis

In order to explore in more detail respondents’ perceptions of the effectiveness of

their course and identify those areas in need of improvement, it was necessary to

employ a comprehensive quantitative component in the questionnaire. This was

placed towards the end of the questionnaire, so that the categories provided did not

influence respondents’ qualitative answers. The findings in these two questions

(question 11 and question 12) confirm and deepen an understanding of the qualitative

findings of the questionnaire, as well as provide a structure by which to

reconceptualise music teacher education.

Question 11 - based on your teaching experience, how important is it that the

following areas of knowledge/skills are covered in preservice music teacher education

programs? - was designed to reveal the relative importance to early-career music

104

teachers of specific areas of the preservice course. The question comprised 24 items

representing four theoretical categories derived from the literature (see Section 3.3.3).

Overall, participants considered all of the 24 items of music teacher knowledge and

skills to be at least moderately important (all means ≥ 3.3 on the five-point scale, see

Table 4.5). Seven items were perceived by the majority of early-career music teachers

to be extremely important (median rating of 5; means ranging from 4.3 – 4.5) and

fifteen as very important (median rating of 4; means ranging from 3.6 – 4.3). Only

two items – legal issues and coordination of staff - received a median score of 3

(important; means ranging from 3.3 – 3.4) and no items were viewed as less than

important.

Question 12, which incorporated the same 24 items listed in question 11, asked

respondents to rate the effectiveness of their course in covering the items listed.

Despite the overwhelming support for the importance of the 24 listed items, the

performance of preservice education programs in addressing them was generally

perceived to be barely adequate (means ≤3.5, see Table 4.5). There was only one

item – music history knowledge – that the majority of teachers considered to have

been addressed with more than adequate effectiveness (median rating of 4; mean of

3.5). Fifteen items were perceived by the majority of teachers as adequately

addressed (median rating of 3; means ranging from 2.7 – 3.5); six as less than

adequate (median rating of 2; means ranging from 1.8 – 2.6), and two as very poor

(median rating of 1; means of 1.5).

105

Importance-Performance Analysis provides a way of combining these two dimensions

graphically. Martilla and James (1977) indicate that the positioning of axes in such

analyses is considered a matter of judgement. In this case, as illustrated in Figure 4.1,

the horizontal axis has been positioned in such a way that items are divided into two

equally sized groups - those with relatively higher importance (mean >= 4.1) and

those with relatively lower importance (mean < 4.1). Because of the generally low

performance ratings, the vertical axis was positioned in such a way that the items

were divided into unequal groups – one third being classified as having been

performed relatively effectively (means > 3.2) and two-thirds being classified as

having been performed relatively poorly (means <= 3.2).

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Table 4.5

Participants’ ratings of Importance and Performance Category Item Item description Importance Performance Mean Median % 4-5a Mean Median % 1-2b

1 Performance skills 3.9 4 66 3.3 3 21 2 Musical creativity 4.2 4 83 2.9 3 35 3 Conducting skills 4.1 4 79 3.1 3 36 4 Aural perception skills 4.3 4 84 3.3 3 24 5 Composition skills 4.0 4 70 2.7 3 40

Music knowledge and skills

6 Music history knowledge 3.8 4 67 3.5 4 21 7 Coordination of extra curricular music activities 4.1 4 73 1.8 2 80 8 Legal issues 3.4 3 46 2.3 2 54 9 Managing the music budget 3.7 4 58 1.5 1 95 10 Coordination of staff 3.3 3 45 1.5 1 92 11 Communication with community 3.6 4 59 2.0 2 71 12 Communication with colleagues 3.8 4 68 2.2 2 63

Professional knowledge and skills

13 Communication with students and parents 4.1 4 79 2.3 2 57 14 Knowledge of learners and their characteristics 4.3 5 83 3.4 3 14 15 Knowledge of education purposes and values 3.7 4 59 3.5 3 9 16 Ability to cater for student needs 4.4 5 88 3.4 3 16 17 Ability to plan for effective learning 4.5 5 88 3.4 3 19 18 Ability to organise the learning environment 4.3 5 80 3.1 3 28

General pedagogical knowledge and skills

19 Ability to utilise various instructional strategies 4.3 4 90 3.3 3 22 20 Knowledge of music teaching techniques 4.5 5 93 3.2 3 25 21 Engaging students with music in a meaningful way 4.5 5 88 3.0 3 37 22 Implementing the music curriculum effectively 4.4 5 86 3.1 3 32 23 Assessing students’ abilities in the various aspects of music 4.2 4 80 2.6 2 53

Pedagogical content knowledge and skills

24 Explaining and demonstrating musical concepts 4.3 4 84 3.1 3 32 a %4-5 = percentage of respondents rating item as very important or extremely important b %1-2 = percentage of respondents rating item as very poor or less than adequate

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Figure 4.1

Importance-Performance Analysis of music teacher education programs in

Queensland

Items 1, 3-6 = Music knowledge and skills

Items 7-13 = Professional knowledge and skills

Items 14-19 = General pedagogical knowledge and skills

Items 20-24 = Pedagogical content knowledge and skills

Item 2 = Musical creativity

Impo

rtan

ce

Performance

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The results of the IPA will be discussed in terms of the four quadrants into which

items fall. According to IPA theory (Martilla and James, 1977, Nale, et al., 2000,

Rauch & Nale, 1995), items within Quadrant 1 (high importance, low performance)

are those on which attention most needs to be concentrated. Items in Quadrant 2 (low

importance, low performance) are commonly considered to be of low priority;

however, in the present analysis they are considered a significant source of concern

for early-career teachers because even in this quadrant importance ratings were

relatively high. Items in Quadrant 3 (high importance; high performance) are those

which are already being adequately addressed and for which current efforts need to be

maintained. Finally, items in Quadrant 4 (low importance; high performance) may

signal areas of possible ‘overkill’ where efforts could afford to be cut back.

Quadrant 1 – High priority for attention

Prominent within this quadrant, and thus the cause for greatest concern, were the five

items from the category pedagogical content knowledge and skills. These items deal

with knowledge and skills specific to the teaching of music within the classroom.

Within this category, the importance of knowledge of music teaching techniques

(item 20) and engaging students with music in a meaningful way (item 21) were rated

very highly. All items in this category were rated as very important or extremely

important by over 80% of teachers, and as poorly performed by over 25% of teachers.

Participants’ low ratings of the effectiveness with which pedagogical content

knowledge and skills were addressed in their preservice programs may reflect the

current design of Queensland teacher education programs. Teacher education courses

are designed to comply with professional standards documents (in this case the

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Professional standards for teachers: Guidelines for professional practice), which

document the generic skills and capabilities that all graduates of teacher training

programs are expected to have (Education Queensland, 2002). This is part of the

growing international movement towards the professionalisation of teacher education

(Cochran-Smith and Fries, 2001). These standards are neither discipline nor age-

level specific, and terms such as ‘content area and trans-disciplinary knowledge’ are

included in only a minor way. It is possible, therefore, that these standards neglect

crucial elements relating to specific discipline differences. Although it is

acknowledged that teachers’ work is multi-faceted (Shulman, 1987), teachers do tend

to view themselves as age level or discipline specialists (Martinez, 1994, Ramsey,

2000). It has been suggested that as learning and teaching is highly specific and

situated, transfer and generalisability from one domain to another may be limited

(Shulman & Sparks, 1992). Ramsey argues that “the preparation of teachers for their

content areas” should be a key policy direction (2000, p. 39). This highlights the

importance of framing teacher education reforms within the context of discipline

areas.

It is also of interest to note that the perceived performance of pedagogical content

knowledge and skills within the preservice course was positively correlated with

early-career music teachers’ overall satisfaction with the course (Spearman’s Rank

Order Correlation – rho = .347, n = 74, p = .002). This further demonstrates the

importance of pedagogical content knowledge and skills to early-career music

teachers. Further research into this relationship could be helpful when

reconceptualising preservice programs.

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Two other items placed in the first quadrant were the ability to organise the learning

environment (item 18), and musical creativity (item 2). These were seen to be very

important to early-career music teachers, yet were not being addressed adequately by

the preservice programs. The ability to organise the learning environment has been

categorised as a general pedagogical skill. It is possible, however, that teachers were

viewing this item in the context of the particular needs of the music classroom in

relation to the organisation of the learning environment, e.g., the need to deal with

noise. The findings suggest that this is an aspect that may need special attention in

music teacher education.

Also found within this quadrant is the category of musical creativity. As many

people conceive of musical creativity as being somewhat innate, it is also difficult to

address within the preservice program. Further research needs to be conducted to

determine how best to respond to teachers’ desire for musical creativity to be

addressed more effectively in their preservice courses.

Quadrant 2 – Lower but significant priority for attention

By far the most notable category within quadrant 2 is professional knowledge and

skills, which incorporates the non-pedagogical professional aspects of teaching

secondary classroom music and also includes involvement in the extra-curricular

music program. All items in this category were viewed as very important or

extremely important by 45-80% of teachers, but this category was viewed as the least

effectively addressed by preservice programs, with over 54% of teachers seeing all

items as less than adequately addressed.

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Communication is of particular concern for early-career music teachers –

communication with students and parents (item 13), communication with colleagues

(item 12), and communication with the community (item 11). All three of these

items were rated quite highly on the importance scale, and very low on the

performance scale. Of the three, the most important was communication with

students and parents.

Thiessen and Barrett (2002) note that music education is not limited to those aspects

associated with the classroom. Specifically, the coordination of extra-curricular

music activities is a skill that is uniquely required of secondary classroom music

teachers (Chadwick, 2000, Kelly, 1999, Lierse, 1998). It has also been linked

strongly with the high incidence of early ‘burnout’ in Australian music teachers

(Kelly, 1999). The coordination of extra-curricular music activities (item 7) was seen

to be very important or extremely important by the majority of early-career music

teachers, yet most felt that their preparation for dealing with this was less than

adequate. Budgeting skills (item 9) are clearly necessary in order to coordinate a

music department, and are closely associated with the coordination of extra-curricular

music activities, yet this item was viewed as the one least effectively covered in the

preservice program (95% rating it as less than adequate). Coordination of staff (item

10) was also a concern for many respondents, with the vast majority (92%) rating this

aspect as less than adequately addressed.

The findings suggest that preservice teacher education programs in Queensland are

not adequately addressing non-pedagogical professional content knowledge and

skills, and indeed, within the current format, there are no units that specifically

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address these aspects. Further research is needed to identify the most appropriate

ways of preparing early-career teachers in these extra-curricular aspects of music

teaching. It does seem, however, that early-career music teachers feel that this area

should be addressed in the preservice course.

Also within the second quadrant are two items from the category music knowledge

and skill. It is assumed that music teachers will have a certain level of music

knowledge and skill in order to be able to teach music effectively. Placement in this

quadrant indicates that participants considered these items to be important but not

adequately addressed in their preservice programs. Items of concern for teachers

included conducting skills (item 3) and composition skills (item 5). Both of these are

typically covered in the content studies requirements of the preservice program.

Placement of these items in quadrant 2 may reflect a mismatch between music

knowledge and skill developed in the first two years of study, and the application of

these in the classroom. More research is needed to determine whether these items

should be addressed more explicitly within the education or music component of

teacher education.

Quadrant 3 – Maintain performance

Items within this quadrant are those that are currently being addressed most

effectively in the preservice programs. The theoretical category of general

pedagogical knowledge and skills (knowledge and skills associated with teaching,

irrespective of subject specialisation) is found predominantly in this quadrant,

indicating that it is both very important to students and is being addressed

comparatively well in the preservice program. For example, the ability to plan for

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effective learning (item 17), ability to cater for student needs (item 16) and ability to

utilise various instructional strategies (item 19) were all rated as important or

extremely important by at least 88% of participants. This reflects the current design

of the preservice programs, where 14 of the 16 units are dedicated to general

pedagogical knowledge and skills, which might be explained by the increased

popularity of the professionalisation agenda (Nierman, Zeichner and Hobbel, 2002).

The placement of these items within quadrant 3 indicate that although there is clearly

room for improvement, general pedagogical knowledge and skills does not require

as much attention as pedagogical content knowledge and skills and professional

knowledge and skills.

The perceived performance of general pedagogical knowledge and skills within the

preservice course was positively correlated with early-career music teachers’ overall

satisfaction with the course (Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation: rho = .354, n = 74,

p =.002).

One item from the music knowledge and skill category - aural perception skills (item

4) - was also found within this quadrant, indicating that it is perceived to be both

relatively more important and more adequately addressed than other items in this

category. This may be because, in contrast to composition and conducting skills,

aural perception skills are addressed in some of the music curriculum subjects, and

not only in the content studies component of the preservice program.

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Quadrant 4 – Possible areas for cut-back

This quadrant contains those items that are perceived to be less important, yet covered

well in the preservice program. Items in this quadrant are not valued by early-career

teachers as highly as those in quadrant 3. Two of the three items -performance skills

(item1) and music history knowledge (item 6) - belong to the music knowledge and

skill category, and would typically be covered in a music or arts degree. The third

item - knowledge of education purposes and values (item 15) – belongs to the

category of general pedagogical knowledge and skills. All of the items in this

category were considered by respondents to have been addressed effectively in the

programs.

In considering the effectiveness of preservice music teacher education in Queensland

based on the perceptions of early-career music teachers, these three items are of least

concern.

Summary

Although preservice teacher education is designed to prepare beginning teachers for

the early years of their career, early-career music teachers in Queensland express

general dissatisfaction regarding the preservice education they have received. This

dissatisfaction appears to be linked to a perceived need for increased support in

pedagogical content knowledge and skills in particular. Professional knowledge and

skills is also an area in need of improvement.

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The findings of this research highlight a number of important issues that music

teacher educators might consider addressing in order to ensure that graduates are

being adequately prepared for and supported in their role as classroom music teachers.

In particular, early-career music teachers feel that:

• Preservice music teacher education programs should place greater emphasis

on developing the specific pedagogical content knowledge and skills required

for teaching secondary classroom music.

• Greater emphasis in preservice preparation should be placed on specific

professional knowledge and skills associated with the practical aspects of

running a music program, including involvement in extra-curricular programs,

legal issues, budgeting, and communication skills.

• Music knowledge and skills are very important, but are not always adequately

covered in preservice programs. Perhaps these need to be addressed in

relation to their application in the music classroom.

• General pedagogical knowledge and skills are both important and adequately

covered in preservice courses. In fact, the present layout of coursework

programs appears to concentrate predominantly on this area. Less attention is

needed on improving this area of the preservice course.

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4.4 The impact of teacher education tradition preferences and

early years of teaching experiences on early-career music

teachers’ perceptions

The questionnaire was designed to explore issues arising from the literature review.

It therefore focussed on respondents’ preference for each of Zeichner and Liston’s

(1990) reform traditions, and gathered information on how well they felt integrated

into their first school (their early years of teaching experiences). The purpose of

these two areas of the questionnaire was to determine general tendencies in the

sample, and to explore how teacher education tradition preferences or early

experiences influenced respondents’ responses in other areas.

4.4.1 Teacher education traditions

Respondents were asked to read one sentence statements representing each of all four

teacher education reform traditions and then rank their preferences for each in an

‘ideal’ teacher education course. Respondents’ preferences for each of the four

statements are presented in Table 4.6.

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Table 4.6

Number of respondents who gave first preference to each of the four teacher

education traditions

Teacher

education tradition

Questionnaire statement Most important tradition n = 6433

Frequency %

Academic tradition

Teacher education courses should focus on cultivating high levels of music skills and music knowledge in future teachers

26 40.6

Social efficiency tradition

Teacher education courses should focus on providing future teachers with the skills and competencies that they will require for their working lives in schools.

24 37.5

Developmentalist tradition

Teacher education courses should focus on teaching future teachers about the developmental needs of students, and how to use this knowledge to teach effectively in schools.

13 20.3

Reconstructionist tradition

Teacher education courses should focus on how future teachers can use education to move towards a more socially just society.

1 1.5

Table 4.6 indicates that the most important tradition identified by early-career music

teachers was the academic tradition - chosen by respondents who felt that teacher

education courses should focus on cultivating high levels of music skills and music

knowledge in future teachers. The second most important tradition was the social

efficiency tradition - chosen by respondents who felt that teacher education should

focus on providing future teachers with the skills and competencies that they will

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require for their working lives in schools. The developmentalist tradition was chosen

by respondents who felt that teacher education should educate future teachers about

the developmental needs of students and how to use this knowledge to teach

effectively in schools. Only one person chose the social reconstructionist tradition as

most important; therefore, for purposes of statistical analysis, from this point forward

this response will be combined with the responses supporting the social efficiency

tradition (this respondent’s second choice).

The results clearly indicate that early-career teachers view high levels of music skills

and knowledge (academic tradition) and preparation for the realities of their working

lives (social efficiency tradition) as similarly important (see Table 4.6). These

findings are particularly interesting in light of the current trend towards the adoption

of a social efficiency style of teacher education reforms (see Chapter 2). As noted

previously, the social efficiency tradition is very different to the academic tradition in

terms of underlying philosophy. The results above would seem to indicate a

contradiction between the way teacher education reforms are heading, and the teacher

education reform preferences of early-career music teachers.

It was expected that preferences for teacher education traditions would determine

how teachers viewed the importance of the various aspects of the course, and how

well they felt this was accomplished. However, chi square analyses revealed that

there were no significant relationships between tradition preferences and perceived

33 Seven respondents who ranked two or more traditions as equal first and four who did not answer this question are not included in these figures. If respondents who gave two ratings of 1 are included in this sample, then there are two more ratings of 1 for the academic tradition, five more ratings of 1 for the developmentalist tradition, and five more ratings of 1 for the social efficiency tradition.

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relevance of their course; satisfaction with their course, or perceived importance or

performance of any aspects of the course.34

Respondents’ reasons for their preferences for each of the teacher education reform

statements were explored further in the interviews and are reported in Section 5.1.4.

4.4.2 Impact of early experiences

Participants were asked to respond to six statements which were designed to

determine the nature of teachers’ early experiences in schools. Teachers were asked

to indicate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with these statements. Each

question was rated on a four-point scale, from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree

(4). Table 4.7 shows the statements that teachers responded to and the frequencies of

their responses:

34 A statistically significant relationship was found between teacher education tradition preferences and number of years teaching, and is discussed in Section 4.4.3.

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Table 4.7

Descriptive statistics - experiences in the early years of teaching

Statement Disagree (%)

Agree (%)

When I began teaching, I found that my understanding of my role as a teacher changed from what I had expected as a preservice teacher

42.1 57.9

I have had a highly supportive mentor/someone in my first years of teaching music

30.5 69.5

When I began teaching, I found myself teaching in much the same way that I had been taught as a school student

70.7 29.3

When I began teaching, I found other music teachers to be highly supportive

23.9 76.1

When I began teaching, I found the administration staff (principal, deputy principal, HOD) to be highly supportive

60.8 39.2

When I began teaching, I felt completely integrated into the life of the school

44.6 55.4

Findings from this question indicate that

• Just over half of the respondents (59.2%) had a highly supportive mentor in

their first years of teaching music. This is recommended by Knudsen and

Zapf (1999), Weasmer and Woods (2000) and Yourn (2000) to minimise the

negative impact of socialisation (Knudsen & Zapf, 1999; Weasmer & Woods,

2000; Yourn, 2000).

• Reverting to teaching the way you were taught is related to praxis shock, and

an ineffective preservice program (Wideen, Mayer-Smith, & Moon, 1998).

Most respondents (70.7%) did not report that they found themselves teaching

in much the same way that they had been taught as a school student. This

indicates a significant influence on teaching style elsewhere (possibly from

their school mentor or from preservice preparation), and is an indicator of

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positive socialisation experiences.

• The music teaching community was found to be highly supportive by 76.1%

of respondents.

• 55.4% of respondents felt completely integrated into the life of the school.

