howtobeamusicteacher.doc

Learning How to be a Music Teacher: an autobiographical case studyABRSTRACT in this case study the author outlines how she learnt to be a primary school Music teacher. An autobiographical research design using phenomenology as an analysis tool, is used to determine the nature of this learning.Knowledge gained from non-Music teachers and administrators when teaching in schools, and finally knowledge gained when undertaking in-service. Each of these areas is discussed, with reference to the authors autobiographical narrative interviews conducted and relevant literature. Possible implications for teachers, Music teacher educators and employers of Music teachers are discussed.IntroductionThis article examines how I learnt to be a primary (elementary) school classroom Music teacher. I was both researcher and subject in a study examining her nature of being a primary school classroom Music teacher. The project began when I wrote an autobiographical narrative about my teaching experiences. Having completed the narrative I decided to embark on a research journey where the narrative was my primary data source. I wanted to understand more about what being a classroom in Music teacher meant to me. Therefore the project was a discovery of self, and the research question being asked was what is the nature of this lived experience? The experience being, teaching Music. My working background is in Linqi Town Chunan Hangzhou, where the primary school classroom Music teacher has traditionally taught Music to each class (grade three to grade six; ages 9- 14) in the school for one to three classes each week. The classroom Music teacher aims to have all children listening,speaking Music and performing Music songs.Autobiography As indicated, this article is concerned with research stemming from my autobiographical narrative detailing my teaching experiences. Abbs (1974) writes, The central concern of all autobiography is to describe, evoke and generally recreate the development of the authors experience (p. 6). The uniqueness of autobiography is the very fact that no one can know better than I what I have thought , what I have wished ; I alone have the privilege of discovering myself from the other side of the mirror ( Gusdorf , 1980 , p . 35 ) . One of the great advantages of using autobiography is that it allows successive questioning and probing ( Denzin , 1 989 , p . 191 ) . This does , to some degree , compensate for possible failure of memory . The writer can turn back upon her own texts and see there her own processes and biases of selection at work , ( Grulnet , 1980 , p . 155 ) . Griffiths ( 1 995 ) advocates that researchers focus on themselves as individuals , with actions being directed at improving particular , local situations , recognizing the broader ,global repercussions ( p . 94 ) . She indicates this can be achieved through autobiography (p. 95) . Bullough (1 998) argues that biographies and case studies can usefully inform both beginning and experienced teachers (p. 31). Pinar and Pautz ( 1998 ) are more specific about the benefits of teacher autobiography , indicating that curriculum theorists now depend upon autobiography to provide new understandings in the curriculum , emphasizing the lived experience of teachers and students ( p . 72 ) . In using autobiography as a research tool I discovered , as Pinar and Pautz write , that autobiography can spur an articulation of lives that contest social norms and provide narratives that help teachers and students redefine their educational experiences on their own terms and in their own voices ( p . 72 ) . Research Design The research design of the study consisted of the following stages: 1. Writing the autobiographical narrative; 2 . analyzing the autobiographical narrative , drawing the essential themes from it ; 3 . reflecting on these themes , and more specifically the reality of events and perception expressed in the autobiographical narrative that contributed to these themes ; 4 . interviewing characters from the autobiographical narrative to reflect on the themes that emerged from the autobiographical narrative ; and 5 . documenting the research literature on each theme to gain a greater insight into each theme and determine what my experiences can contribute to this body of literature . The second stage in this analysis was of critical importance because the themes that emerged determined the direction of analysis in subsequent stages. Drawing themes from data is a phenomenological method of analysis. A theme can be defined as a statement of meaning that ( i ) runs through all or most of the pertinent data , or ( ii ) one in the minority that carries heavy emotional or factual input ( Ely et 11 . , 1 991 , p . 1 50 ) . Van Manen ( 1990 ) describes a theme as the form of capturing the phenomenon that one is trying to understand ; a theme describes an aspect of the structure of lived experience ( p . 87 ) . Phenomenology is the study of lived experience. It aims for a deeper understanding of the nature or meaning of our everyday experiences. From the lived experience description the overall thematic quality of the description is extracted ( Van Mannen , 1990 , p . 57 ) . Phenomenologists do not use coding, but assume that through continued readings of the source material the essence of an account will be revealed . This approach does not lead to uncovering laws, but rather to a practical understanding of meanings and actions ( Miles & Huberman , 1 994 , p . 