Comparisons of teacher and student behaviors in private piano lessons in China and the United States

Abstract

We compared teacher behaviors, student behaviors, and student achievement in private piano instruction in the People’s Republic of China and in the United States. The research questions were: (1) What were the similarities and differences in private piano lessons regarding teacher verbalizations, teacher modeling, and student behaviors? (2) Was there a difference in the frequency of student success and non-success during lessons? We analyzed 32 video segments (16 pre-college piano teachers each in China and the United States) using a computer observation program. Results indicated some similarities in student and teacher behaviors and no significant difference in students’ success rates within these lessons. Differences were found in time spent on teacher questions, teacher multiple modeling, student play, and students’ verbal response to teacher questions.