• 60.8% of respondents found the administration staff to be highly supportive

• the majority of respondents (57.9%) felt their understanding of their role as a

teacher had changed when they began teaching. This is linked with praxis

shock, and negative socialisation (Lampert & Ball, 1999; Stuart & Thurlow,

2000; Su, 1992).

Findings reveal that the majority of respondents perceive their integration into the

school at the beginning of their teaching lives to be quite positive. None of the early

school experiences of teachers explored in the questionnaire were significantly

associated with measures of satisfaction or relevance. This suggests that these

experiences have not had an overwhelming impact on respondents’ perceptions of

relevance and satisfaction. This is also further investigated in the interviews.

4.4.3 Demographic influences

As this study surveyed teachers from a variety of backgrounds, teaching in a variety

of school situations for a varying number of years, it was important to determine the

impact of certain demographic variables. These included university attended,

university course completed, age, gender, school type (Independent non-Christian

School, State School, Catholic School, Church/Christian School other than Catholic),

school location (rural or metropolitan), number of years teaching classroom music,

number of schools taught at, current employment situation (casual, contract,

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permanent part-time, permanent full-time), whether involved in any in-service

training or further study since beginning teaching, whether the only classroom music

teacher at the school, whether employed as an instrumental teacher, and extra-

curricular involvement. Relationships between demographic variables and other

factors such as satisfaction, perceived relevance of the course, early experiences and

teacher education tradition preference, were examined using chi-square analyses.

The number of years respondents had been teaching was the only variable that

impacted on both satisfaction with the preservice course, χ2(3, N = 76) = 12.134, p

= .01, and perceived relevance of the course, χ2 (3, N = 75) = 8.254, p = .04 (the

satisfaction and relevance variables were collapsed to binary to keep the cell count

above five). Overall, those who had been teaching longer were less positive about

their pre-service courses (see Table 4.8).

Table 4.8

Crosstabulation – satisfaction, relevance and years teaching

Number of years teaching

1 n = 17

2 n = 2635

3 n = 16

4 n = 17

Satisfied with preservice course (%) 82.4% 73.1% 31.3% 47.1%

Relevant to needs as early-career teacher (%)

82.4% 72.0% 37.5% 58.8%

35 One teacher who had been teaching for 2 years did not indicate perceived relevance of the course, therefore n = 25 in year 2 for relevance.

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These results may indicate either that

• the number of years a teacher has been involved with the profession influences

how they feel about their preservice preparation (satisfied or dissatisfied; whether

it was relevant or irrelevant to their needs). The results support this contention as

early-career teachers generally grow less satisfied with their course the longer that

they have been out of university;

• these four cohorts of students had vastly different experiences in their preservice

preparation, and that the preservice courses have shown some improvement in

terms of relevance to student needs and therefore the satisfaction of the early-

career teachers over the past four years; or

• these four cohorts of students had vastly different experiences in their first few

years in school, and that the preservice courses were more aligned to the

experiences of more recent graduates.

From this study, it is not possible to determine which of these alternatives (or a

combination) are most accurate. A longitudinal study would be necessary to explore

this in more detail. It would be particularly useful to follow a few cohorts for longer

than four years, in order to determine if and how satisfaction and perception of

relevance is tied to teachers’ development as ‘expert’ teachers.

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The impact of ‘time in school’ also appears to influence which teacher education

tradition they chose as most important (see Table 4.9).36

Table 4.9

Crosstabulation preferences for teacher education tradition and number of years

teaching

Teacher education tradition chosen as most important

Academic tradition n = 26

Developmentalist tradition n = 13

Social efficiency tradition n = 25

One year teaching 68.8% 12.5% 18.8% Two years teaching 22.2% 33.3% 44.4%

Three years teaching 21.4% 14.3% 64.3%

Four years teaching 50.0% 18.8% 31.3%

In particular, first year teachers seem to show a higher preference for the academic

tradition while teachers in years two to four prefer other traditions, particularly the

social efficiency tradition. This was tested using a 2X2 contingency table (in order to

keep cell counts above five). The chi-square test for independence with Yate’s

correction for continuity reveals that the relationship between number of years

teaching, and preference for the academic tradition is significant, χ2(1, N = 76) = 5.53,

p = .02 (see Table 4.10).

36 The number of responses in this calculation is lower (n = 64), because four respondents didn’t rank the teacher education traditions, and seven had more than one tradition selected as most important. Only one respondent selected the social reconstructionist tradition as most important. This respondent’s second preference (social efficiency tradition) was therefore used as a first preference.

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Table 4.10

Crosstabulation preference for traditions and number of years teaching

Number of years teaching

Teacher education tradition teachers in their first year

of teaching n = 17

teachers in 2nd, 3rd or 4th years of teaching

n = 59

Academic tradition chosen as 1st preference

65% 31%

Other tradition chosen as 1st preference

35% 69%

Teachers in their first year of teaching are far more likely to choose the academic

tradition as the most important, while from the 2nd year onwards teachers favour other

traditions.

These findings are as expected. They suggest that content knowledge is most valued

in the first years of teaching, as teachers situate their self-concept as teachers strongly

within their specialist discipline. A reason for the apparent change in teacher

education preference from 1st year to 2nd year may be because teachers’ beliefs and

attitudes are most challenged during their first year of teaching (Rynne & Lambert,

1997). It seems that after their first year, teachers become more confident with their

discipline content knowledge and start to reflect on their roles outside of content

transmission, and therefore prefer the social efficiency tradition. As stated previously,

longitudinal research would be necessary to confirm these hypotheses.

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4.5 Chapter summary

The research questions addressed in this chapter are:



a. What do early-career music teachers perceive as the importance of various

aspects of their preservice preparation? (Section 4.1 and 4.3);

b. How do early–career music teachers perceive the performance of existing

preservice programs in addressing various aspects of their preservice

preparation? (Section 4.2 and 4.3);



(Section 4.4).

The words most commonly used to describe an ‘effective’ preservice course were

‘practical’, ‘relevant’ and ‘real-world’.37 The importance of developing a ‘practical’,

‘relevant’ and ‘real-world’ course seems to be central to the findings from the

questionnaire. Areas within a preservice course that are important to early-career

music teachers are those that help them to apply theory to their future contexts, and

which help them to develop the skills and knowledge to deal effectively with the

realities of teaching. Their ratings of performance suggested that many areas of the

preservice course were not perceived as being adequate in this regard. Importance-

Performance Analysis indicated that items from within pedagogical content

37 The terms ‘practical’, ‘real world’, ‘contextual’ and ‘relevant’ were used interchangeably by early-career teachers.

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knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills are of most concern to

early-career teachers.

Analysis of the questionnaire data revealed that early-career music teachers identified

predominantly with the academic and social efficiency traditions, and hardly at all

with the social reconstructionist tradition. Preliminary conclusions drawn from this

information are that early-career music teachers view developing knowledge and

skills in their content-area (music) as the most important role of the preservice course

(the academic tradition), and that providing future teachers with the skills and

competencies that they will require for their working lives in schools (social

efficiency tradition) should also be an aim of preservice courses. This is further

explored in Stage 2 of the research.

Surprisingly, respondents’ philosophies of teacher education and early teaching

experiences do not appear to impact on their opinions with regard to satisfaction or

relevance. Consequently, the impact of early experiences on early-career music

teachers’ perceptions of their preservice course effectiveness is further explored in

Stage 2 of the research.

This chapter highlights the need for more in-depth research into the reasons

underlying early-career music teachers’ perceptions of importance and performance

in relation to their preservice preparation, and this is addressed in Stage 2 of the study

(see Chapter 5). The questions in the interviews build on the findings of Chapter 4 in

order to explore such issues as the perceived role and identity of early-career

secondary classroom music teachers, the impact of university on practice, the nature

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of the early experiences of music teachers, early-career music teachers’ perceptions of

an ‘ideal’ teacher education course and any recommendations for future preservice

courses (and their reasons behind these). Other areas beyond the scope of this thesis

where further research could be undertaken include the link between satisfaction and

general pedagogical knowledge and skills and pedagogical content knowledge and

skills and the way in which musical creativity should be dealt with in preservice

music teacher education programs.

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5 CHAPTER 5: STAGE 2 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Chapter 4 explored early-career music teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of

their preservice preparation. This chapter investigates the influences impacting upon

these perceptions and how early-career music teachers perceive their needs in relation

to preservice preparation (research questions 3 and 4). The analysis will also explore

in-depth some of the findings from Chapter 4 relating to research questions 1 and 2.

Specifically, this chapter will report on early-career music teachers' perceptions of the

effectiveness of their course (Section 5.1), their early-career teaching experiences

(Section 5.2) and their personal identity (Section 5.3).

In order to further investigate early-career music teachers' perceptions, 15

interviewees were asked open-ended questions relating to their preservice

preparation.38 The questions that formed the basis of the semi-structured interviews

were:







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4. What experiences have you had that have built on the knowledge and skills that

you gained from your university course?


Probe: How could your preservice music teacher education program help with

that?

6. Early experiences - re-read their questionnaire answers and ask for comments.

Probe: Remind them about what they said about the purpose of teacher education

and if necessary ask for elaboration.



These questions were designed to encourage interviewees to reflect on their

perceptions of the effectiveness of their preservice course experience. Initially

interviews were analysed for themes across all questions, although interview

questions 1, 6 and 7, which focussed on the interviewees' questionnaire responses are

reported in Sections 5.3, 5.2 and 5.1.4. The quotations included in this chapter are

representative of comments given by interviewees and are presented in categories

emerging from the content analysis process detailed in Chapter 3.39 Findings

presented are intended to be viewed as representative only of the opinions expressed

38 Details on selection of participants are provided in Section 3.4.1. 39 Full copies of transcripts are available on request.

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by interviewees in this study. Where generalisations are made, they only extend to

the participants in this study.

5.1 Perceptions of course effectiveness and teacher needs

This section reports on early-career music teachers' perceptions of course

effectiveness and their needs with regard to preservice preparation. Their answers

fell into four categories - course content, course structure, course delivery and course

philosophy. It is important to note that categories were not provided for interviewees

but emerged from the data analysis. Category labels were assigned by the researcher

and it is acknowledged that they are not entirely discrete in nature.

Section 5.1.1 deals with course content, and expands on issues arising from the

Importance-Performance Analysis reported in Chapter 4. Analyses of interview

responses revealed that the ways that teachers spoke about course content verified the

four categories constructed for the questionnaire - music knowledge and skills,

general pedagogical knowledge and skills, professional knowledge and skills and

pedagogical content knowledge and skills.

Section 5.1.2 reports and discusses perceptions regarding teacher education course

structure, particularly in terms of early-career music teachers’ attitudes towards the

practicum and the sequence and structure of their preservice teacher course

preparation. Section 5.1.3 deals with early-career teachers’ views on course delivery,

focussing on the roles of lecturers with regards to course effectiveness. Section 5.1.4

deals in detail with interviewees’ perceptions regarding teacher education tradition

preferences and philosophies of teacher education.

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5.1.1 Course content

Pedagogical content knowledge and skills

Pedagogical content knowledge and skills are the knowledge and skills that apply

specifically to teaching music within the secondary classroom. In this study,

pedagogical content knowledge and skills includes such aspects as knowledge of

music teaching techniques, engaging students with music in a meaningful way,

implementing the music curriculum effectively, assessing students’ abilities in the

various aspects of music and explaining and demonstrating musical concepts.

As argued in Section 4.3.1, pedagogical content knowledge and skills are particularly

important to teachers in their early years of teaching. This section explores in detail

the ways that early-career music teachers described their need for improvements in

this area. Overall, findings from the interviews suggested congruence with the

findings of the questionnaire – pedagogical content knowledge and skills emerged

strongly as being an area of concern for interviewees. Perhaps reflecting this, the

compartmentalisation or separation of education and music subjects in the preservice

degree was criticised by interviewees. The expressed need for the ‘application’ or

‘contextualisation’ of the education subjects to the music subjects and vice versa was

particularly noticeable. An example of this is provided in Roy’s justification for

feeling “jaded” (his words) with his teacher education course:

Roy I did think that so little of what they had taught me over those four

years applied to what I was doing … None of it was made music-

specific, and I think when you’re in the music classroom, there’s a

whole range of things that you need to consider … If we were taught

at university the things that we were taught, but they were put in a

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music context … then that would solve a lot of those problems.

The expressed disillusionment with the separation of these areas within preservice

courses highlights the need for pedagogical content knowledge and skills and is

consistent with previous research indicating that teachers have an affinity with their

discipline area (Ramsey, 2000; Shulman & Sparks, 1992), and find it almost

impossible to separate content and pedagogy (see Section 2.2.4).

The separation of general education and music education subjects in teacher

education courses caused difficulties for interviewees in relating their content studies

(in music) directly back to what they had to teach in classrooms. This is seen in Joy’s

comments about what content she chooses to teach:

Joy Just the content of what they gave us at uni. I can’t ... at this school

anyway where I am now, I cannot use it. It is too hard to use …

When I was at uni doing all that stuff I found it quite difficult as well,

so that could be another reason why I haven’t continued it here … I

guess [I would have valued learning] the type of information to

include in a unit …Maybe they could have given us books that

schools generally use in music …because basically I was going in

and learning the material before I gave it to the students.

Joy reported being unable to teach the content that she found difficult at university,

and couldn’t see how to use it in the classroom. This is consistent with other studies

where teachers of geography were also found to manipulate the curriculum to

marginalise those areas in which they were least confident (Rynne & Lambert, 1997).

Arguably, if preservice courses commonly separate subject matter and pedagogy, then

early-career music teachers may find it difficult to reconnect these two areas once

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teaching.

Interviewees had many suggestions as to how they believe subject matter and

pedagogy should be linked. In her early-years of teaching, Claire admitted that she

found herself ‘copying’ the teaching she had experienced as a student. She felt that if

subject matter and pedagogy were linked more explicitly in her preservice course, she

might have been able to develop her own teaching style:

Claire My music teacher … was very influential in my life … I had seen

what I thought worked, so I emulated that when I didn’t know what

else to do … Another thing I wish they’d done [at university] … with

specific music concepts, topic, skills, [was to have] just taken us and

gone: “ok this is how you teach major scales” … There was just so

much general teaching strategies and not enough specific: “this is

how you teach someone about some kind of specific Baroque

compositional device, like sequences” or something like that … I

guess in the education department we got taught vaguely how to

teach stuff and in music department they taught us music skills but

no one married the two … and said: “This is how you can make it

real for kids, and make them understand it and do it and have

success with it”.

Music curriculum subjects (of which there were two out of a total of 16 subjects in

the preservice course) were frequently mentioned as those most likely to be able to

provide the desired increase in pedagogical content knowledge and skills. Chen (1996)

also found that classroom music education units and teaching practice were highly

valued by music teachers. Rory spoke at length about a positive experience that he

had in his music curriculum subject. It should be noted that the unit he is talking

about continued for only one month, and he (as did others) felt that this sort of music

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education instruction should continue throughout the whole course.

Rory There was a section of the course, which was specifically to do with

music teaching rather than general subjects … and we spent …

about a month or so, actually looking at this one particular way of

approaching the teaching of music … and did all the activities and

so in a sequential way so we could see what the thinking was behind

this … And so … when I then came here I knew okay, that’s one

solid way I could go about doing things. And I knew what the

thinking was behind it and I’d had all the activities and so on that

we’d done and we could jump in and straightaway do it … That was

a really solid blend of theory and practice and materials to use to

start off with.

In their ideal teacher education courses, early-career music teachers spoke about the

specific areas of pedagogical content knowledge and skills that they considered

needed improvement. These included:

• increased exposure to resources for the music classroom;

• coursework that is consistent with the likely context of their first years of

teaching;

• the development of a variety of pedagogical options for the classroom;

• the development of macro and micro planning specifically for the music

classroom; and

• increased preparation for senior moderation40 and extension music.

These areas of pedagogical content knowledge and skills are dealt with separately

below together with supporting extracts from the interviews.

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Music education resources

Music teachers spoke of wanting to leave university with exposure to more music-

specific resources to use in their music classrooms. This was for the purpose of

developing a resource-repertoire, as well as to develop familiarity with texts

commonly in use in Queensland music classrooms:

Joy Maybe they could have given us … some other resources that we

could draw on. So they could go “okay if you are doing a keyboard

unit you could do this.” So more specific to units studied in school.

Like Rock Music or Music in the Theatre or anything like that …

How to structure a composition, how to teach a composition task,

what stages to teach.

Music teachers also wanted to develop the skills to utilise these resources. In this

regard, Janis referred to not only the difficulty she had found in applying music

knowledge, but also the desire to learn how to approach teaching the knowledge in

common textbooks.

Janis You do your tonal analysis, or your writing techniques, or whatever

it’s called, when you go through [your music degree], but they never

actually give you skills on how to teach that to year twelve, or

eleven, or even … junior students, like how do you teach melody

writing to them. Yeah, sure it’s in the textbooks that you get at

school, but it would be nice to have some learning activities that you

could implement in the classroom.

40 Moderation is the name given to the quality assurance process for senior secondary studies in Queensland. Teachers of students in Years 11 and 12 must submit work programs for approval, as well as participate in monitoring, verification and random sampling of student results.

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Coursework relevant to first few years teaching

It is important to early-career teachers that their preservice course is grounded within

the realities of the teaching context. Interviewees provided examples of where this

had not happened, and Rory’s experience typifies this:

Rory The [classes where we studied] instrumental conducting of a

classroom ensemble and how to make students perform relatively

well with limited knowledge … were a little bit dated in their

techniques, and just weren’t really ‘real-world’ experiences … if you

were to … try what from university were supposedly your teaching

methods … they just don’t work!

The expectation that teacher education should provide coursework that is relevant to

all students within their first few years of teaching is something that should be

considered when designing improved teacher education programs. Without this

grounding, early-career teachers are likely to experience praxis shock (see Section

5.2).

A variety of pedagogical approaches

Although all music teachers reported wanting to know how to teach music, most did

not want to learn only one pedagogical approach. The structure provided by a

predominantly Kodály41-based teacher education program was seen to be useful in the

first instance (and most teachers referred to this method), but most early-career music

41 The Kodály method of teaching music is aurally centred, using a moveable ‘Doh’, and was originally developed in Hungary. It is currently used quite prominently in Queensland Primary classrooms and is taught to a varying degree at all of the universities participating in this study.

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teachers would like to be able to choose the pedagogy most appropriate for their

context from a variety of options.

Rory looking at a few varied methods of delivery [would have been

beneficial]. Not just Kodály-based … learning strategies for music

context.

Susan I think it [university] prepared me relatively well for planning and

developing curriculum … I don’t use it [Kodály] exclusively … I

think [my preservice preparation was] probably quite good in that it

didn’t dictate “this is the way, and this is the only way” it did give

you a variety of methods … You can’t concentrate solely on Kodály.

You have to have other options, be taught other methods … So you

just need a whole variety of methods that you can draw from and

then you develop your own style and preferences from that.

Roy Teaching kids to hear what they see on the page, and to see in their

heads what they hear. So that’s my focus, so whether you call it an

aural/vocal context or Kodály or good teaching or an aural based

program, or whatever.

Planning skills

Within pedagogical content knowledge and skills, teachers want to be taught how to

plan at both micro (lesson plans) and macro levels (unit and work plans). Antoinette,

Rory and Jackie referred to these aspects of planning:

Antoinette More time could be spent on actually looking at the syllabus that you

will be implementing and outlining some strategies that will help you

to write a work program. Obviously lesson planning is another area

that should be addressed.

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Rory I don’t think work programs were covered.

Jackie I felt like we learnt how to interpret the curriculum framework really

well, and we spend a lot of time on that and I guess we learnt how to

write lesson plans really well, but there wasn’t much time given to

what we put in them or how we think about what we’re going to do

for the lesson … we didn’t really explore much about content, or

what you can do, or interesting ways to do things, or ways that will

engage the students and I really find that that would have been

really helpful.