8 ) . The third stage of the study , reflecting on these themes , and more specifically the rea1ity of events and perceptions expressed in the autobiographical narrative that contributed to these themes , centred around the questioning and probing of self . This involved the identification of subjectivity and fictionalization that occurred in the autobiographical narrative . The fourth stage of the project, interviewing characters from the autobiographical narrative , took a phenomenological approach in that the interviewing was not so much used to gather material , but to reflect with the interviewee about teaching and the events portrayed in the autobiographical narrative.These interviews brought multiple perspectives to aspects of my teaching career in the form of how others viewed me, and the context in which we worked as teachers. Fina1ly , the research literature associated with each emergent theme was documented and examined to determine how it impacted on an understanding of the theme , and Specifically what my experiences contributed to existing literature . This article focuses on one of the four themes that emerged from analysis of the autobiographical narrative. The theme under examination is : my knowledge of how to be a teacher stemmed from pre -service training , teachers I observed at work , teachers and administrators I worked with , and in -service undertaken . I will examine this acquisition of knowledge in chronological order , beginning with my experiences at teachers college ( including observations of Music teachers when undertaking practice teaching ) , knowledge gained from non -Music teachers and administrators when teaching in schools , and finally knowledge gained when undertaking in -service . Extracts from the autobiographical narrative are included. The names of characters portrayed in the narrative are, naturally, pseudonyms. Pre -service Teacher Training My pre -Service teacher training consisted of a Graduate Diploma in Teaching , an undergraduate Music degree a graduate computer applications degree. The most positive experiences to emerge from the training, and the only areas outlined in any great detail in the autobiographical narrative, were practice teaching experiences . As for the actual course work, I wrote in the autobiographical narrative : The way I saw it , half the work was what Id done at college . Stuff about Music. Basic things. And the other half was teaching stuff. Stuff that the lecturers gave to you on a platter and expected you to regurgitate in assignments and exams. There was little about teaching that I learnt from the course work . A similar view is held by Jane, whom I shared a flat with in the town where I held my first teaching position . In interview she stated , The trouble is teachers college just does not prepare you to teach , it gives you all this theory , which generally is a load of * * * * * . But it doesnt prepare you to teach . Jane often spoke derogatorily about theory that did not prepare her to teach . As a result, there was a chasm between the theory of course work and the practice of teaching in the classroom. Numerous studies indicate teacher frustration about the practice of teaching being removed from teacher training ( Jones , 1982 ; Page & Page , 1981 ; Roberts & Blankenship , 1970 ) . In commentary about this chasm in Music education courses , Leonhard ( 1 985 ) writes that :almost all curricula require one or more courses in educational psychology and general methods of teaching , but these courses are often set aside in a theoretical compartment which bears little if any relationship to the real world of Music instruction . ( p . 12 ) As a result , students : graduate from the Music teacher education program without the foggiest conception of the process of applying theory to practice and many have serious doubts about the relevance of theory for the real world of teaching . (p. 13) This is how I felt when I graduated and started teaching . I had no overriding philosophy of Music education. Certainly a philosophy subject was undertaken in the Graduate Diploma of Teaching degree , but this was a general subject , for all teachers . The philosophy of Music education was not specifically examined , and as Reimer ( 1989 ) points out , such an absence in an Music education course denies the student a centre that holds teaching methods , subjects , sociology , psychology and practice teaching experiences together ( p . 11 ) . I graduated with few concrete philosophical beliefs about Music education. As a result, all I knew to do was copy the kinds of lessons I had seen my Music education lecturer and my primary school practice teaching supervisor teach. It was only years later as a Master of Education student that I read about philosophy of Music education and found a solid philosophical base for what I taught. However, as Leonhard and House (1972 ) state , every teacher s way of teaching is an expression of that teacher s philosophy , whether or not the philosophy has been expressed or critically re viewed ( p . 85 ) . Therefore aphilosophy of sorts was in place ever since I had taught. If , however , as a pre -service teacher I had been actively encouraged to reflect on what I was being taught and what I saw and did whilst practice teaching , perhaps I would have been able to make clearer connections between theory and practice . Freppon and MacGillivary (1996) suggest this can be achieved. If reflection occurs , pre -service teachers can better understand themselves and teaching , particularly if students write their own case records of their teacher education experiences as they are occurring . Although I progressed through teachers college without consciously thinking about a philosophy of Music education , I questioned what my Music education lecturer did when he demonstrated Music lessons . I had no prior experience of teaching primary School c1assroom Music. My only teaching experiences had been teaching violin and piano in a studio setting. I believe that my questioning of what I saw stemmed from a culture of student cynicism towards teacher education courses (witness the previously quoted excerpt from the interview with Gary), and , my own childhood experiences of primary school