A case study: 30 elementary music education majors’ perceptions of preparedness, interest, and comfort teaching choir before and after taking a choral methods course

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to evaluate the elementary general music education majors’ perceptions of preparedness, interest, and comfort with the choral skills presented in a choral methods course. Thirty elementary general music education majors ( N = 30) enrolled in a choral methods course responded to a pre- and post-course survey. Participants self-assessed their feelings of preparedness to teach choir, stated their interest in teaching choir, and specified their comfort levels teaching seven choral skills. It was found that there were differences between the participants’ feelings of preparedness to teach choir at the beginning and the end of the semester and in the participants’ indication of interest in teaching choir before and after taking the choral methods course. Participants’ overall comfort ratings on the seven choral music teaching skills increased from the beginning to the end of the semester; choral repertoire was the area that participants felt most comfortable, which is indispensable to provide meaningful choral experiences to young singers. Implications for music education are that music education students’ feelings of preparedness, interest in teaching choir, and their comfort in acquiring the required teaching skills to do so, provides insights into effective preservice music teacher preparation.