In particular, they wanted to be taught how to plan from a subject-specific perspective.

Claire I just know that you get out there as a first year teacher and you can

be a great musician but if you haven’t been given the skills … How

to plan properly, how to write assessment tools, how to plan a unit of

work, gosh, if you haven’t been taught those things specific to your

subject area … [it would be great if] … people in the education

department who have excellent teaching skills could speak

specifically to subject areas and say: “this is how you teach this

specific music concept or skill.” I think that would be fantastic.

Planning from this specific perspective is important in the case of music teachers,

because music teachers report needing to accommodate a wide range of abilities (due

to the prevalence of private tuition) and because of the close links between the

classroom music program and the instrumental program.

Jackie I suppose if you are a secondary teacher you have two kinds of kids

– you have kids that end up in the senior classes who really want to

do music and either look upon it as a future career or are involved in

it outside of school and they can really see the point in it. Then you

have the other kids who are… especially if you are teaching grade

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8… who are trying to find out what music is about and who are

either interested or not interested, so you have that really interesting

mix of students.

Assessment, moderation and extension music

Assessment and moderation caused a lot of concern for early-career music teachers.

Many reported feeling unprepared in this area.

Ken Writing exams for the first time was something I’d never done, and

… the complexities of that were quite new… you know, because of

there’s so many things to consider with – not only what is the year

level that you’re writing to but the OP level within that and how

you’re going to approach that. Are you going to structure the exams

so there’s some easily answered questions to encourage everybody

at the start, will you do that by Sections so you get a hard Section at

the end - will you mix them all up? You know, how much will you

cue questions and how much will you leave them open? I think

probably to me writing the assessment material was big.

Of concern to most respondents was the preparation of senior submissions to send out

for moderation. This was closely associated with knowing how to assess students. It

was noticeable that all respondents spoke of feeling ill-equipped in this area, and as

suggested by Jessica (below), this is an area that they feel needs more attention in the

preservice courses.

Jessica Well, for starters there was the whole selection process of what work

do you have to put in [for moderation] … we were never taught how

to mark, and all of a sudden you just have to be able to do it. And

nobody ever gave us any guidelines, or criteria for doing it, and just

all of a sudden you’re just meant to be able to do it, without ever

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being told how to … I think the curriculum subject needs to be more

practically based … resource sharing for units … Well with music

curriculum, we were never taught how to put in a submission, and

the first thing that I have to do when I come here is put together a

year 11 and 12 submission, with no other music teacher, with no

idea what to do, just completely basing it on my experience of high

school music when I went through.

Grant I … for my first time … put a senior music program together this

year and sen[t] some stuff away for monitoring to the QSA, and I

honestly had no idea what to do in regards to what to send away to

the monitoring panel because I have never done one before and in

my pracs, both schools I went to, they didn’t have senior music and

we never did it in university … So really we came out with no

knowledge on what our syllabus’ were and not even having looked at

them much, and not knowing what was going on in the classrooms,

except what we got on our prac, and we were a bit unprepared by

the time we came out to the full time job.

As well as being concerned about assessment, respondents were concerned about

knowing how to teach the extension music syllabus (a senior subject which focuses

specifically on music performance).

Claire We really didn’t talk about music extension, which I had to teach in

my second year of teaching, you know, those are the sort of things,

that I just learnt on the job because no one had told me before … it

was a really stressful time because I was just thrown into this job

where they needed someone who knew this stuff, and I didn’t.

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Summary of findings regarding pedagogical content knowledge and skills

In summary, analyses of the interviews provide a clear picture of early-career music

teachers’ perceptions of the need for pedagogical content knowledge and skills. The

importance of this aspect of teacher education preparation was consistent with the

findings from the questionnaire analysis, which indicated this was an area of most

concern to early-career music teachers (see Section 4.3).

Interview participants spoke about the need for the integration of music and education

subjects by suggesting that they felt unable to make links from general music subjects

and education subjects back to the music classroom. One way that this fragmentation

of university subjects could be addressed is by encouraging a pedagogical and

discipline-specific application of concepts in all subjects throughout the course (not

only in the music curriculum subjects). This would enable the improved development

of areas such as resourcing, planning, syllabus familiarity and pedagogical skill

development, which they reported were particularly important to them in their early

years of teaching.

Professional knowledge and skills

According to the findings from Stage 1, early-career music teachers felt that

professional knowledge and skills was the category covered least effectively in the

preservice course. This category included such aspects as organisation of extra-

curricular music activities, legal issues, managing the music budget, coordination of

staff, communication with community, communication with colleagues, and

communication with students and parents. Professional knowledge and skills were

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discussed extensively in the interviews, with many participants providing anecdotes

revealing their unpreparedness for this aspect of their job. Janis describes her initial

shock at the professional knowledge and skills expectations of a classroom music

teacher at her first school.

Janis I guess [I went in] a bit naively and expect[ed] that all you got to do

is classroom music, then you get to the other side when you get all

the instrumental stuff, especially in the small schools. Running

ensembles for the instrumental side of things, and organising

newsletters or letters home to parents about the music … I guess I

just didn’t expect [that there would be]… so much of it to do …

Presently in teacher education in Queensland, much professional knowledge and

skills development is expected to occur on practicum and so is not included in the on-

campus teaching. However, current preservice programs at most universities do not

require supervising teachers on practicum to be responsible for professional

knowledge and skills development in preservice teachers, and as such this area is not

necessarily addressed.42

Another example of the professional knowledge and skills required by a secondary

classroom music teacher in the first few weeks of school is described by Rory:

Rory Within the first two weeks of the employment … [I was] given the

time of one and a half weeks to prepare three music camps of 170+

students with room allocations, organise … the actual

accommodation packages, money in, letters out. And exactly how do

42 It is arguably unreasonable for practicum supervisors to be expected to be completely responsible for the development of professional knowledge and skills in preservice teachers.

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you structure a letter to what the school deems is necessary, and

what do you need to include in these letters? … At the same time, [I

had] to take induction numbers and interview over 600 students for

auditions for ensembles that need[ed] to be placed before camps

went. Having … no teacher-aide assistance, I [had] to organise and

re-write work programs that needed to be out, and [was] told that

they needed to be delivered to students by that next week as well. So

structured overviews for a semester for grades 7 – 11 need[ed] to be

in the hands of students within the 2nd week … That seemed to be

quite a task at that time to take on board while still getting used to

the school.

This type of experience appears to be quite common in the early years of classroom

music teachers, and reflects a philosophy that early-career teachers should be ‘thrown

in the deep end’, to ‘sink or swim’ (this is discussed further in Section 5.2). These

sorts of experiences seem to draw early-career teachers’ attention to shortcomings in

their preservice courses, particularly in the area of professional knowledge and skills.

Fiona Nowhere [in the preservice course] did they cover how to do a

budget, how to write tests, how to mark, how to assess in a useful

way, how to deal with colleagues … It would have been more useful

for us to learn [the] skills … to deal with heavy workloads, how to

deal with report writing, because that is often a heavy workload

time.

As discussed in Section 2.2.3, early-career music teachers’ abilities to deal with the

expectations placed on them depend on both their preservice preparation and the

effectiveness of their mentoring and induction experiences. However, it seems that

none of the participants in the interviews felt well prepared for the high expectations

associated with the professional knowledge and skills workload, and this needs

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attention in preservice courses.

Most comments in the category of professional knowledge and skills centred on

classroom music teachers’ involvement in the instrumental program and in particular,

the need for skills relating to (a) budgeting and resourcing the instrumental program;

(b) communicating with staff members and parents; and (c) organising and running

concerts.

Lotte Coming in as the only music teacher at the school meant that I [was]

…in charge of the budget … because I was pretty much the area

coordinator of music … I honestly had no idea what’s going on -

about a budget.

Roy As a pre-service teacher, you are not given any understanding, or

very little understanding, in my experience anyway, of things like

managing a music budget … and managing curriculum resources,

and extra curriculum resources.

As beginning music teachers are frequently coordinators of the instrumental music

program, they are expected to act in positions of increased responsibility that require

developed communication skills. Consequently, the role of a classroom music

teacher was seen by interviewees to have a political element, particularly with regards

to the instrumental music program. Grant referred to ‘playing the politics’ in order to

get enough money and Fiona referred to her unpreparedness for her ‘political’ role as

a classroom music teacher:

Fiona I’m learning to play the rules of the game, I didn’t realise being a

music teacher was so political … everyone has strong opinions

about how [music] impacts and where and why it should or

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shouldn’t, particularly for ensemble rehearsals and concerts and

things like that. So it’s very stressful.

The ‘political’ nature of music teaching is associated with the teachers’ effective

communication with staff, parents and the community.

Susan I was certainly not so well prepared for contact with parents and a

lot of that administrative side. Just … running a meeting. Things

like that … I was not well prepared for that at all, … I think it

certainly wouldn’t hurt for that to be part of a university course.

Organising and running concerts was also stressful for early-career music teachers.

Fiona I am often put on the spot. “Oh can you do a concert here, can you

do this, can you do that.” And I had never done these before. “Can

you run a choir?” And I had never run a choir before … it’s been a

very, very steep learning curve. Particularly for the concerts and

that is where the stress is on. You are put up in front of parents and

all your colleagues and they expect you to know how to plug in the

microphones and how to use the sound system and how to work with

admin to print out programs … How to choose music, how to run a

good concert ... all of those kind of things which would have been

very useful for me to know.

Summary of findings regarding professional knowledge and skills

Analysis of the interview data suggests that many interviewees experienced

difficulties in their first few years in schools because they were lacking in

professional knowledge and skills. Consequently, competence in professional

knowledge and skills is seen to be essential to ease the transition into the teaching

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workforce. Early-career teachers mentioned that they had not expected to require the

level of professional knowledge and skills that they needed on entering schools.

Early-career teachers’ descriptions of their unpreparedness in dealing with the

professional demands of teaching music suggest a lack of professional knowledge and

skills may contribute to early-career teachers’ experiences of praxis shock43. This is

supported in part by Kelly’s (1999) study on ‘burnout’ in secondary school classroom

music teachers in Queensland where it was argued that the extra-curricular program

(part of professional knowledge and skills) is one of the greatest stressors on music

teachers in Queensland (see Section 2.2.3).

General pedagogical knowledge and skills

General pedagogical knowledge and skills refers to the part of a course that deals

with the generic knowledge and skills to teach (regardless of discipline specialisation).

Areas within this category include the knowledge of learners and their characteristics,

knowledge of education purposes and values, ability to cater for student needs, ability

to plan for effective learning, ability to organise the learning environment and the

ability to utilise various instructional strategies. Analysis of the questionnaire data

showed that general pedagogical knowledge and skills were perceived to be both

important and adequately addressed in the preservice courses (see Section 4.3).

Analysis of the interviews found that when teachers are able to distinguish how and

where they can use (or adapt) general pedagogical knowledge to their context, they

are more likely to find it useful. Roy reported frustration with his experience of

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general education subjects, because he felt the content and skills covered were not

applicable to the specific context of music education.

Roy I know certainly in the final year of education when we had lectures

and tutorials for general education courses, everyone in the general

tutorial classes of about twenty hated the music people, because the

musicians in the tutorials for any education subject, were always the

ones that put up their hand and say: “well what about this?”

Because it was never an issue for anyone else in the room … So I

think that just shows me that what we are doing is completely

different to what a lot of other education students are doing.

The opinion that music education students require training that is “completely

different” is likely to be related to the notion that music education is unique. The

unique problems facing music teachers are explored in Section 5.2.1. Perhaps because

of their unique needs, music teachers may feel alienated in the general education

subjects, as expressed by Susan:

Susan A lot of those subjects do seem to be focussed on your general

classroom, or your primary classroom in particular, and I think that

alienates a lot of people who are doing secondary subjects or

specialist subjects. Perhaps it does need to be brought back to their

context, whether that is in the psych classes or in their particular

pedagogy classes …Because if they were young and inexperienced

like me, they can’t see the links quite so easily. They need to see

those links in the context of their particular subject.

43 Praxis shock is referred to in more detail in Section 5.2.2.

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Both Roy and Susan seem to have felt excluded in their preservice course due to their

inability to apply the knowledge and skills from the general education subjects to the

context of the music classroom. In addition the two areas of the preservice

preparation that attracted a lot of comment (within the category of general

pedagogical knowledge and skills) were those that dealt with behaviour management,

and those that dealt with educational psychology. These were generally perceived to

be important if they related explicitly to the music classroom. Clearly, unless general

pedagogical knowledge and skills is explicitly linked to the music context, it is not

valued by early-career music teachers.

Behaviour management

Participants’ comments indicated that music teaching was perceived to require

different behaviour management principles than other subjects for two reasons: (a)

students are more likely to want to be there; and (b) classes usually involve a level of

noise.

Colleen I don’t have any behaviour problems in music … Because the kids

want to be there. We only take kids who want to be there.

Claire I would incorporate behaviour management specific to the subject.

Because when you’ve got thirty kids playing drums on the desk or

something, you might need some specific behaviour management

skills that they might not need in maths.

Other statements made by interviewees included: “you find that there is a lot of

noise” (Joy), and “there are too many students for the amount of instruments… it’s a

big juggling act” (Carolyn). Thus, interviewees tended to perceive behaviour

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management within the music classroom as different from the behaviour management

in other classes.

The organisation required in a music classroom is also perceived to be different to

that needed in other subject area classrooms. Roy talks about his inability to relate

his experiences of general education subjects, in particular classroom management, to

his context:

Roy Those sorts of things that they were talking about, I just kept on

relating back to the context that they were coming from, so I never

made the connection, in fact I think I tuned out quite a lot, because I

can’t remember the last time we used butcher paper and textas in

music, really.

This inability to apply general behaviour management strategies could be a result of

the specific nature of the music classroom, or the inability of music teachers to apply

the knowledge and skills developed in these general education subjects to the music

classroom (or a combination of both). Regardless, this may explain the placement of

item 18 - ability to organise the learning environment in quadrant 1 of the Importance

Performance Analysis (see Section 4.3), indicating that it was an area considered to

be very important but not very well addressed.

Educational psychology

Interviewees viewed subjects that dealt with the psychology of education quite

positively; although there was concern voiced by Jackie, Joy, Jessica and Antoinette

that sometimes these subjects weren’t ‘linked’ clearly to the teachers’ context.

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Jackie I think we did some good stuff in our psychology subjects, and found

that really helpful, I guess it was really about … the way that people

learn, you know the way that children develop and the way that they

learn, and I found that really helpful. And also because the subjects

looked at things like different needs in the classroom and children of

different abilities, and … I found that really useful to be thinking

about their special needs and needs of kids from different

backgrounds … I think probably that [studying the psychology of]

teaching indigenous students was the most useful thing that I learnt

… it changed my whole perspective on Australian history and our

culture … It really changed the way I thought about children who

speak Aboriginal English.

Joy In the general theory education side (not focussing on music) I don’t

think I consciously used all those theories that we learnt like Piaget.

But I guess knowing about them has helped in the classroom … I

guess there’s problem students that I wasn’t ready for … like with

ADHD … I guess ways of dealing with those students positively I

wasn’t prepared for. I mean we did a lot of talk about it – those

students. But it was all just a lot of theoretical talk and I needed

more practical advice, when that was discussed.

Similarly, interviewees’ comments on behaviour management tended to relate

educational psychology subjects to their context of the music classroom. For instance,

although Susan acknowledged that she could now see the benefits of educational

psychology (in her third year of teaching), she expressed a need to see this

contextualised into the music classroom before becoming a teacher:

Susan You need concrete examples as to how you can use those [theories].

I think that is perhaps why I didn’t come back to those psychological

things so much until really this year. Because I remember at the

time thinking, “yes, that is all well and good, but how does this

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relate directly to me and my subject?” … Having not been in the

classroom at that stage, as a teacher, and having not necessarily

done a lot of psychology before, I couldn’t make great links.

Therefore, educational psychology subjects should be viewed similarly to the

behaviour management subjects because early-career teachers desire

contextualisation of both of these subjects before they graduate.

Summary of findings regarding general pedagogical knowledge and skills

The category general pedagogical knowledge and skills was perceived to be an area

that varied in its value to early-career music teachers. Perhaps if general education

subjects were approached in a way that allowed for the development of pedagogical

content knowledge and skills, they would increase in their perceived importance and

effectiveness. In particular, the need to contextualise the general education subjects

was an issue that clearly concerns early-career music teachers and requires attention

in preservice courses.

Music knowledge and skills

Music knowledge and skills refer to the areas of the preservice course mostly covered

in either a Bachelor of Arts of Bachelor or Music Degree, prior to undertaking studies

in education. This category includes such areas as performance skills, conducting

skills, aural perception skills, composition skills and music history knowledge. The

results of the questionnaire, in particular the Importance-Performance Analysis,

revealed that all aspects of music knowledge and skills were not viewed as equally

important, nor were they covered equally as well. It was therefore deemed important

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to explore how early-career music teachers viewed music knowledge and skills, as

this was the only category with such a wide range of responses. In general,

interviewees felt that a certain level of content knowledge was needed in order to be a

successful music teacher.

Joy There is a lot of preparation involved. You have to have a vast

knowledge base over all styles of music. Anything to do with

composition and layout and absolutely any facet of music from

styles, composition, which piece to pick for a student. It is quite

exhaustive, because they will come up with any question to ask you

and you feel unprepared if you don’t know the answers to that. So

you do have to have a very wide knowledge base.

The knowledge and skills required in the more advanced subjects, particularly the

senior classroom music units seemed to cause the most concern for early-career music

teachers.

Jessica I never got to do the [history of twentieth century music subject],

whereas that’s the one that’s in the senior syllabus and is more

important, so I sort of had an issue with that … [It can] be a bit

nerve wracking going into a school and not really knowing yourself

what you’re teaching … I can see that knowing what you need to

know is obviously going to help and kids can see through it, and if

you’re not confident about what you’re teaching, they’re going to

just walk all over you.

Antoinette The content addressed in the music side of things has been very

useful and still continues to be so … knowing your music composers,

knowing your periods, knowing your instrumentation, knowing how

to compose a certain style. That is the important stuff, that’s the

core stuff that we have to impart on students.

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Those areas of the music course that went beyond what early-career music teachers

would require in the classroom, or which early-career music teachers found difficult

to link with their classroom practice were sometimes viewed as ‘useless’ and ‘not

practical’.

Colleen About uni, I remember taking writing technique courses, and

musicianship, and those sorts of things … I hated those courses,

because I knew that that wasn’t the stuff I needed to be learning to

be a classroom music teacher. And it still bugs me now that I wasted

that time at uni, when I could have been doing other stuff.

It seems that teachers’ perceptions regarding the ‘effectiveness’ of music knowledge

and skills is strongly related to the perceived usefulness of these knowledge and skills

in the classroom. It is therefore unsurprising that some areas are viewed as

‘ineffective’, as the music knowledge and skills subjects studied were not designed

specifically for music teachers - they are generalist in nature.

Claire When we did music history subjects, or music writing technique

subjects, all the education students were in with all the other music

students, so the focus was not teaching us so that we could teach

someone else, it was to teach us to improve our knowledge, our

skills, that sort of thing.

It nevertheless remains that teachers desire ‘revision-style’ classes that cover the

basics of music to be used later on in their own classrooms. This expressed need for

music knowledge and skills directly applicable to the context of teaching is something

that might need further exploration in order to improve the preservice preparation for

music teachers. This perception may also explain why some areas of music

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knowledge and skills were seen as effectively covered, and others as not, in the

Importance-Performance Analysis (see Section 4.3).