classroom Music lessons . My childhood experiences of classroom Music lessons were not mentioned in the autobiographical narrative, but in thinking back to these experiences and discussing them with my mother, who was just beginning to teach classroom Music at this time, I recall not enjoying classroom Music, yet I loved singing in the choir, going to violin and piano lessons, and playing in the school orchestra. Why? It was the nature of the lessons, Which were strongly Kodaly -based . Kodaly advocated a sequential and developmental Music programme with Musical literacy as its goal. The programme was based around Kodalys belief that : 1、true Musical literacy , the ability to read , write and think Music , is the right of every human being ; 2 . Music learning must begin with the voice ; 3 . the education of the Musical ear must begin in kindergarten and the primary grades ( or earlier ) if it is to be completely successful ; 4 . Music skills and concepts necessary for Musical literacy should be taught with folk Music of the mother tongue ; 5 . only Music of unquestioned quality , both folk and composed , should be used ( Choksy , 1981 ) . During my time at primary school ( the mid -19705 ) Kodaly -based Music education was introduced into Queensland primary schools . One of the few memories I have of c1assroom Music is singing songs , playing them on the recorder and performing the solfa hand signs while singing , all of which I disliked , and all of which was advocated at teachers college . Lifelong attitudes to Music are formed during the primary school years ( Asmus , 1986 ; Bowles , 1991 ; Temmerman , 1993 ) . Therefore , I questioned the nature of Kodaly -based Music education during my pre -service training , where Kodaly -based Music education was the only method of teaching Music taught to pre 一service Music teachers . In interviews with classroom Music teachers of different ages , it was the teacher closet to my age ( 4 years teaching experience ) who questioned such a Kodaly -based approach to Music education as I did : The Music program the Queensland Music Program , a strongly Kodaly -based series of sequential Music lesson plans for each year level is totally unrealistic . I mean theres no way you could get that done . You could perhaps get it done if you had little wooden children sitting there , but not with real children I mean it s not interesting to them a lot of the time It 5 just too far removed from the sort of Music they re hearing a lot of the time . Music folk songs and things like that , or Hungarian folk songs I know , it s just a little bit far -fetched for them . I mean it s good with the little kid 、because of all the singing games and stuff , but the older kids need something they can relate to a little bit more I think .This teacher s reference to teaching Music and Hungarian folk songs is important because it is this kind of folk song repertoire that is the repertoire for Kodaly-based in Music education in Queensland . The songs taught at teachers college were predominantly this type of song. The Queensland primary school Music curriculum , Music Syllabus and Guidelines Years 1-7 ( Department of Education , Queensland , 1996 ) , does not specify what songs are to be taught , yet many Music teachers in Queensland exclusively teach Kodaly -recommended folk songs because they are presented as the material in the Queensland Music Program , ( Department of Education , Queensland , 1986 ) . This comprises a set of 30 lesson plans for each year level in the primary school detailing not only Musical objectives , but also specific Kodaly -based repertoire to be taught . The Kodaly method of Music education differs from other methods in its selection of song materials , which Kodaly insisted should be authentic children s games and nursery songs , authentic folk Music and good composed Music , i . e . Music written by recognized composers ( Choksy , 1988 , p . 17 ) . As much as the Queensland Music Program, tried to remain faithful to this , there was one glaring problem : the authentic folk Music to be used was to come from the mother country ( Choksy , 1981 , p . 7 ) ; in this case , Australia . Bridges ( 1989 ) points out that Kodaly s song materials , intended for Hungarian children are only examples for teachers , yet are used all over the world , regardless of their suitability for particular environments or developmental needs ( p . 45 ) . There are Australian folk songs in the Queensland Music Pro gram, but not many. Johnson ( 1 988 ) goes some way to explaining why , indicating that many Australian folk Songs are diatonic , begin with an anacrusis , are in 6 / 8 or3 / 4 meter , and have lyrics that are undesirable for the classroom . Therefore they are viewed as unsuitable as repertoire for a Kodaly -based programme. As a result , there is a predominance of Music , Hungarian and Irish folk song material used instead . These songs are chosen because they are useful for teaching specific Musical skills . Certainly there is not the quantity of Australian folk song material that there is from England and Hungary ; however , having Australian children sing mainly Music , Hungarian and Irish folk songs surely alienates children from Music to some degree , and goes against Kodaly s philosophy . Such song material lacks relevance to the life of Australian children , and as Bruner ( 1971 ) asserts , education must have social relevance and personal relevance to the child ( p . 114 ) . This highlights the crucial problem with the Kodaly method as practiced in many Queensland schools: the Music is chosen not so much for its Musical appeal to students, but to teach specific skills and concepts. This was also apparent at teachers college . I am not suggesting that the Kodaly method be abandoned. Anybody who has taught a Kodaly -based Music programme will know just how success