In the Importance-Performance Analysis the notion of ‘musical creativity’ was

perceived by early-career music teachers to be ‘very important’ in a preservice course,

but ‘ineffectively addressed’. Factor analysis (Section 3.3) revealed that the category

‘musical creativity’ did not ‘fit’ with the other categories - and was therefore flagged

for further research. In the interviews, teachers did not refer to ‘musical creativity’ at

all, with the exception of Carolyn, who claimed that all good music teachers first

needed to be good musicians (although she implied that this would be achieved

through studying a music degree). In this sense, becoming a ‘good musician’ is

arguably quite different to possessing ‘musical creativity’, and it seems that the

interview data from this study is not sufficient to address the way in which musical

creativity should be dealt with in preservice music teacher education programs. This

is an area for future research.

Within music knowledge and skills, aural perception skills emerged as an area of high

importance to early-career music teachers. This area was also perceived to be well

addressed in most courses.

Claire Definitely aural skills, number one, without a doubt. [At] the uni [I

attended] that was a really big thing and I am very, very grateful

that they did provide us with such intensive aural training and in fact

if I could have done more, I think I would have, because it was just

such an important thing, and it meant that when I was teaching the

kids, I not only had improved those skills myself but I actually got

taught how to teach aural in a meaningful way.

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When mentioning aural skills, many teachers referred to the Kodály method of

teaching. This is interesting, in that the interviewees were once again linking their

pedagogical practice to music content and skills.

Summary of findings regarding music knowledge and skills

Probably the most notable finding from the interviews regarding early-career music

teachers’ views on music knowledge and skills was that early-career music teachers

seemed to mostly value the music knowledge and skills that they would be using for

teaching. Early-career music teachers appear to view music knowledge and skills as

important in order to be able to competently teach music. They felt that they should

have more musical knowledge and skills than their students, but also desired revision

lessons on topics that their students would be studying.

Summary of course content

The experience of praxis shock appears to contribute to early-career music teachers’

expressed need for improvements in preservice courses, particularly in areas relating

to the skills and knowledge required for teaching music. Whenever interviewees

compared their experiences in their first few years teaching with their experiences at

university, they tended to point to the importance of pedagogical content knowledge

and skills and professional knowledge and skills in preparing them to become

successful music teachers. However, comments by early-career music teachers in this

study found that preparation in these areas is perceived to be inadequate.

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Analyses of the interviews provide a clear picture of early-career music teachers’

perceptions of areas of importance to them in a teacher education course and areas in

need of improvement. The general finding (consistent with the questionnaire analysis)

was that pedagogical content knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and

skills were perceived to be of central importance to the practice of early-career music

teachers. Accordingly, they report that they would like units dealing with these areas

included throughout preservice music education courses in an integrated way. This

would facilitate the process whereby preservice secondary classroom music teachers

link music knowledge and skills and general pedagogical knowledge and skills to the

context in which they find themselves. The term ‘contextualised’ seems to sum up

early-career music teachers’ preferences with regard to future teacher education

preparation and supports Stokking, Leenders, De Jong, and Van Tartwijk’s (2003)

findings that realistic teacher education has greater potential to reduce praxis shock.

5.1.2 Course structure

The early-career music teachers interviewed had strong feelings about the

effectiveness of the structural elements of their courses. In particular, comments were

offered on the practicum and sequence of preparation. These two issues are explored

below.

Practicum

The importance of the practicum to early-career music teachers came through

convincingly in both the questionnaires (Sections 4.1 and 4.2) and interviews.

Roy It’s probably harsh to say, but I’m not sure that I developed many

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teaching skills from my university course. My first teaching skills

that I developed were out in the field on practicum, and then in the

first years of teaching.

Jessica The only thing of value was the prac, which we didn’t get to do until

we were two years into our course.

Early-career music teachers interviewed had varying experiences during their

practicum, and offered many comments regarding its usefulness and ways that it

could be improved. It was commonly mentioned that the practicum was the most

useful part of the preservice preparation, and that it was the most ‘realistic’ site of

learning. As Antoinette stated:

Antoinette Thank goodness for my practical experiences. I had 3 prac teachers

that threw me in the deep end on prac (at my request) and because of

this I had a realistic view of what teaching would really be like. I

think more emphasis needs to be placed on the practicum process

because this is really where most of the learning happens for the pre

service teacher. I believe that a lot of time is wasted on pedagogical

theories; each person is different and will adopt a method of

curriculum delivery that will suit them regardless of the theory that

supports.

This disregard for the value of theory is not ideal, as discussed by such authors as

Darling-Hammond (2000b). To see theory as less important than the knowledge

gained on practicum or internship is to take a ‘deregulationist’ (Zeichner, 2003) or

‘academic tradition’ (Zeichner, 1990) view on the preparation of preservice teachers.

However, comments by Colleen indicate that if the style of teaching occurring at

university encourages application of theory to the classroom, then theory is no longer

seen as irrelevant (see also Section 5.1.1). This is highlighted when she suggests

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that the reason she did not remember many things as being relevant from university

was that the learning she experienced was not “hands on”. A ‘hands on’ style of

teacher education is consistent with a constructivist approach which has been shown

to have a positive impact on preservice teachers (Byo, 1999; Chen, 1996; Darling-

Hammond, 2000a; Ghaith & Shaaban, 1999).

Colleen The way that I teach - the way that I write my lesson plans … the

pedagogies that I choose, all really stem from my prac, observing

other teachers, not from listening to lecturers and watching our

lecturers give examples of a lesson. I don’t remember any of that,

and none of it was really relevant for me. I’m sure it would have

been, but I needed [teacher education that was] hands on, get in

there and look at it, do it.

Practicum may have rated highly in the opinions of interviewees because it was the

area of their preservice course that best provided for the development of pedagogical

content knowledge and skills, which they desired but felt were not adequately

addressed. One way of bridging the theory-practice divide was suggested by Ken,

when he noted that the practicum experience would be improved if the format was

slightly changed so that guided reflection (at university) could take place alongside

the school experience.

Ken Ideally, I would think it [would] be nice if the pracs were maybe

more mixed … so that you would be teaching a couple of days a

week perhaps or mornings or something. And then you’d come back

and meet like in a tutor group and talk about what was going on and

look at it from your theory point of view and other people who talk

about their experiences and so on as well. So there was less

separation between those areas. I think for me coming into teaching

we have like huge amounts of theory or so, that’s just fantastic but it

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was the bigger step to actually doing it for yourself, by yourself.

Fiona also noted that guided reflection and communication among preservice students

might enhance the practicum experience.

Fiona I would like to see more networking between students, so that we can

discuss our pre-service experience. Some good things that were done

was internet communication. We all had a website to log on to each

week and we could chat on that a little bit, but I would like to see

more follow up with meetings or times to get together to chat about

it, because … it’s a very steep learning curve.

The comments above indicate that by injecting more applied pedagogical reflection

into the preservice course, preservice teachers’ perceptions of their practicum

experiences will be enhanced. This would then encourage reflective teaching as

described by Zeichner and Liston (1996):

Reflective teaching entails a recognition, examination, and rumination

over the implications [of one’s] beliefs, experiences, attitudes,

knowledge, and values as well as the opportunities and constraints

provided by the social conditions in which the teacher works. (p. 33)

Ideally, if teacher education courses adopt practices to facilitate the development of

preservice teacher reflective skills, teachers would find it easier to apply the

knowledge and skills learnt in university classes to the music classroom. If this

extended to reflection on teaching practice during practicum experiences it is likely

that early-career teachers would not just resort to uncritically ‘copying’ the teaching

style other teachers.

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One of the advantages of a reflective model of teacher education is that it does not

rely heavily on practicum experiences being positive for students – bad experiences

can result in good learning outcomes. An example of reflection resulting in positive

learning was provided by the comments of Carolyn below:

Carolyn Prac teaching, I think was the most important experience in the

university part. My prac teaching experience wasn’t so great, but it

still taught me what I didn’t want to be. And from there I could build

on what I did want to become, and how I did want to manage

classes, and how I did want to relate to kids, and how I do want to

teach basically.

Early-career music teachers were concerned about the placement of practicum

towards the end of teacher training. They expressed the desire to be exposed to

school teaching experiences earlier in their course. This is further explored in the

next section – the sequence of preparation.

The relationship between preservice teachers and their supervisors during practicum

was seen by early-career music teachers to be crucial to their professional

development. Consequently, teacher supervisors frequently became mentors to the

early-career teachers when they began teaching.

Janis I think that really helps, when you get a teacher that is very

enthusiastic and is not over loaded.

Fiona I’ve had some really, really awful experiences … For my first prac, I

rocked up on the first day, the music teacher took stress leave, I was

given the entire high school to teach music. I’d never taught before.

And I did that for 5 weeks … I had no support, no backup, a lot of it

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was illegal what I was doing, because I wasn’t registered to teach

alone in the classroom.

In summary, the practicum experience was viewed positively by the early-career

music teachers interviewed. Although some teachers tended to contrast the value of

this part of their course with the study of educational theory, most valued the

theoretical subjects and would like to incorporate increased guided reflection on their

practicum experiences in these subjects. In this way, preservice teachers’ practicum

experiences have the potential to ‘contextualise’ the theoretical aspects of the course

– making it more relevant to their future working lives.

Sequence of preparation

Early-career music teachers’ comments on the organisation of their preservice courses

fell into two categories - the sequence of units and the placement of practicum within

courses. Jessica’s comments summarise many teachers’ desire for music and

education to be integrated and for practicum opportunities to be available from the

beginning of the degree, with tutorial situations providing ample opportunities for

reflection. In addition, she referred to the need for ‘principal study’ (the guided

individual study of a particular musical specialisation) to be continued throughout the

four years of her double-degree in music and education:

Jessica It would be a mixture of your education subjects, and your subject

area subject, together, rather than doing two years separately … I

think that you need to be taking a principal study for the entire four

years that you’re at university if you really want to keep up those

skills, and get into a classroom, you still need to be practising them

… More practically based. I think pracs need to happen from the

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beginning of teaching, even if you’re not teaching, if you’re in the

classroom watching things, perhaps in a teacher-aide sort of

position, more than a teacher.

Many respondents raised the notion of having additional practicum opportunities,

beginning earlier in the course. They were concerned with the limited experience that

the practicum (in its current form) provided, due to its placement within the school

calendar:

Susan A course that is structured so that you can put things into context.

More so than ... a lot of our prac was right at the end of our course,

and by that time, a lot of the other subjects had lost their relevance

perhaps. They shouldn’t have, but you are just so busy trying to

keep your head above water that you forget to put them into place. I

think perhaps more smaller practicums … You still need to have

your major ones at the end of your course, but perhaps something in

place, where you can use what you are learning at the same time as

you are learning it.

Antoinette I think that if a person can be on pre-service for a term and actually

teach the unit of work and assess the unit of work and give feedback

to the students on how they’ve gone in that unit of work. I think

that’s much more valuable than coming in part way through a term,

not seeing their assessment and not seeing the end product … I think

that the pre-service training time is prepared thinking about the

university schedule, it’s not prepared thinking about the school

schedule. So it really is up to universities to think about where is it

most important, is it important to give pre-service teachers a

realistic idea of what it’s going to be like out there, or is it just their

idea to give them a little bit of a goal, and wait for them to get out

there to realise what it’s like?

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Finding the funding and being able to find placements for earlier, more frequent

practicum at crucial times in the school year is a concern for teacher education

institutions who might want to implement some of these suggestions. Ways to

manage such issues need further exploration.

One way for universities to address the issues raised by interviewees may be to have

teacher education almost entirely carried out in schools. This style of teacher

education may adopt the philosophies of an apprenticeship model, which is (as

teacher education traditions theory suggests – see Chapter 2) the notion that

developing excellence in a specialist subject, and then gaining teaching knowledge

and skills ‘on the job’ is the best way to prepare teachers for their working lives.

However, an apprenticeship style of teacher education does not match with the ideal

discussed by the majority of interviewees (where theory is valued), and therefore is

perhaps not the best way to respond to early-career music teachers’ desire for

increased, more frequent practicum. A better response to interviewees’ needs may be

to incorporate practicum throughout preservice courses using a constructivist style of

teacher education, where constant reflection between theory and practice are

encouraged. Much literature supports the potentially positive impact of a

constructivist style of teacher education on the development of quality teachers (Byo,

1999; Chen, 1996; Darling-Hammond, 2000a; Ghaith & Shaaban, 1999).

In summary, early-career music teachers’ comments regarding the structural aspects

of their preservice course reveal that they perceive that practicum should be placed

throughout the course rather than at the end and should occur more frequently.

However, this did not mean that the majority of teachers valued an ‘apprenticeship’

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style of teacher education. Rather, the practicum was perceived as integral to their

idea of an ‘ideal’ course, particularly if combined with university-guided reflection.

5.1.3 Course delivery

The early-career music teachers interviewed had strong feelings about the

effectiveness of the delivery elements of their courses. Of particular importance to

early-career music teachers were lecturers being ‘in touch’ with what is currently

occurring in schools.

Fiona I would recommend … that any teachers who are teaching the

courses have an idea of what it is like to be a teacher. A couple of

teachers I’ve had, have not taught for 20-30 years and I found it a

bit hard to touch base with them because everything is very different

now; class sizes, behaviour management, the general respect that

students have, I think a lot has changed in that time and it would be

nice to be able to work with teachers teaching us to teach who have

had recent experience in the environment.

Janis I just think how can you have a lecturer teaching you about music

education who hasn’t been in touch with being a music teacher for

ages? Like they’ve been out of the school system for so long that

they have no idea. They might go in and watch pre-service teachers

but they’re not in there doing it themselves. So I think that was the

reason I said that they were adequate.44

44 Early-career teachers’ comments revealed that although they may rate their lecturers as ‘adequate’, they still sought improvement, indicating that their ratings of ‘adequate’ in the questionnaire responses may in fact point to some degree of dissatisfaction. This insight into the perception of ‘adequacy’ is used when interpreting the Importance-Performance Analysis in Section 4.3.

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These comments are interpreted as evidence that early-career teachers require

preservice course delivery that is relevant and current. These early-career teachers

provided a ‘solution’ to this perceived need by suggesting that lecturers be recent

teachers. However, it is possible for lecturers to provide links with the contemporary

classroom environment in various ways that do not require recent personal teaching

experience. Some ways that this might be possible include reflection on practicum

experiences, guest speakers, and field trips to the classroom.

It is interesting to note that all comments made regarding lecturers were referring to

the music education lecturers. This indicates that either these lecturers had the most

impact on music teachers or that being ‘in touch’ with the music classroom is most

important to early-career music teachers.

Attention needs to be focussed on making these (and other) lecturers more effective

in influencing early-career teachers by helping students to see the links between the

theory and the practice in the contemporary music classroom. This approach should

nullify early-career teachers’ expressed desire for lecturers to be recent teachers

(which is an unlikely occurrence), and is consistent with the idea of a contextualised

course, incorporating an emphasis on pedagogical content knowledge and skills and

professional knowledge and skills.

5.1.4 Course philosophy

It has been argued (Chapter 2) that music teacher education should be considered

within the context of teacher education and that reform agendas in teacher education

be explored in more depth. Within the context of this study, it was appropriate to

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explore the teacher education reform traditions with which early-career music

teachers identify. It is important to note that there was much similarity found in the

responses regarding preferred teacher education traditions, and the analysis from the

course content, structure and delivery sections (Sections 5.1.1, 5.1.2 and 5.1.3). To

avoid repetition, only those points salient to the discussion on tradition preferences

(as discussed in Section 2.1) will be addressed here.

Responses from the questionnaire indicate that when considering the ideal focus for a

teacher education course, early-career music teachers in this study view the academic

tradition45 as the most important (ranked first by 40.6% of respondents), closely

followed by the social efficiency tradition (ranked first by 37.5% of respondents), the

developmentalist tradition (ranked first by 20.3% of respondents) and the social

reconstructionist tradition (ranked first by one respondent). This contrasted with the

apparent consensus in teacher education reform literature (Cochran-Smith, 2002),

which suggests a move towards the professionalisation of teachers, and therefore the

dominance of the social efficiency tradition. To further explore these choices,

interviewees were asked to explain their reasons behind the rank orders given in their

questionnaire response.

Academic Tradition

An academic orientation reflects the idea that teacher education courses should focus

on cultivating high levels of music skills and music knowledge in future teachers.

Analysis of the interviews indicate that teachers who demonstrate an academic

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orientation towards teacher education curriculum (regardless of orientation identified

as most important in the questionnaire), tend to perceive the role of music knowledge

and skills in their teacher education in two different ways. One way of seeing the

academic tradition is portrayed by Carolyn, a music teacher who had been teaching

for four years:

Carolyn I think that to become a music teacher, you have to do a music

degree first … [A competent teacher is] someone [who is on] top of

music, both theoretically and practically … I believe teaching should

be … more of an apprenticeship-type thing … You [should] do your

music degree, you do a little bit of theory, let’s say six months of

concentrated theoretical curriculum etc, etc. And then you go into

the school environment, and maybe you have six months of [being]

monitored by teachers … you get to experience things, and have

that guidance quite constantly, almost like a mentor type thing.

This perception of an ideal teacher education course is very similar to the academic

tradition described by Zeichner and Liston (1990), where the focus in university is

predominantly on the mastery of subject matter closely followed by an apprenticeship

model of teacher education, where teaching skills are developed in schools under the

tutelage of an experienced teacher.

Others who identified with the academic tradition saw music knowledge and skills as

inseparable from the knowledge and skills to teach music.

45 Italics will be used to identify Zeichner and Liston’s (1990) teacher education traditions.

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Roy The best music schools tend to be the ones who have teachers who

are skilful and competent musicians, first and foremost, and

educators … So it’s music teaching skills, and knowledge. I do feel

very strongly about that, that music teaching skills… goes along with

the knowledge of music, but the musical skill, if you haven’t got that,

then what happens to the twenty-five people in the class?

Many teachers who perceived music knowledge and skills to be similar to music

teaching knowledge and skills, found it difficult to choose between the academic

tradition and the social efficiency tradition. This is obvious when Joy, although

having chosen the social efficiency tradition in the questionnaire, finds it difficult to

articulate which tradition she prefers:

Joy I am torn between … music knowledge and competencies.

A reason for this may be that the social efficiency tradition is primarily concerned

with providing future teachers with the skills and competencies that they will require

for their working lives in schools. If teachers see these skills and competencies to be

tied to music skills and competencies, then they may find it difficult to separate the

two. The fundamental differences between these traditions lie in the generic (non-

discipline specific) nature of the social efficiency tradition, and the content

knowledge (discipline-specific) focus of the academic tradition.

Social efficiency tradition

As argued in Section 2.1, the social efficiency framework is reflected in many of the

current teacher education reforms in Australia, where the ‘outcomes’ or ‘professional

standards’ in teacher education have been under consideration. In short, exponents of

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this tradition support the belief that teacher education courses should focus on

providing future teachers with the skills and competencies that they will require for

their working lives in schools. Analysis of the interviews suggests that music teachers

see the social efficiency tradition in a discipline-specific way, and do not initially

equate it with ‘outcomes’ or ‘professional standards’. Instead, music teachers equate

this curriculum orientation with the skills and knowledge to teach music (in much the

same way that they see the academic tradition), and to deal with the professional

skills required as music teachers:

Janis we need to be trained for what we’re going to be faced in the

classrooms … I guess I think that it’s very important that you learn

more, sort of activities and strategies that you can use in the music

classroom and also what the education departments expect of you

and what their documents are … So I think that you need to know all

that educational stuff to be able to write an effective work program

that’s consistent with what you’re expected to teach in the

classroom.

Colleen [it is important for a teacher education course to concentrate on]

developing the skills that we already have and the knowledge that we

already have, but developing those things, to a point where we can

then teach it. So it’s not so much teaching us more stuff, it’s

teaching us the right stuff that we need to know, and know it solidly,

so that we can teach it to our students.

Therefore it seems that differences between the preference for the academic tradition

and the social efficiency tradition rest on the relative emphasis on music knowledge

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and skills and general teaching skills, although all respondents (regardless of tradition

chosen as most important), listed music knowledge and skills to be important.46

Developmentalist tradition

Respondents who chose the developmentalist tradition responded in favour of the

statement in the questionnaire that teacher education courses should focus on

teaching future teachers about developmental needs of students, and how to use this

knowledge to teach effectively in schools. An example of an orientation that indicates

a developmentalist tradition preference is articulated by Susan:

Susan I think you need to understand the audience that you are catering to.

If you don’t understand that audience, then the information that you

are trying to impart to them is not going to get through.

Other respondents saw musical involvement as being inextricably linked to the

emotional and intellectual development of students – a perception that was not

mentioned in the tradition description provided by Zeichner and Liston (1990).

Fiona Any studies that have been done, I’m sure will support that the arts

are a very strong part in developing a person.

Lotte I think music … is very much a way of self expression and

developing as a person because you can put so much into music and

of yourself.

46 In the analysis of teachers’ justifications for their choices in the questionnaire, it became evident that the social efficiency tradition was seen to emphasise both pedagogical content knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills.

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The link made by teachers between the developmentalist tradition and music reflects

the ongoing perception that teaching is inseparable from the discipline taught.

Social reconstructionist tradition

In the questionnaires, only one respondent chose the social reconstructionist tradition

as the most important.47 This tradition focuses on producing teachers with a socially

just orientation towards their work, and the statement that reflected this in the

questionnaire was - “teacher education courses should focus on how future teachers

can use education to move towards a more socially just society”. A common reason

for this tradition receiving fewer first preferences was that it was perceived by

teachers to be implicit in the study of education, and perhaps not as ‘applied’ as the

other traditions:

Rory [the social efficiency tradition] was deliberately put last because … I

do think it is one that is already perhaps … at the forefront of a

general education of yourself … people are already aware of that,

whereas perhaps developmental needs of students, and the actual

skills and competencies, how to deliver knowledge and music as a

subject would all have to be addressed before you could talk about

how to frame it in the society that you live.

Carolyn How future teachers could use teaching to move to a more socially

just society. That’s just a ‘hoo ha’ thing, and that’s why I put it

last… That’s good, we need to be socially just and things like, but

it’s not going to help us everyday.

47 This person was not available for interviewing.

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One interviewee wanted to change her questionnaire response to favour the social

reconstructionist tradition, reportedly as a result of her recent experiences:

Jessica I’d have to say: being able to deal with the problems that society

offered us [is most important to me]… in a school that doesn’t deal

with good children, the most important thing is to make them

socially aware, and being able to function as a society, rather than

content.

This was the only example of teachers changing their 1st preference from their

preference indicated in the questionnaires.

Perceptions of teacher education philosophies and traditions – the

emergence of a consistent understanding

Although teachers managed to justify their choice of tradition, many expressed

difficulty in identifying one tradition as most important:

Jackie I don’t really think I can say one is more important than the other …

it would be good if there was something that linked the social justice

kind of stuff and the developmental needs to the music rather than

seeing them as a general sort of thing.

This may be seen as an indicator of a wholistic perception of teacher education

among music teachers. Indeed, following analysis of teachers’ descriptions of their

‘ideal’ teacher education preparation, it appears that regardless of the tradition chosen

as most important, early-career music teachers’ preferences for teacher education

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traditions were framed within the context of the music classroom and therefore did

not neatly fit any of the teacher education traditions. For example although they may

have identified the social efficiency tradition as most important, they may have

described the importance of music knowledge and skills and the importance of

sequential, developmental classes with equal passion in their interview.

Consequently, despite the apparent diversity of preferences (as evidenced by the

questionnaire responses), there emerged from the interviews a consistent

understanding regarding the way effective music teacher education programs should

be designed.

Further evidence of this consistent understanding of an ‘ideal teacher education

course’ is the continued emphasis that participants placed on a contextualised course.

Janis We need to be trained for what we’re going to be faced [with] in the

classrooms.

This concept of contextualisation is particularly relevant when considering the teacher

education traditions favoured by early-career music teachers. It seems that despite

their stated preference for either the academic, social efficiency or developmentalist

model of teacher education, early-career music teachers continue to frame their

responses within the context of teaching music in the classroom. This understanding

of an ‘ideal’ teacher education course is less focussed on content knowledge than the

academic tradition, more focussed on content than the social efficiency tradition,

incorporates the developmentalist tradition in a way that links music with

development, and assumes the inclusion of the social reconstructionist tradition. It

seems that a course which reflects early-career music teachers’ desire for the

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integration of music and education components will incorporate all of the teacher

education traditions.

5.1.5 Summary

This section considered early-career music teachers’ perceptions of their preservice

course effectiveness, as well as their needs in terms of future teacher education

courses, in the light of their experiences as teachers. Their comments provide

insights into how a contextualised course might by conceptualised. With regards to

course content, the overwhelming finding (consistent with the questionnaire analysis),

was that pedagogical content knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and

skills are perceived as being very important to the lives of early-career music teachers,

and as such, they would like them included throughout the course.

When considering other elements of their courses, teachers commented on the

importance of the practicum being integrated throughout the structure of the course

and combined with university-guided reflection in order to enable preservice teachers

to more readily contextualise the educational theory learnt. With regards to delivery,

many comments were made referring to teachers of music curriculum – an interesting

finding, perhaps yet again reflecting the discipline-specific nature of most teachers’

concerns.

Exploration of early-career music teachers’ perceptions of an ideal course philosophy

suggests the emergence of a consistent understanding regarding the design of

effective music teacher education programs. Rather than representing any of

Zeichner and Liston’s four traditions in particular, early-career music teachers speak

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of a music teacher education ‘tradition’ that predominantly reflects their desire for

increased pedagogical content knowledge and skills, a ‘tradition’ labelled here as a

contextualised course.48

From this section of the analysis of the interviews, it seems that the

reconceptualisation of the teacher education courses should involve active guided

critical reflection before, during and after practicum experiences (which are located

throughout the courses); an integrated focus on pedagogical content knowledge and

skills and professional knowledge and skills; and a philosophy of teacher education

that reflects early-career music teachers’ consistent desire for the contextualisation of

their preservice courses.

5.2 Perceptions of early music teaching experiences

5.2.1 Unique problems faced by early-career music teachers

In order to better understand participants’ perceptions, it is necessary to explore how

teachers’ early years of teaching experiences impact upon their perceptions (research

question 2). To better understand the context of early-career music teachers,

interviewees were asked to describe the job of a secondary classroom music teacher

to someone who is completely unfamiliar with classroom music teaching in

Queensland.

48 Consequently, the four reflective teaching models (which corresponded with the four teacher education traditions) posed by Zeichner and Liston (1996) do not appear to be relevant in the

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Whilst early-career music teachers may have similar experiences to non-music

teachers, analysis of the interviews indicate signs of praxis shock among early-career

music teachers that are related specifically to experiences unique to classroom music

teaching. Such experiences include:

• physical and professional isolation within the school;

• no music curriculum in place at the school;

• high workload and multiple responsibilities associated with the extra-

curricular music program; and

• responsibilities associated with promotion of the school through music.

Early-career music teachers see their early experiences in schools as a time where

they will either ‘sink or swim’, and where they see themselves as a ‘one-man-band’.49

‘Sink or swim’: the problem of professional isolation

A number of participants felt that they had been left to ‘sink or swim’ in their early

years of teaching. In other words, they had been left to fend for themselves with little

support from other music teachers or mentors in their own profession. This

occurrence is particularly noticeable with early-career music teachers, largely due to

the nature of the subject area. There are not many music classes in most schools and

therefore most schools tend to employ limited numbers of music teachers. As a result,

many early-career music teachers felt that despite their preservice preparation, they

reconceptualisation of teacher education courses for music teachers based on their perceptions of an ‘effective’ course. 49 The separation of these categories is helpful in the analysis of the interview data. It must, however, be stressed that these two categories are interconnected in many ways.

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were thrown into an unfamiliar environment, where they had to figure out on their

own how to survive.

Antoinette I certainly was thrown into the deep end and had to learn to swim …

So that was hard – coming in as the only music teacher, and to

coordinate as well. I was thrown in in the deep end

Joy For the first 6 months … I was the only music teacher and that was

… horrible! There were a few instrumental music teachers that

came in, but they only taught their respective instruments and that

was it. So that was hard – coming in as the only music teacher, and

to coordinate as well.

These comments are consistent with the findings of McCormack and Thomas (2003)

and Rolley (2001):

The general experience for the beginning teacher is one of being

‘thrown in’ to the life of a school with a sink or swim philosophy—

often with cavalier advice to ‘forget all you’ve learnt at uni’ whilst

being given the school or department’s kit of survival strategies. These

early years for a new teacher can be exceptionally difficult and

professional survival is often based on inner resources rather than

systemic, supportive structures. (Rolley, 2001, p. 40)

The difficulties associated with professional isolation are viewed as contributing

towards praxis shock by the early-career music teachers in this study. This is

consistent with findings reported by McCormack and Thomas that “beginning

teachers who perceived themselves as isolated, either through location or lack of

support from school personnel … appeared more concerned about ‘survival’ issues”

(2003, p. 135).

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The physical isolation of music teachers in schools (the music department is often

physically separated due to the amount of ‘noise’ created) as well as from other music

teachers (many music departments consist of only one music teacher) exacerbates the

difficulties faced by early-career music teachers. Isolation often results in teachers

feeling ‘traumatised’, which affects their professional development and has also been

linked to music teacher dropout (Kelly, 1999; Kreuger, 1999; Krueger, 2000). Jessica

and Jackie both expected less isolation and more professional support in their first

few years at school:

Jessica I was hoping that I would come to a really big school, which I did,

but with lots of music teachers so that I would have people teach me

still, continue to teach me. I didn’t have that, I was the only music

teacher, my head of department has no idea about music, got sick

during my first year and wasn’t here, so I just had nobody, nothing

… I think it was sort of flying by the seat of my pants, getting into the

classroom and keeping the kids organised, but I don’t think I was

giving the kids any quality knowledge, or understanding, and that

same first year we did the musical, which made it even worse … I

couldn’t even remember where I was meant to be, let alone trying to

teach the kids something exciting and wonderful, it just didn’t

happen.

Jackie I would have thought that someone who was supposed to have a

management role, or … someone in the next level up from us who

were responsible for how we were going, would ask what was going

on, and would be interested in, why things were happening like that

in the classroom and what could be done about it, rather than just

being so entirely dismissive, and that just made me feel like I was

completely on my own.

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The problem of the professional isolation of music teachers is not limited to the music

departments in Australia, as seen in Gary Spruce’s (2002) paper on music

departments in the United Kingdom. He suggests three interrelated factors that

cause the isolation of music teachers within the schools in the United Kingdom:

1. music departments fail to develop an awareness of the wider educational issues

that impact upon all subject areas across the school;

2. the imbalance between classroom music and extra-curricular music activities; and

3. music departments fail to articulate a rationale for the place of music in the

curriculum (Spruce, 2002, p. 34).

Many similarities can be drawn between the difficulties faced by early-career music

teachers in Australia and the difficulties faced by music teachers in the United

Kingdom. However, it should be noted that his article is not focussing on early-

career teachers. Therefore it seems that although a sense of isolation is well

documented among early-career teachers, and has been documented in the UK among

music teachers, early-career music teachers may be experiencing this in a more acute

way. Regardless, it seems that in their preservice preparation music teachers should

be prepared with strategies to deal productively with isolation.

No curriculum

Specific difficulties associated with the praxis shock experienced by early-career

music teachers may have much to do with the lack of curriculum in place at many

schools. Teachers described situations where they were alone in a school that did not

have any curriculum guidelines.

Susan There was no curriculum in place, whatsoever. [In] my classroom

teaching, I was developing my own modules, whatever I wanted to

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teach, I could teach. We weren’t following Junior syllabuses, KLAs

whatever … So I wasn’t prepared at all for the fact that there could

be no curriculum at all in place, and what do you do in that

scenario? What’s a good place to start? I just didn’t know where to

start.

Although a lack of curriculum is essentially a problem existing within individual

schools, if early-career music teachers commonly face this difficulty, then they need

to be prepared for it before they arrive at their first school.

The ‘one man band’: the problem of high workloads and multiple

responsibilities

In addition to the perception that they had to either ‘sink or swim’, many of the early-

career teachers in this study felt that they had high workloads and were expected to

perform multiple roles, beyond that of other classroom teachers. For example, they

not only taught their share of classes, but also were expected to coordinate and

promote the extra-curricular music program. The perception of a music teacher being

a ‘one-man-band’ was suggested by one of the early-career teachers (Carolyn) and

was supported by the comments of most respondents. It is a useful way to view early-

career music teachers’ perceptions of their profession and the multiple responsibilities

that music teachers have – within the classroom, as coordinator of the extra-curricular

program, and as a promoter of the music programs and the school. Such multiple

responsibilities tend to fall to the early-career music teacher because they are often

the only music teacher in the school.

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Interviewees associated the notion of a ‘one-man-band’ with the incidence of

‘burnout’.50 They mentioned that it is considered ‘normal’ for a music teacher to

‘burnout’ after about 4-5 years if they had been doing their job ‘properly’ or ‘well’.

‘Burnout’ was mentioned by many teachers, and was perceived to be specific to the

distinctive nature of their job, particularly if they tried to accomplish everything that

was expected of them to a high standard. Carolyn candidly explains how being a ‘one

man band’ resulted in her feeling ‘burnt-out’.

Carolyn To be good at your job, especially as a music teacher, and if you

want to do it well, you have to work your absolute butt off. In the

first few years it’s even more so, because, as I said, you’re learning

that management thing, and it’s much harder work to figure those

things out, …you’re not sure when you have to get things done, what

time … So I went like a crazy woman, after I figured out the

essential things, then… you find yourself working so hard, because

you’re a one-man-band often as a music teacher, and so to be the

one-man-band, is hard work, you don’t get breaks, you don’t get

spares. They don’t exist. And so … I was burnt out, and I still am,

I’m still feeling like eerrr. And there needs to be something to guard

against that. And music teaching specifically is like that. Other

subjects I don’t think are as bad, because [in the] English

department, there’s six other teachers in there, so they’re going to

help you, but music teaching, you’re it, so what are you going to do?

Are you going to be considered bad at your job, because you could

not be stressed or burned out, but that means that nothing’s going to

happen, or, you do your job and yeah… Burnout, I think, it happens

to everyone who is doing their job well. All of my friends that do

their job well, they’re burnt out as well as me.

50 ‘Burnout’ was also associated, to a lesser extent, with the notion of ‘sink or swim’.

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The idea that workload expectations are higher for music teachers than for teachers of

other subject areas came through strongly in the interviews.

Grant Music teaching and any… this is probably very one sided, but I think

that any arts teaching areas, it’s not just a… job, it’s a lifestyle

choice. You choose to spend fifty to sixty hours a week at school and

doing all these sorts of things, because to actually get out of it what

you really want you’ve got to put in those hours and contact time

with the students. So I understand why a lot of … music teachers

drop out and I understand, probably, why a lot of music teachers

and arts teachers burn out too. It’s because the expectations are

very high and the workload is very high too.

This high workload stems from the expectations (from school administration and the

community) that classroom music teachers will be involved in all musical activities at

the school, not only in the classroom, regardless of whether they have developed

skills in those areas:

Janis I guess ultimately you’re expected to be a ‘jack of all trades’ when

you become a music teacher, you’re the person who’s got to work

the sound, who’s got to work amplifiers and things like that. And if

you’re not trained in that area, like I wasn’t, I’ve just sort of learned

it as I’ve gone along. I would have had a lot more confidence going

into teaching if I had that experience already.

Rory The other part was the commitment in terms of hours, not that one

doesn’t freely give up the time, but I suppose going into a large

department you suppose that time would be spread among many

people, but perhaps in areas you deal in there is only you dealing in

that area, and you have to take it on wholly and solely.

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The concept of a ‘one-man-band’ was perceived to be a unique problem associated

with the high workloads and multiple responsibilities placed upon early-career music

teachers. Their role as coordinator of various extra-curricular programs and activities

in their own time is seen as being integral to the job (yet not usually part of their

teaching load). In addition, the school and community see this involvement as being

the most important role of the music teacher and the pressures of performing in

concerts in front of peers were mentioned (see Section 5.1.1).

Responsibility in the extra-curricular music program51

A third (32%) of all respondents to the questionnaire were employed as instrumental

teachers (as well as classroom teachers) and all of the interview respondents reported

being heavily involved with the instrumental and extra-curricular music program.

Research has shown that the extra-curricular music program is more valued by the

school than the classroom music program (Lierse, 1999), yet questionnaire responses

indicated that this area was perceived by early-career teachers to be the one in which

they were least well prepared. Most teachers accepted their role in the extra-

curricular program and saw it as part of the job, which they loved. However, the

extra-curricular load was strongly linked with music teacher stress and burnout,

particularly in schools where the teacher was the sole music specialist.

Roy I think that curriculum would only take half of what we do …

Generally it seems that the lot of music teacher is grade eight to

twelve classes, plus a choir, plus an ensemble, plus coordinating

piano lessons, or whatever.

51 This has previously been discussed briefly in Section 5.1.1.

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Janis As a secondary classroom music teacher, I’ve also found that I have

to do a lot of [the] instrumental side of things – organising

excursions and tours … theatre restaurant … and music tours and

concerts for art exhibitions and … musicals.

Carolyn describes a situation that is common for most early-career classroom music

teachers.

Carolyn A lot of schools… only have one music teacher, so that’s basically

what you have to do. You have to coordinate [the instrumental

program] as well as your classroom music program, if you want a

good music program in your school … where you’re a one-man-

band, as a music teacher, and …you want things to happen

musically in the school, you have to coordinate those sorts of things

… I completely coordinate the instrumental music program and I’m

taking extra rehearsals, … there’s a lot of administration as far as

fixing instruments, the care of the instruments, both in the

instrumental program and the classroom program … There are

three instrumental teachers [here] … and I have to coordinate them

because they don’t know what’s going on. And I also have to

coordinate concerts and things like that. If I want those sorts of

things to happen, I need to be able to bring all those people in and

probably take extra rehearsals with kids …

The workload associated with the extra-curricular role of music teachers often takes

place in their spare time.

Fiona Everything that is required is done outside classroom time. A lot of

it is not timetabled into class and is expected for us to do it, however,

we are not paid extra for it and it is a core element of our teaching

program, so it is done at lunchtime, before school, after school,

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weekends, night time concerts, so it’s huge.

Grant There are heaps of things involved with teaching classroom music,

people … don’t understand the hours that you have to put in …

There’s a lot more individual attention that you need to give to

students, especially in this area (music).

Colleen I have done more concerts and performances than I would ever have

imagined as a teacher. I have done so many out of school hours

performances and concerts and competitions, that [it] astounds me,

looking back at this year, the amount of weekends that I have spent

at school, on camp, on tour… there were times when I would have

something to do with school, every weekend for about six weeks, and

then I’d have one week off, and then straight back again, another

competition on the Saturday, and a performance on the next Friday

night.

The time that the extra-curricular program demands is a feature of the praxis shock

reported (because early-career music teachers feel unprepared for this).

Carolyn: Nobody tells you how much time it takes for you to do all these

things … They don’t prepare you for that as a music teacher

specifically. That needs to be drilled in.

Although most early-career music teachers reported having extra-curricular music

activities “thrust upon them” (Roy), Grant notes that the extra-curricular program

complemented his classroom program very well.

Grant I found them [extra-curricular activities] just immensely important

in keeping a music program running and running effectively and the

students learning, so much so that I think that the extra curricula

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activities were more important to the classroom activities, in regards

to teaching students.

It therefore seems that the multiple roles of the music teacher (as both classroom

teacher and extra-curricular coordinator) can be viewed as complementary, however,

preparation for this responsibility and adequate support for music teachers in the

school is crucial.

Responsibility for promoting music within the school

The extra-curricular program is perceived to be very important to the school –

arguably more so than the classroom music program. As one principal stated, when

referring to the instrumental program “Music is a selling point for the school” (Lierse,

1999, p. 170). This perception of music within the school impacts on early-career

classroom music teachers’ workload expectations.

Closely associated with the extra-curricular involvement of music teachers is the

notion that music should be frequently ‘on show’ in order to validate the presence of

the music department or to promote the school. This may be a reflection of the

perceived role of music in the school and in society – to entertain. It does, however,

pose a strain on early-career music teachers as they try to ‘prove’ their

professionalism to their colleagues and the community.

Fiona Often schools use choirs and bands and students who are soloists on

instruments or musical compositions to advertise the school in their

artistic element and as an excellent standard.

Rory You are seen in terms of social circles within the school as either

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performing well or bad depending on the level of your group … So

that’s a hard thing, because you are constantly under pressure to

deliver performances in a large school with a large program.

Colleen I started here in August of 2002. So it was only really … five

months… that was pretty exciting, but if it had been the full year, I

could have really burnt out, because I was just doing everything, and

more than just my things. If concert band one had a concert or a

performance, or a competition, I’d go to it, so I was going to other

peoples events, as well as my own … The admin really rely on us

[music teachers] as well, if anything comes up, we get a phone call

straight away … we don’t get much of a choice, because we’re a

small school, our principal does everything that he can to promote

the school, and he does that through the music department

predominantly.

Not all music teachers, however, feel forced into promoting music in the school and

community. Susan, for instance demonstrates an altruistic motivation – to change

society’s perception of music.

Susan sometimes music is regarded as a lesser subject by some people …

[like] principals who are balancing budgets, some parents who think

that perhaps your maths and sciences and English are the only

important things. So I think it is really important to try and get

across to your kids that music is a part of society, and it is an

important way of knowing about the world, and it is worth

appreciating … You know how I was saying earlier how sometimes I

feel that what I do is not valued as a subject? I would love to see

that reversed … In Dead Poets Society there is this great quote

where he is going on about how engineering and law and medicine

are all great ways to spend your life, to use your life, but music and

drama and art are reasons for living. And I don’t know, people kind

of think that music is this airy fairy thing, but imagine how much

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ugliness there would be in the world if we didn’t have an

appreciation for those kinds of things? But that is just not valued

because it is just ‘airy-fairy’, or it is regarded as ‘airy-fairy’, and it

would be nice to see music and the arts regarded as more important,

just for the value that they put into people’s lives.

The idea of promoting music as a responsibility to society came through in many of

the interviews.

5.2.2 Extent to which preservice preparation prepares early-career

music teachers to cope with early experiences

As has been outlined in Section 5.2.1, there are many unique problems facing early-

career music teachers. This section deals with early-career teachers’ comments on

how well they feel they were prepared for their teaching context, and their

suggestions for ways to address praxis shock through the preservice program.

Praxis shock

The discrepancies between teachers’ expectations of school life and the realities of

teaching often contribute to what is known as ‘praxis shock’ (see Section 2.2.2 for

literature relating to this). Praxis shock has been associated with early ‘burnout’

(Stokking et al., 2003), and tends to diminish the effect of preservice teacher

education, with the school environment having a greater impact on the development

of the early-career teacher (Lampert & Ball, 1999; Stuart & Thurlow, 2000; Su, 1992).

When asked to comment on the impact of their preservice programs, most early-

career music teachers commented that “it was a shock” (Roy, Jessica), “I just learnt

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on the job” (Claire), “I was not well prepared” (Susan, Joy, Grant, Carolyn, Jessica,

Roy, Fiona, Claire) and “I honestly had no idea what’s going on” (Lotte). These

phrases were invariably used to communicate praxis shock in different areas of their

early experiences. Although praxis shock is well documented among teachers of all

discipline areas, music teachers tend to link the specific nature of music teaching to

the ‘shock’ that they experienced.

Roy Well because we weren’t prepared for any of that at university, it

was a shock when I got out, and I was working much harder than I

thought that I would have to. And in my first couple of weeks as a

teacher I went up to the principal and I said: “this is ridiculous! I’m

doing as many classes as everybody else, and I’m taking the choir

and the band and all of that, and I’m a first year teacher, and it is

just ridiculous,” because it was such a shock to me that all of this

stuff fell to you, and it didn’t fall to anyone else.

As a result of the prevalence of praxis shock experiences, it is necessary for

preservice courses to prepare early-career teachers for the realities of being a

secondary classroom music teacher. The unique aspects of teaching music – including

the isolation of the music teacher, the lack of existing curriculum in schools and the

high workloads and multiple responsibilities associated with the extra-curricular

program should be particularly addressed, so that they are not a ‘shock’ to early-

career music teachers.

Need for induction

The induction that teachers receive may help to alleviate the experience of praxis

shock discussed above. The value of a good mentoring process is widely supported

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(McCormack & Thomas, 2003), and interviewees recognised the need for such

support.

Jessica I just think bouncing ideas off somebody, to know whether this would

work, before implementing it and finding out “oh, shit, shouldn’t

have done that,” you know, somebody that you can learn from

before you have to make those mistakes, and I know that making

mistakes is always good, but when you’re dealing with somebody’s

education and future, you can’t be making them all year round, you

need somebody there to help you, to tell you: “Hey, don’t do that, do

this, it’s much better” … we [also] need to keep networking after

we’ve left uni … and say: “hey, look, I’m having trouble with this,

can you help me out?”

Those teachers who did have mentors (usually either a non-music person within the

school or a music person outside the school) felt less isolated, and therefore less

shocked about their initial experiences in schools.

Rory [my experience of being mentored was] highly beneficial to me as a

person, as an educator. It wasn’t a formal role given to them, it was

just a person or people who took it upon themselves to deliver

advice, or practical theories of teaching or methods of delivery that

are tried and true and worked … So it was just experience over

theoretical points of view as to what could be taught.

Lotte I had a very supportive performing arts area … I think without

having the drama teacher here to help at first, helped on your way as

much as they can’t completely help you with a subject that they don’t

know about. I think it’s very important that you have the support of

the other subject areas.

Joy I had a great supervising teacher during my internship. My mentor

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when I was a preservice teacher … was excellent. We got on really

well and he made teaching a fun experience, and was really

supportive of what I did. Lot’s of encouragement. I heard a lot of

bad stories about how some preservice teachers don’t get along with

their mentor. So I guess that was more of an encouragement … to

keep me inspired.

Antoinette [on my] prac experiences, the mentor was my head of department

and she was basically someone who I could bounce ideas off. If I

was having trouble with some behavioural management issues, I

would ask for her input and she would give me some strategies to

work with, and it just helped me get more confident in not only my

ability to teach the curriculum, but my ability to manage students in

the classroom as well.

However, when discussing mentors, many interviewees highlighted that they would

have liked to have had a music teacher mentor at their school. This is consistent with

the literature (Conway, 2001; DeLorenzo, 1992; Kreuger, 1999, 2001; Krueger, 2000;

Yourn, 2000) which suggests that feelings of isolation are often minimised if teachers

are not the sole music specialists within the school, and therefore can be mentored by

experienced music teachers.

Janis [Not having another music teacher to talk to] was quite hard and

difficult at times because you don’t have someone to draw on, just to

say that “the assessment piece looks all right,” and “what do you

think about doing this?” And “what do you do in this situation, how

do you teach this?” You know there’s no one immediately there to

come into contact with.

By expressing the need for mentors who are familiar with their discipline area, early-

career music teachers are suggesting that music teachers’ experiences are distinct

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from the experiences of other teachers. Their expressed need for continuity between

the preservice courses and the first few years of teaching through the use of

appropriate induction needs further exploration – particularly in terms of what a

contextualised and integrated continuing program might be like.

The value of reflective teaching

Some respondents maintained that university played an important role in preparing

them to cope with praxis shock through reflective practice. For these teachers, the

experience of praxis shock was not always perceived negatively. Indeed, as

suggested by Wheatley (2002), efficacy doubts emerging from praxis shock

experiences can promote self-reflection on practice, and can result in better teaching

practice. This is exemplified in this comment by Carolyn:

Carolyn You never say that “I can do it all now.” And that’s the greatest

thing about being a teacher, every single year you can build on what

you did last year … If you’re constantly reflecting going “well that

wasn’t such a great lesson,” or “that wasn’t such a good [lesson],”

then I think you can constantly build on that. So obviously there

were some parts of that pre-service teaching year, that I got a hell-

of-a-lot out of because the next year I could build on what I had

done then … I learnt very early on that I could draw on my own

reflections, and I have done ever since.

The reliance on self-reflection for improvement is a positive response to the isolation

that many early-career music teachers feel. However, most interviewees did not view

isolation or praxis shock positively. This may be because, as suggested by Wheatley

(2002), teacher education needs to prepare future teachers for teacher efficacy doubts

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and how to deal with them in a manner that benefits their own growth. Encouraging

reflection and critical questioning may help teachers to deal with the unique problems

facing music teachers (Yost, Sentner, & Forlenza-Bailey, 2000).

Fiona The first thing I’d say is the education course raised a lot of

questions without having the answers, we had to discover a lot of

that ourselves. So it questioned a lot, which is good for us to

question why we’re teaching, how we’re teaching it this way, who

are our role models, what do we believe in what we are teaching and

how we do it … So that’s the most useful thing that I found about the

course.

Comments such as this can also be interpreted as an indicator of the benefits of

certain styles of teacher education, particularly constructivist teacher education. The

‘questioning’ referred to by Fiona is particularly helpful in the development of

reflective practice, which is also perceived as a positive outcome of effective

constructivist teacher education courses.

It has been argued, however, that constructivist teaching alone cannot improve

teacher education (Wideen, Mayer-Smith, & Moon, 1998). What is needed is a shift

in thinking – reconceptualisation and restructuring is required in order for

constructivist teaching in teacher education courses to be fully effective. In addition,

it seems that early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the importance of

pedagogical content knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills

within a contextualised style of teacher education should be incorporated into a

reconceptualised constructivist music teacher education.

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5.2.3 Summary

This section explored the reported experiences of early-career teachers in schools, and

focussed on the unique experiences that music teachers face. Some of the unique

problems reported by teachers include:





• responsibilities associated with promotion of the school through music.

Most noticeably, these areas (specific to the role of a music teacher) were where

early-career teachers felt unprepared. The discrepancy between what they were

prepared for following their preservice teacher education, and the realities in the

schools, contributed to the praxis shock experienced uniquely by early-career music

teachers in the secondary school. Praxis shock must be addressed in both the

university setting and at the school. Teachers spoke of the need for a reflective and

constructivist style of teacher education, coupled with appropriate induction methods

incorporating mentoring by experienced music teachers.

5.3 Perceptions of self and professional identity

In exploring other influences impacting on early-career music teachers’ perceptions

of the effectiveness of their preservice preparation (research question 3), it emerged

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(following the questionnaires, and through the interviews) that perceptions of self and

their professional identity was important.52

Teachers’ professional identities are informed in part by their early experiences in

schools, and as has been seen in Section 5.2, these experiences appear to be

characterised by praxis shock. McCormack, Gore and Thomas’ (2003) study found

that early-career teachers had difficulties in achieving a ‘solid professional identity’

in their first year teaching as they struggled with consolidating their prior images of

teachers with the realities faced in the classroom. In this way, the early experiences

of classroom teachers combine with personal beliefs and prior experiences to form the

professional identity of a teacher, which informs teachers’ future practices (Hawkey,

1996). Similarly, the ways that early-career teachers perceive themselves

professionally influence the ways they perceive their preservice preparation and their

career.

It was consequently considered necessary to explore early-career music teachers’

professional identities in order to contextualise their many other comments.

Interview questions which contributed towards the analysis of this section were:

1. What feelings do you have towards music teaching (Probe: explore perceptions of

identity), and


someone who is completely unfamiliar with what you do?

52 This is indicative of the exploratory design chosen, where the first stage of research helps to inform the development of the second stage. Although issues of teacher socialisation and teacher efficacy were considered in the literature review (Section 2.2), the importance of teacher identity did not

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Interviewees who just described their feelings towards the job were prompted with

examples of professional identities (which included the three categories that were

emerging from other interviews). These examples helped respondents to understand

the question better, and did not pre-empt their responses. As with all of the analysis

in this chapter, themes could emerge from interviewees’ responses to other questions

as well.

5.3.1 A passion for music

Despite feelings of praxis shock and ‘burnout’, the overwhelming majority of

teachers interviewed indicated that they enjoyed their job. The teachers in this study

repeatedly used words such as ‘love’, ‘passion’ and ‘rewarding’ when describing their

feelings towards music teaching.

Antoinette I absolutely love being a music teacher. It is a very rewarding

experience to help students strive to achieve their performance

goals. I like the fact that I am able to get to know students on a

number of levels.

It is clear from the interviews that early-career music teachers wanted to make music

meaningful for students and to help them love the subject.

Claire I love the fact that you can have a kid that has had no experience in

music come into your classroom and you can get them playing three

chords on a guitar and see their face light up when they make music.

… I love that part of being a music teacher, it allows kids to create,

and they get such an excited feeling, about you know, this is their

emerge until Stage 2 of the research. For this reason, relevant literature on teacher identity and music teacher identity has only been introduced in Section 5.3.

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work, its … something they’ve done, you know, from nothing and I

think that’s one of the best parts about being a music teacher.

Many early-career music teachers also viewed music education as valuable in a

utilitarian way – focussing on its benefits in other (non-musical) areas of life (see

Section 2.3.2).

Grant I would describe it as teaching students the wonders and enjoyment

of music and cultural life. But more importantly I would be saying

that I see music as an opportunity to teach students about life,

important things like confidence, responsibility, discipline and work

ethic, and I use music as my tool to teach that.

Janis I guess that I would describe the job of a secondary music teacher as

providing students with an outlet to perform, to express themselves

and to be like the person who organises and facilitates it all for

them.

In this way, early-career music teachers did not seem to have a predominantly

utilitarian or aesthetic justification for their role as music teachers. Rather, they

appeared to blend the two philosophies of music education together, with the apparent

intention to engage students with music for the musical experience, and for the

benefits this provides in other areas of the students’ lives. This provides a good basis

upon which to build an integrated structure in teacher education, where students can

see the value of all components of a preservice program.

When students enjoy engaging with music, teachers seemed to enjoy their job and

find it rewarding.

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Janis I think it’s fun and I really enjoy the interaction, not only with the

students but with other staff. And also the opportunity to play a

variety of instruments and do a variety of different things in music,

you’re not just restricted to one aspect of music. You can perform,

you can compose, you can do rhythm activities, all that different stuff

that you can do with it.

It appears that the ‘love’ many teachers feel towards their job is related to their

passion for music and passing that on to students. Music teachers considered the

disagreeable aspects of their jobs to be less important than the intrinsic rewards

obtained through students’ enjoyment of music. Although all teachers made

comments regarding the difficulties faced in their profession, they indicated a

personal passion for music, which they all felt overrode any of their negative

sentiments towards their experiences in their early years of teaching. Below are some

examples of this sentiment, presented without comment:

Lotte I have some kind of a passion for music in some ways. So I enjoy it a

lot. Sometimes, you have the days where you think, oh … “these kids

don’t really feel it as much as you do.” But no, I do it because I love

to do it and I like music.

Carolyn [With] music you have to be very involved to make it good, because

you have to be passionate about it, and you have to get kids to be

involved, otherwise it’s not going to work.

Joy I love music teaching because it is what I know best … because I

love giving the girls the opportunity to listen to different types of

music, and it is always good when they actually enjoy it as well … I

love playing. I love creating music.

Grant I love it, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. Unfortunately

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sometimes the system makes you feel like you’ve really got to look

for another career, because you put your heart and soul into it and

at the end of the day you’re only just another number.

Fiona It’s really rewarding, the children get a lot from it and so can the

teachers. It’s also really hard work and a lot of the time we’re not

recognised for doing that, it’s expected but we’re not paid for it ...

There is nothing better than watching a kids face light up, knowing

that they can do it, that they can sing it, or they can play it. And I

think that’s the most rewarding thing.

Colleen I love it! I love it more than I thought that I would, I love everything

about it, I love teaching the classroom, I love teaching kids how to

sing and play music and all different aspects about it. There are

times that I think: “what am I doing, this is far too much work, not

enough pay” - that is a big issue for me, because I know that I do a

lot of work, and I work very hard.

Susan Okay. To be really honest, at times I have great difficulty with

finding the value in what I do. You know I was saying before about

how society doesn’t tend to value music as it does other subjects? I

can’t help enjoying what I do. It is great when you get the feedback

that “you are doing a good job. My child really enjoys playing in

the band or enjoys learning their instrument.” That is certainly a

good feeling. It makes you feel that what you are doing is

worthwhile.

This ‘passion’ for teaching music seems at odds with the teachers’ ‘complaining’

style of commentary when discussing their difficulties in their early years of teaching

(see Section 5.2). It may explain why these teachers are continuing to teach

regardless of the difficulties they have faced. Further research exploring the

association between a personal passion for teaching music throughout the early years

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of teaching and praxis shock needs to be conducted.

5.3.2 Professional identity

Although most music teachers indicated a passion for music teaching, they tend to

think about their professional identity in a variety of ways. When describing their job,

the majority of interviewees immediately tend to categorise themselves as:

• A musician, who happens to be teaching;

• A music teacher; or

• A teacher who teaches music.

Each of these categories is explored below.

Musician

Many music teachers have a perception of themselves primarily as musicians, who

happen to teach. This is particularly the case for those teachers who only teach music.

Fiona [I view myself as a] musician first, and then a music teacher,

however, they are almost the same … and that is why I did my

degree at the conservatorium before I did the teaching degree. I had

always planned to be a teacher and I thought that if I was a better

performer I would be a better teacher, and it has worked out really

well.

Joy I’d like to see myself as a musician. … It would be between

musician and music teacher. I think I change between those two

roles in any one day … No I don’t consider myself just as a teacher.

Janis A musician [is] someone who plays an instrument, or instruments,

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and either plays for enjoyment, or plays for a professional reasons.

I mean I personally play for enjoyment, and… music teacher[s do],

pretty much the same sort of thing. That’s one of the reasons why I

decided to do music teaching, because I enjoyed music at school,

and wanted to share my musical, or make musical experiences for

kids good like the ones that I had at school.

Many teachers perceive successful music teachers to be those who have high levels of

music skills and knowledge.

Roy The best music schools tend to be the ones who have teachers who

are skilful and competent musicians, first and foremost, and

educators.

Music teacher

Many music teachers in Queensland are required to teach other subjects, because

there are not enough music classes to provide a full-time load. These teachers view

themselves as a combination of a music teacher and a generalist teacher, although

they may not feel the same passion for other subjects.

Grant I see myself as a teacher and a music teacher, but mainly as a

teacher of students, again, with music as the tool [that] I use, but

then again, if the deputy comes and says: “can you teach maths?” I

basically say no way, because that is not what I’m trained for, and

they’re not the tools I’m familiar with working with so…I see music

as a tool [to help develop] confidence, responsibility, work ethic,

that sort of … I get them enjoying something in their teenage years

instead of being very negative, that a lot of teenagers have the

tendency to be

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Colleen …I have a grade eight English and a grade eight SOSE class and we

were talking the other day… saying that SOSE was always put on the

backburner. If people want to take time off, they take it off during

SOSE; a lot of people see it as a bludgy subject, a waste of time,

sort of thing. And I said, I completely disagree, I love it that I’m a

SOSE teacher now, I love it that I’m an English teacher,” then

someone said that “when someone on asks you what do you do, what

do you say?” And I said that “well honestly that I’m a teacher,”

and then they said, “well, what do you teach?” and I said “Music,

English and SOSE.” It does come out in that order, not really

intentionally, but I do see myself as a music teacher. So I see myself

as a teacher, first and foremost, and then a music teacher.

Teachers who view themselves primarily as music teachers may also view themselves

as musicians, but not within their professional context.

Carolyn In my spare time I love being a musician, play with the bands that

I’m in, etcetera, etcetera. I think I’m very passionate about that, but

I also love the kids, I love being involved in them, and seeing them as

people, not just going: “music, music, music!” But helping them in

other areas, and I think that you can do that being a good

communicator, I really enjoy that actually, I enjoy that just as much

I think. Otherwise I don’t think you could do it, because you don’t

get paid for all that you do. No I think they’re both equal.

Teacher

Sometimes teachers do not consider themselves to be musicians, often because they

see their musical skills as sub-standard. These teachers tend to see their professional

identity as a teacher who teaches music.

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Claire Not a musician! Definitely not …I think that is one reason why I

moved out [into drama teaching] because I didn’t feel like a

musician and I felt like my musicianship skills were not as strong as

they should be … I feel like that’s somewhere where I have fallen

down, and I think that’s why I’m happy [not teaching music],

especially when it comes to senior music … I’ve felt like I haven’t

been strong enough a musician to be able to extend my really gifted

kids, …I know that some of my kids would come to me with

compositions and I’d have to go to get someone else to play through

them because I just couldn’t play them, or couldn’t mark them on my

own, so that sort of thing I think is very important.

Jessica [I see myself as an] organiser definitely, because I’m the only

classroom music teacher here, we’ve got two instrumental music

teachers, definitely organising and shifting bodies and things like

that. Yeah, that’s a lot of what I do, that would be the only way to

describe myself at this moment, that’s how I feel … No [I wouldn’t

consider myself to be a musician]. Skills have definitely

disappeared, I keep up with my singing, but my piano skills have

just… like the easiest piece of music is a struggle, and I was like

studying for my A.Mus.A on piano.

A study by Hargreaves, Welch, Purves, and Marshall (2003) indicates that the

professional identities of music teachers are consolidated within the preservice music

course (changing very little once they reach their first teaching post), and that as

music teachers, they are judged predominantly on their musical abilities. This report

stops short of describing the professional identities of music teachers; however it does

validate the importance of developing healthy professional identities in music

teachers during their preservice education, and hints at the importance of musical

performance in the development of professional identity. From this it seems that

early-career music teachers’ perceived ability to be a ‘musician’ may be associated

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with them categorising themselves as a teacher, music teacher or musician.

In summary, although most early-career music teachers claim to ‘love’ their job, they

perceive it in a variety of ways, which reflects the way they see themselves

professionally. In some cases, professional identity is strongly linked to teachers’

personal efficacy beliefs. This may mean something special in the case of music

teachers as suggested by those who identified strongly with either being a musician

(and therefore ‘good’ at music), or as a teacher (and therefore not ‘good’ at music).

Other indications of this might be found in the questionnaire data, where 1st year

teachers were more likely to identify with the academic tradition (which is highly

discipline focussed), than all other teachers.

It is suggested here that these identities (and their underlying assumptions) be

deconstructed in the preservice course in a guided manner. Such discussions should

incorporate issues such as efficacy doubts (Wheatley, 2002) and the ‘musician as

teacher’. By engaging in this style of reflection, teachers should be able to more

adequately develop as effective practitioners once in the schools.

5.4 Summary of findings

A significant finding emerging from both the questionnaires and the interviews was

that an ideal teacher education course for future music teachers should be more

‘contextualised’, ‘practical’, ‘relevant’ and ‘real-world’ in its focus in order to help

teachers with the realities of their employment. Early-career music teachers saw a

contextualised course as one that overtly considered and examined the context within

which teachers would be operating.

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The notion of contextualisation emerged consistently throughout the interviews when

considering early-career teachers’ perceptions of course effectiveness and teacher

needs (research questions 1, 2 and 4).

• When considering the course content, teachers wanted increased pedagogical

content knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills, as these are

the areas where discipline-specific knowledge and skills are explored and

developed (Section 5.1.1). They wanted this to be evident throughout the teacher

education course, so that links between general education theories and skills could

be applied to their future context.

• When considering the course structure, teachers spoke of a desire for practicum to

be located throughout the preservice course. Practicum was perceived to be a

means of contextualising the course to take into account discipline specialisation;

however its effectiveness was maximised when combined with continual active

guided critical reflection at university.

• When considering course philosophy, interviewees again expressed the need for

contextualisation by aligning with none of the four teacher education traditions

proposed by Zeichner and Liston (1990) and preferring a philosophy that

integrated all the traditions to enable greater contextualisation of knowledge and

skills to the context of teaching music. In this way, identification with one of

Zeichner and Liston’s (1990) traditions does not seem to have an impact on early-

career music teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the course.

• When considering solutions beyond the preservice program, early-career music

teachers highlighted the importance of an induction program that incorporated

mentoring by music teachers, a finding that supported previous research

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highlighting the importance of discipline-specific mentors (Conway, 2001;

DeLorenzo, 1992; Kreuger, 1999, 2001; Krueger, 2000; Yourn, 2000). This

perceived need for the continuity of contextualised teacher education was an area

for further research.

Another significant finding emerging from both the questionnaires and the interviews

was that an ideal teacher education course should be integrated. This concept is

linked to that of contextualisation, in that it reflects teachers’ expressed ‘need’ for a

discipline-specific approach, but it specifically points towards

• the linking of music and education subjects;

• the linking of pedagogical content knowledge, professional knowledge

and skills, general pedagogical knowledge and skills and music knowledge

and skills;

• placing practicum throughout the course; and

• continual critical reflection on the links between theory and practice and

professional identity.

One reason behind early-career teachers’ perceived need for a contextualised and

integrated course is seen when investigating the early experiences of music teachers

in schools (research question 2). Here teachers’ descriptions highlighted the unique

problems facing early-career classroom music teachers. They described feelings of

professional isolation and difficulties dealing with the high workload and multiple

responsibilities outside the music classroom. Expectations regarding their

involvement in the extra-curricular music program seemed to cause particular

problems for music teachers. When describing these early experiences, interviewees

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continually repeated that these problems were a ‘shock’ to them following their

preservice preparation. In short, they did not feel that their preservice preparation had

prepared them adequately for these aspects of being a secondary classroom music

teacher, and that had their course been contextualised in nature, they would have

experienced praxis shock to a lesser extent.

Another influence impacting upon early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the

effectiveness of their preservice preparation (research question 3) is their perception

of self and professional identity. The teachers interviewed unanimously ‘loved’

teaching music - because they ‘loved’ music, and they ‘loved’ seeing music enrich

their student’s lives. Yet again, strong identification with music seems to be

prevalent in teachers’ feelings towards their job.

Despite their ‘passion’ for the subject area, teachers had three separate views on their

identity. They saw themselves as a musician, a music teacher or a teacher. Their

identification with any one of these categories tended to be based on their perceived

musical ability. These three categories are relevant when considering early-career

music teachers’ perceptions of their courses because it is just as likely that preservice

music teachers will hold similar perceptions of their identity. These professional

identities may be preventing teachers from valuing the general education subjects,

and also may be preventing teachers from being able to make ‘links’ between these

general subjects and their future context. This needs more research, however a

preliminary suggestion would be for preservice courses to guide reflection on

professional identities, so that preservice and early-career music teachers are aware of

the possible impact of identity on their ability to cope in their early years teaching.

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6 CHAPTER 6 - CONCLUSION

The aim of this study was to explore early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the

effectiveness of their preservice preparation. The research questions were:



a. How do early–career music teachers perceive the importance of various


b. How do early–career music teachers perceive the performance of existing

preservice programs in addressing various aspects of their preservice

preparation?



3. What other influences impact upon early-career music teachers’ perceptions of the

effectiveness of their preservice preparation?

4. How do early-career music teachers perceive their needs in relation to preservice

preparation?

In this chapter, the research findings are summarised (Section 6.1), the implications

of the findings for the advancement of theory and further research in the area are

discussed (Section 6.2), the significance of the study (Section 6.3) and the limitations

of the study outlined (Section 6.4). Final concluding comments are made in Section

6.4.

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6.1 Summary of research findings in relation to research questions

6.1.1 How do practicing early-career secondary music teachers

regard the effectiveness of their preservice course in preparing

them for teaching in schools?

The findings from this study indicate that early-career secondary music teachers

perceive that their preservice courses provided inadequate preparation for teaching.

In particular, it was found that:

• preservice music teacher education programs should place greater emphasis on

developing the specific pedagogical content knowledge and skills required for

teaching secondary classroom music;

• greater emphasis in preservice preparation should be placed on the development

of specific professional knowledge and skills associated with the practical aspects

of running a music program, including involvement in extra-curricular programs,

legal issues, budgeting, and communication skills.

• music knowledge and skills are perceived as very important, but are not always

adequately covered in preservice programs.

• general pedagogical knowledge and skills are considered as both important and

adequately covered in preservice courses.

Analysis of the interviews found that when discussing their ideal teacher education

preparation, early-career teachers in this study felt that pedagogical content

knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills were most useful to them

as teachers. However, their comments indicate that the present structure of music

coursework programs appear to concentrate predominantly on general education

knowledge and skills rather than the knowledge ands skills specific to teaching

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music. This resulted in most teachers reporting that they felt unable to apply the

knowledge and skills from general education subjects (where general pedagogical

knowledge and skills were predominantly addressed) to the context of the music

classroom. They consequently did not appear to value these subjects as highly as

music curriculum subjects and the practicum (where pedagogical knowledge and

skills were addressed).

In addition, the professional knowledge and skills associated with being a music

teacher were hardly addressed at all in the preservice courses. Consequently, this was

the area that seemed to cause the most difficulties for early-career teachers as they

began teaching. It is argued that competence in professional knowledge and skills

needs to be developed prior to early-career music teachers entering the teaching

workforce.

It would appear that early-career teachers in this study perceive an effective teacher

education course to be one that facilitates the integration of pedagogical content

knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills throughout. The ideal

music education course should be contextualised and embedded within the future

‘school’ context of preservice music teachers. In particular, interviewees reported that

they would have liked to see guided reflection on their classroom practice

incorporated into their course before, during and after their preservice practicum

experiences. Such an approach would have had the effect of increasing the

development of music specific knowledge and skills throughout the course.

In both questionnaires and interviews, the practicum was viewed as a very important

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part of the course. The popularity of practicum among early-career music teachers in

this study is likely to be because it is viewed as the area of their course where

knowledge and skills were most easily applied to the music teaching context. This

contrasts with their perception that the theoretical part of the course was too far

removed from its application in the music classroom and thus not ‘useful’ to the

futures of early-career music teachers. Accordingly, interviewees proposed that the

theoretical subjects in their preservice course be restructured - with clear links being

made between general education ‘theory’ and the music classroom. The early-career

music teachers in this study clearly feel that their courses need to relate general

education theory to music teaching practice.

6.1.2 How do teacher education tradition preferences and early

years of teaching experiences impact on early-career music

teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness?

Analysis of the questionnaire revealed that early-career music teachers in this study

would prefer that the design of their teacher education programmes reflect their

preference for the academic and social efficiency traditions. Interviewees’

perceptions of these two traditions were remarkably similar as many perceived music

knowledge and skills to be almost the same as music teaching knowledge and skills.

Their expressed difficulty in separating content knowledge and skills from

pedagogical content knowledge and skills indicates that their perceptions of the

development of teaching and music skills is closely associated. Shulman and Sparks

(1992) argued that teachers view themselves as content specialists, and that learning

is ‘situated’ within discipline areas. The findings of the present study demonstrate

that this is particularly important for music teachers, and that difficulties arise for

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music teachers when their preservice preparation is not focussed on or situated within

the discipline.

Analyses of interviews suggest the emergence of a consistent understanding among

participants regarding the design of effective music teacher education programs.

Rather than representing any of Zeichner and Liston’s (1990) four traditions in

particular, the ‘tradition’ that early-career music teachers predominantly speak of

reflects their desire for the integration and contextualisation of music and education

components throughout the course. It is likely that teachers’ preference for an

integrated approach that is contextualised specifically within the context of music

education, underlies the value they place on pedagogical content knowledge and skills

and professional knowledge and skills.

Early-career music teachers report having experienced praxis shock as a result the

discrepancy between what they were prepared for by their preservice teacher

education experience and the realities they faced in schools. Problems reported by

respondents relate specifically to their experience of teaching music in the secondary

school. These difficulties included:





• added responsibilities associated with the promotion of the school through

music.

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Most significantly, teachers felt completely unprepared for these experiences

following their university studies. It is interesting that most of their reported

difficulties fell within the area of professional knowledge and skills. The experience

of praxis shock is thus most keenly felt in relation to aspects of their early teaching

careers that are specific to their music discipline. It is not surprising then that as a

result of such early career experiences, teachers perceive their preservice preparation

to be particularly lacking in the area of professional knowledge and skills.

6.1.3 What other influences impact upon early-career music

teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their preservice

preparation?

Participants in this study spoke of a ‘passion’ for teaching music that sustained them

through rough periods of praxis shock. In addition, although most early-career music

teachers reported that they ‘love’ their job, they perceive themselves professionally in

a variety of ways – as a ‘musician’, a ‘music teacher’, or a ‘teacher’. This may be the

key to understanding the reasons behind music teachers’ perceptions of their

preservice course and their early years in the profession.

Early-career music teachers’ ‘passion’ for music teaching seems to originate in their

‘love’ for the subject area. Consequently, their perceived ability in the subject area

seems to determine how they view themselves professionally – the ‘better’ they feel

they are at music, the more likely they are to see themselves as musicians.

Conversely, if they report little confidence in music skills and knowledge, they are

more likely to see themselves as ‘teachers’.

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The professional identities of music teachers, which are arguably based on their self

assessment of their musical ability (supporting previous research by Hargreaves,

Welch, Purves, and Marshall, 2003) may impact on their perceptions of the

effectiveness of their course. Previous research has shown that teachers’ professional

identity influences their decisions and behaviour (Beijaard, Verloop, & Vermunt,

2000). Teacher education has the potential to either challenge or maintain preservice

teachers’ preconceptions of their professional identity, and teacher education should

arguably develop in future teachers a professional identity which enables them to be

effective throughout their career. It seems that professional identities (and their

underlying assumptions) should be critically deconstructed in the preservice course in

a guided manner. Such discussions should incorporate issues such as efficacy doubts

(Wheatley, 2002) and the ways in which these might influence their success as

teachers. By engaging in this style of reflection, early-career music teachers will

arguably develop the skills to reflect and consolidate their developing identities once

in schools and therefore improve as effective classroom practitioners (Hawkey, 1996).

6.1.4 How do early-career music teachers perceive their needs in

relation to preservice preparation?

The expressed ‘need’ for a contextualised and integrated teacher education course

appears to permeate both Stage 1 and 2 of this research. Within music teacher

education, a contextualised, integrated course is one that:

• overtly encourages and helps students to apply educational knowledge and

skills to the context of the music classroom (pedagogical content knowledge

and skills) and to the professional responsibilities of a music teacher

(professional knowledge and skills);

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• incorporates practicum from the first year, and combines classroom practice

with guided critical reflection in order to help students make ‘links’ between

general educational ‘theory’ and its application in the music classroom;

In addition, when discussing their early teaching experience, interviewees highlighted

the importance of quality induction programs that were discipline specific. They

spoke of the need for appropriate induction methods incorporating mentoring by

experienced music teachers. This finding supports prior research showing that music

teachers value mentors who are also music teachers (Conway, 2001; DeLorenzo,

1992; Kreuger, 1999, 2001; Krueger, 2000; Yourn, 2000).

6.2 Implications and areas for future research

Three significant themes emerged from this study into early-career music teachers’

perceptions of preservice teacher education programs –the need for contextualisation,

integration and continuity of preservice music teacher education programs.

Contextualisation and integration mostly occur within the preservice program, and

will be discussed first, followed by continuity.

6.2.1 Contextualisation

The findings of this research clearly support the recommendation that preservice

teacher education courses for music teachers should prepare future teachers for the

specific context within which they will be operating (in this case as secondary

classroom music teachers). This seems to be the primary criterion by which early-

career music teachers evaluate the ‘effectiveness’ of a preservice course. Existing

teacher education programs tend to be fragmented in style (Ferry et al., 2004) and

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present both music and education theory in isolation from the context of music

teaching. A contextualised course would, according to the participants in this study,

provide them with the means to apply knowledge and skills learnt in all subjects to

their future context as early-career secondary music teachers.

6.2.2 Integration

This study revealed that early-career music teachers perceive integration to be central

to effective music teacher education programs. An integrated course is defined here

as one that helps students make links between theory and practice, between general

education and music education as well as relating the knowledge presented in all their

music discipline and education units to their future professional practice. This theme

emerged predominantly from the study of participants’ teacher education tradition

preferences, where analysis of questionnaire responses revealed that respondents did

not identify wholly with any of the teacher education traditions - rather they favoured

a music teacher education course that integrated elements from each tradition. In

practice, a course that truly integrates areas of social efficiency (or teacher

professionalism), academia (or content knowledge and skills), developmental

psychology and social justice doesn’t compartmentalise discipline areas or favour one

tradition over another.

Integration and contextualisation in practice

Integration and contextualisation can only occur when the structural design of the

preservice course is reconceptualised, particularly in terms of the practicum and the

sequence of preparation. Practicum needs to be located throughout the course,

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coupled with reflective-style discussions that explicitly link current educational

theory with the context into which music teachers will be operating in their early

years (the music classroom). In particular, the areas of pedagogical content

knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills should be used to

contextualise courses. These areas may provide a bridge between music knowledge

and skills and general education pedagogical knowledge and skills, and therefore

provide the contextualised element so obviously desired in a preservice course, viz.,

the links between education and music, university and schools will be made clearer to

future music teachers.

6.2.3 Continuity

The theme of continuity is one that predominantly emerged from Section 5.2, where

the nature of the praxis shock experienced by early-career music teachers in

Queensland became evident. Although a preservice course that is both integrated and

contextualised should minimise the incidence of praxis shock, an appropriate

continuation of this style of support once teachers enter the schools seems essential.

The nature of this continuation would need to address the needs expressed by the

early-career music teachers in this study, in particular the unique problems that they

face (Section 5.2.1), and their need for discipline-specific induction and mentoring

programs (Section 5.2.2). While this study did not specifically address the issue of

in-service music teacher education, it is clearly an area for further research. Similarly,

some attention to the working conditions of music teachers in Queensland may be

warranted.

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This study is generative, in that analysis of early-career music teachers’ perceptions

regarding the effectiveness of their teacher education courses highlights the need for

more in-depth research in the following areas:

• how contextualisation should best be addressed in a preservice course;

• other stakeholders’ perceptions of the effectiveness of music teacher

education courses;

• the nature and design of a contextualised and integrated in-service music

teacher education program;

• comparisons of how early-career teachers from other secondary discipline

specialisations perceive the effectiveness of their teacher preparation;

• the ways that early-career teachers’ perceptions of their teacher education

course may impact on their praxis shock;

• the link between discipline specialisation and perceptions of general teacher

education course effectiveness; and

• how the development of professional identity throughout the preservice course

impacts on the incidence of praxis shock in the early years of teaching.

6.3 Significance of the study

Although this study was conducted with music teachers in Queensland, Australia, the

research findings presented here are likely to have important implications for teacher

education, beyond the original context of the study. It is apparent that teachers’

affinity with their subject area may have much to do with the way they conceptualise

an ‘ideal’ teacher education course and may also contribute to the ways that they are

able to utilise the knowledge and skills developed in their teacher education

preparation once in schools. The findings provide an empirical basis for the planning

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and development of preservice music teacher education programs based on the needs

and experiences of new graduates. Teacher education programs that address these

needs are likely to have a greater potential to prevent praxis shock and ‘burnout’

among early-career music teachers.

In particular, this study is significant because it proposes that the effectiveness of

teacher education could improve if courses were integrated, contextualised and

provided continued support beyond graduation. This is relevant to the education of

future music teachers and also arguably to teacher education courses in general

(particularly those training specialists for the secondary school). The platform of

integration, contextualisation and continuity may provide designers of teacher

education programs with a way forward in the development of effective, meaningful

teacher education.

6.4 Limitations

This study was delimited in its consideration of the needs and perceptions of early-

career music teachers regarding the nature and design of an effective teacher eduction

program. Although they are arguably the major stakeholders in the preservice

program, these teachers’ opinions should be considered alongside other stakeholders

such as university lecturers and experienced music teachers. While this could be

considered as a limitation, it is better thought of as a platform for replication and

elaboration in similar or different contexts.

This study is also limited in that it only considers the perceptions of early-career

music teachers from three universities in Queensland who graduated between the

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years 1998 to mid-2002. This means that the reported perceptions are relevant

specifically to the experiences of these teachers and can not necessarily be

generalised to other contexts or time periods. It is nevertheless expected that the

findings of this study will hold considerable relevance to many other preservice

programs in Australia and worldwide.

As reported in Chapter 3, although the demographics of respondents were very

similar to the demographics of the total sample, it is impossible to know whether the

people who responded to the questionnaire had particular experiences in the

preservice course or early experiences in schools that systematically influenced the

likelihood of their responding to a questionnaire. As such it is possible that there was

some response bias.

6.5 Final concluding comments

The provision of quality teacher education in Australia is a current and concerning

issue (Perry, 2005) that impacts on the quality of teaching in schools (Darling-

Hammond, 2000a).

This study is significant because it suggests that contextualisation, integration and

continuity form a useful platform for the reconceptualisation of preservice music

teacher education programs. This research has contributed to new knowledge by

extending understanding of how early-career music teachers perceive the

effectiveness of their preservice course, and as such has provided a pathway for the

reconceptualisation of teacher education programs for music teachers. It has

demonstrated the importance of a contextualised, integrated and continuing program

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for early-career music teachers and argued that this style of teacher preparation is

required in order to enable them to effectively manage their early years in the

classroom. The study has also demonstrated the importance of pedagogical content

knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills in the preservice

preparation of music teachers. Finally, it has indicated that the professional identity of

music teachers (as either musicians, music teachers or teachers) may underlie their

stated needs in terms of preservice preparation.

Although directly relevant to music teacher education, the findings of this study also

may be of interest to other areas of teacher education - particularly within the creative

arts specialisations. The necessity for teacher education programs to be constructed

reflecting the needs of early-career teachers seems paramount to the development of

effective programs. Consequently the concepts of contextualisation, integration and

continuity provide a basis for the development of effective teacher education

programs that align with the needs of early-career teachers.

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7 APPENDIX A: SUMMARY: DEVELOPMENT OF THE

QUESTIONNAIRE

Method

Following the development of the research questions which were based on the literature review

(Chapter 2), the development of the questionnaire took part in three stages:

1. Eleven stakeholders were consulted on their opinions on the construction and content of

the questionnaire and on their answers to the preliminary questions;

2. The questionnaire was trialled with a group of 15 preservice teachers; and

3. Five experts in the area of questionnaire design and music teacher education were

consulted on final changes to be made to the questionnaire.

Stage 1: Consultations with stakeholders

The primary purpose of the initial investigation was to inform and validate the content of the

questionnaire (content validity). The stakeholders who participated were involved with music

teacher education in Queensland - music education students, music education lecturers, school

practicum supervisors and early-career music teachers. Stakeholders could comment in any

one of two formats – either through a focus group or through written response to the key

questions. Due to their heavy schedules, most participants preferred to be involved through

correspondence rather than by attending the focus groups. As a result, the focus group

comprised only two people – a teacher educator and an early-career teacher. An additional

nine stakeholders answered the questions in written form.

Researchers or teacher educators in music education and early-career teachers who knew the

researcher personally were contacted by telephone and individually asked to be involved.

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Some participants became involved through their expressions of interest in the subject at

committee meetings. Participants who were not known to the researcher were given the

opportunity to be involved through a public notice sent through a music education chat group

(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/musicedqldchat/messages/1) - a forum for Queensland music

educators to share information and resources related to the 1 to 10 arts syllabus. All

participants were sent an invitation letter (see Appendix E) explaining their role in the study,

and those in the focus group were reminded of the session by phone call as suggested by

Krueger (Dangel & Royton, 2004).

Questions posed to stakeholders were both closed and open-ended, and were divided into two

sections (Figure A.1). The first section focussed entirely on the appropriateness a draft

questionnaire to the field and the second section required the stakeholders to answer the

research questions of the study. Stakeholders were invited to draw from their personal

experiences to justify their statements.

225

Figure A.1

Questions asked to participants Q1a. How would you change the questionnaire? Feel free to make marks on the paper, and

explain any changes.

b. In your opinion, how useful is this questionnaire in investigating the effectiveness of the

preservice music teacher education programs in Queensland? Please explain your answer.

c. In your opinion, does this study have the potential to be useful?

Q2a. What occurs in preservice music teacher training that is helpful to early-career teachers

when they get into the schools?

b. What would you change about the preservice music education course?

c. To what extent does the philosophy of music education studied in preservice music

education impact on music teachers’ practice?

d. What are your comments on the balance of pedagogical, artistic and organisational

competencies in the preservice music teacher education courses in relation to teaching in the

schools?

Q3. Any additional comments?

Responses to this stage of the study were positive. All of the eleven participants (including

early-career teachers, music education specialists, music education lecturers and supervising

teachers) felt that this was a much needed area of research and that the study was very

valuable if universities took notice of the results and implement the recommendations to

improve the preservice music teacher education courses in Queensland.

226

Responses also confirmed that the area being studied and the questions being asked were

relevant to the stakeholders, and elicited strong responses. Changes made to the

questionnaire at this stage included moving the demographic questions to the rear of the

questionnaire, beginning the questionnaire with questions based on the effectiveness of the

preservice program to focus the study, minimising the questions based on the early

experiences of teachers, using 4-point scales rather than 5-point scales in many areas to

‘force’ a response, and a complete reworking of the scaled response questions (questions 11

and 12 in the final questionnaire).

Stage 2: Trial of Questionnaire with preservice music teachers

The revised questionnaire was trialled with 15 preservice music teachers, who were also

asked to comment on:

• areas of the questionnaire that confused them;

• questions that they thought should be included, but which were omitted; and

• time taken to complete the questionnaire.

Changes made to the questionnaire at this stage included including two more items in the

scaled response questions (questions 11 and 12 in the final questionnaire), a reworking of the

teacher education traditions section (question 6 of the final questionnaire) to enable ease of

ranking the traditions, and simplifying the knowledge and skills questions (questions 8 and 9

in the final questionnaire) to improve response rate.

4. Stage 3: Consultation with experts in the area of questionnaire design and music

teacher education

At this stage, the changes made to the questionnaire were minor, and mostly editorial in

nature. One major change was the inclusion of ‘music education lecturers’ as a category in

question 5 of the final questionnaire. This enabled a separation between the lecturer and the

subject itself, and emerged as an important issue in both the pilot study and discussions with

tertiary music education lecturers.

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APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE

FOR EARLY-CAREER

TEACHERS

Questionnaire for secondary classroom music

teachers

OFFICE USE ONLY

Received:

Code:

228

1. a) Do you believe that the preservice preparation you received at university was relevant to your needs as a beginning teacher?

Yes absolutely Yes mostly Not really Definitely not

2. a) How satisfied are you with the preservice

preparation that you received at university? Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

b) What is the MAIN reason you are satisfied/dissatisfied? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. a) Think back to your preservice preparation. List three things that you have found to be most useful since you have been teaching. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b) In what ways have they been useful? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. a) List three things that you have found to be least useful since you have been teaching. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b) In what ways were they not useful? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. a) How would you rate the subjects at university that focussed on general knowledge and skills required for teaching?

Excellent More than adequate Adequate Less than adequate Very poor

b) Comments:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

c) How would you rate the subjects at

university that focussed on specific knowledge and skills required for teaching classroom music?


d) Comments:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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e) How would you rate your practicum experiences in preparing you for teaching music?


f) Comments:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

g) How would you rate the abilities of the music education lecturers to prepare you for teaching music?


h) Comments:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. This question refers to four perspectives regarding the focus of teacher education reform.

Please indicate your feelings regarding the importance of each of these perspectives in designing teacher education courses by ranking them from one to four, where one (1) is the most important, and four (4) is the least important.

Teacher education courses should focus on:

Cultivating high levels of music skills and music knowledge in future teachers

How future teachers can use education to move towards a more socially just society.

Teaching future teachers about the developmental needs of students, and how to use this knowledge to teach effectively in schools.

Providing future teachers with the skills and competencies that they will require for their working lives in schools.

7. a) When I began teaching, I found that my

understanding of my role as a teacher changed from what I had expected as a preservice teacher.

Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

b) I have had a highly supportive

mentor/someone in my first years of teaching music.


c) When I began teaching, I found myself teaching in much the same way that I had been taught as a school student.


d) When I began teaching, I found other

music teachers to be highly supportive. Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

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e) When I began teaching, I found the administration staff (principal, deputy principal, HOD) to be highly supportive.


f) When I began teaching, I felt completely integrated into the life of the school.


g) Describe the support that you received in your first few years of teaching.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

h) What types of support do music teachers require in their first few years? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Questions 8 and 9 are similar to one another, but they are looking at two separate aspects of the

preservice program – knowledge and skills. Please try to separate your answers into these two categories.

a) What knowledge should all classroom music teachers possess by the end of their preservice

teacher education course? i) ______________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ii) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

iii) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b) For each of the areas you specified in 8a, how effectively did your preservice course address these

needs? i) ______________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ii) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

iii) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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9. a) What skills should all classroom music teachers possess by the end of their preservice teacher education course?

i) ______________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ii) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

iii) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b) For each of the areas you specified in 9a, how effectively did your preservice course address these needs?

i) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ii) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

iii) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. How would you change your preservice experience to ensure that you were better prepared for

teaching? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

232

Based on your teaching experience, how important is it that the following areas of knowledge/skills are covered in preservice music teacher education programs? (please circle) Area Not

important 1

Slightly importan

t 2

Important

3

Very importan

t 4

Extremely

important5

Performance skills 1 2 3 4 5 Musical creativity 1 2 3 4 5 Conducting skills 1 2 3 4 5 Aural perception skills 1 2 3 4 5 Composition skills 1 2 3 4 5 Music history knowledge 1 2 3 4 5 Coordination of extra curricular music activities 1 2 3 4 5 Legal issues 1 2 3 4 5 Managing the music budget 1 2 3 4 5 Coordination of staff 1 2 3 4 5 Communication with community 1 2 3 4 5 Communication with colleagues 1 2 3 4 5 Communication with students and parents 1 2 3 4 5 Knowledge of learners and their characteristics 1 2 3 4 5 Knowledge of education purposes and values 1 2 3 4 5 Ability to cater for student needs 1 2 3 4 5 Ability to plan for effective learning 1 2 3 4 5 Ability to organise the learning environment 1 2 3 4 5 Ability to utilise various instructional strategies 1 2 3 4 5 Knowledge of music teaching techniques 1 2 3 4 5 Engaging students with music in a meaningful way 1 2 3 4 5 Implementing the music curriculum effectively 1 2 3 4 5 Assessing students’ abilities in the various aspects of music 1 2 3 4 5 Explaining and demonstrating musical concepts 1 2 3 4 5 Please rate the effectiveness of your course in covering these areas. (please circle) Area Very

poor

1

Less than adequate

2

Adequate

3

More than

adequate 4

Excellent

5

Performance skills 1 2 3 4 5 Musical creativity 1 2 3 4 5 Conducting skills 1 2 3 4 5 Aural perception skills 1 2 3 4 5 Composition skills 1 2 3 4 5 Music history knowledge 1 2 3 4 5 Coordination of extra curricular music activities 1 2 3 4 5 Legal issues 1 2 3 4 5 Managing the music budget 1 2 3 4 5 Coordination of staff 1 2 3 4 5 Communication with community 1 2 3 4 5 Communication with colleagues 1 2 3 4 5 Communication with students and parents 1 2 3 4 5 Knowledge of learners and their characteristics 1 2 3 4 5 Knowledge of education purposes and values 1 2 3 4 5 Ability to cater for student needs 1 2 3 4 5 Ability to plan for effective learning 1 2 3 4 5

233

Ability to organise the learning environment 1 2 3 4 5 Ability to utilise various instructional strategies 1 2 3 4 5 Knowledge of music teaching techniques 1 2 3 4 5 Engaging students with music in a meaningful way 1 2 3 4 5 Implementing the music curriculum effectively 1 2 3 4 5 Assessing students’ abilities in the various aspects of music 1 2 3 4 5 Explaining and demonstrating musical concepts 1 2 3 4 5

11. University attended (please tick): Queensland University of Technology University of Queensland Griffith University other (please specify)_____________________

12. Course (please tick):

Bachelor of Education (Secondary) Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education

(Secondary) Bachelor of Music/ Bachelor of Education

(Secondary) Graduate Bachelor of Education (Secondary) Bachelor Of Education (Secondary) Graduate

Course Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) Master of Teaching (Secondary) other (please specify)_____________________

13. Gender (please tick): Male Female

14. Age (please tick): 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45 or older

15. At how many schools have you taught? one two three four five six or more

16. How many years have you been teaching classroom music?

one two three four five six to ten eleven or more

17. Your current school (please tick): a)

Independent non-Christian School State School Catholic School Church/Christian School other than Catholic Other

b) Metropolitan Rural

18. What is your current employment situation? casual contract permanent part-time permanent full-time

19. Have you been involved in any inservice training or further study since beginning teaching?

Yes No

20. Are you the only classroom music teacher at your school?

Yes No

21. Are you also employed as an instrumental teacher?

Yes No

22. What extra-curricular activities have you been involved in?

band orchestra string ensemble choir school musical other (please specify)____________________

23. Have there been any circumstances or issues (apart from your preservice program) that you believe have contributed to your effectiveness as a music teacher?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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There are very few music teachers in Queensland, and the information that you provide is very, very important. I would really appreciate being able to contact you should I need to clarify any of your responses. This would be completely confidential. Are you willing to be contacted?

Yes No

Your name:____________________________

Contact phone number:___________________

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APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Hi. How are you? (friendly establishment of rapport)

Thank you for taking some time out at this busy time of year to help me. Is it okay

if I record our conversation for future reference? (wait for consent)

Before we start, I just want to let you know that:

♦ This is a confidential study and I am the only person who will have access to transcripts of the interview. I won’t ask you to reveal any personal information. When reporting, I will keep your identity confidential by using a pseudonym instead of your real name AND

♦ Your decision to participate in this project is voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time without comment or penalty.

Is that okay? Alright, let’s get started.







4. What experiences have you had that have built on the knowledge and skills that

you gained from your university course?


Probe: How could your preservice music teacher education program help with

that?

6. Early experiences – reread their questionnaire answers and ask for comments.

236

Probe: Remind them about what they said about the purpose of teacher education

and if necessary ask for elaboration.



237

APPENDIX D: LETTERS SENT TO QUESTIONNAIRE

PARTICIPANTS

Prenotice letter

School of Learning and Professional Studies Queensland University of Technology

B Block, Kelvin Grove Campus 130 Victoria Park Road

KELVIN GROVE QLD 4059

Ph: 3864 3460 [email protected].

20 February 2003

<<Participant’s mailing address>>

Dear <<participant’s name>>, A few days from now you will receive in the mail a request to fill out a brief questionnaire for an important research project being conducted at the Queensland University of Technology. It concerns the perceptions of music teachers towards their preservice education. I am writing in advance because many people like to know ahead of time that they will be contacted. The study will give you the opportunity to influence the development of our profession in a very real way. Thank you for your time and consideration. It’s only with the generous help of people like you that music education can be improved. Yours sincerely, Julie Ballantyne PhD student P.S. I will be enclosing a small token of appreciation with the questionnaire as a way of saying thanks.

238

Letter accompanying Questionnaire

School of Professional Studies Queensland University of Technology


KELVIN GROVE QLD 4059

Ph: 3864 5428

[email protected]

«First_name» «Surname» «Address_Line_1» «Address_Line_2»

«City» «State»«Postcode»

Dear «First_name» «Surname», I am writing to ask your help in my PhD study. This study is part of an effort to learn how music teachers perceive their preservice education. As someone involved in music education, your opinions regarding how best to prepare teachers for their working lives are very important. My study concentrates on the opinions of secondary classroom music teachers who have been teaching for four years or less, and who went to university in Queensland. As you can imagine, there are very few people who fit these criteria, which heightens the importance of your response. By filling this questionnaire in, you will not only be helping me, you have the opportunity to influence the development of our profession in a very real way. Your participation in this project would be greatly appreciated and is completely voluntary. Although you may provide your name to enable follow-up, all aspects of the study are confidential and only I will have access to replies. If you agree to take part in this project, please complete the attached questionnaire, and then send it to me in the reply paid envelope. You many also return it to me by fax on (07) 3864 3986. If you decide not to take part in this project, then do not return the questionnaire. Any questions regarding this study can be directed to me on 3864 5428. Many thanks, Julie Ballantyne PhD student

239

Postcard following questionnaire mailout

Last week, a questionnaire asking your opinions about your preservice

education was sent to you.

If you have already completed and returned the questionnaire to me, please accept my

sincere thanks. If not, I would still really appreciate a response.

Hopefully your answers will be able to influence the development of the profession in a

very real way. Thanks again!!

240

APPENDIX E: LETTER TO CONSULTANTS

School of Professional Studies Queensland University of Technology


Kelvin Grove QLD 4059

Australia Ph: 3864 3025

[email protected]

October 27, 2005

Re: Focus groups on the effectiveness of preservice music teacher education courses in Queensland.

Dear Colleague, As per our telephone conversation, you are invited to participate in a focus group that investigates the effectiveness of preservice music teacher education programs in preparing teachers for their working lives. The findings of this research will inform the evaluation of the preservice music teacher education courses occurring in Queensland and will provide data to inform the conception of highly relevant preservice music education courses for music teachers of the future. Date: 6th August 2001 Time: 4pm-5pm Place: Room B315, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove (please

see enclosed map)

Afternoon tea will be served following the focus group.

It is important that you note the following: ♦ All aspects of the study are confidential and only the investigator named in this letter

will have access to transcripts of the focus group. At no time are you asked to reveal any personal information. I will keep all identities confidential in reporting documents, assigning pseudonyms to participants.

♦ Your decision to participate in this project is voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time without comment or penalty.

♦ Any questions regarding this study can be directed to me, at the address above, and if you have any concerns about the conduct of this study, please contact the secretary of the University Human Research Ethics Committee, Queensland University of Technology, on (07) 3864 2902.

241

Please indicate your intention to be involved by signing consent form (below), and returning it to me in the reply paid envelope (enclosed) or by fax on (07) 3864 3981. Yours sincerely, Julie Ballantyne B.Mus, B. Ed (Hons), A.Mus.A PhD student --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Statement of Consent:

By signing below, you are indicating that you: ♦ have read and understood the information sheet about this project; ♦ have had any questions answered to your satisfaction; ♦ understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the researcher; ♦ understand that you are free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty; ♦ understand that you can contact the researcher if you have any questions about the

project, or the Secretary of the University Human Research Ethics Committee on 3864 2902 if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project; and

♦ agree to participate in the project. Name Signature Date ____________________________________

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