Music Teachers Research Articles

The pedagogical–artistic strategies of community music facilitators as an inspiration for formal music education: A single case study

In this article, we elaborate on the pedagogical–artistic strategies of a community music project and how they may inspire formal music educational practices. To do so, we draw on findings from a study on the pedagogical–artistic strategies of the musicians–coaches of The Ostend Street Orchestra (TOSO), a community music project that started as an artistic response towards the commotion around a group of homeless people in the coastal town of Ostend, Belgium. The pedagogical–artistic strategies adopted by the TOSO coaches foster the emergence of an educational approach that may have the potential to enrich music educational practices by creating a learning environment that is more democratic and inclusive. Data collection included in-depth semi-structured interviews with the TOSO coaches in 2017 and 2021, as well as video-stimulated recall. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Seven themes emerged from our analysis: embodied interaction, co-coaching, re-thinking musical parameters, personal musical skills, collaboration, collective experiential learning and inclusion. We present the framework and rationale of the study, describe the pedagogical–artistic strategies of the coaches, and discuss the results. In conclusion, we briefly consider possibilities for further research and music teacher education.

BUILDING PERFORMANCE SKILLS OF MUSIC TEACHERS ON FOLK INSTRUMENTS

This article analyzes some aspects of the formation of performance skills of music teachers in folk instruments. In relation to this issue, the works carried out in recent years, including the regulatory legal bases, have been studied.

생태전환교육으로서의 음악교육에 대한 중등 음악교사의 인식 조사

This research aims to propose a direction for ecological music education through an investigation on music teachers’ perception regarding music education as an ecological transformation education. The research was carried out by analyzing literature related to ecological music and conducting a survey on ecological music education of 321 music teachers. The data was analyzed by SPSS 29, conducting frequency analysis and descriptive statistics. Additionally, the t-test and linear regression analysis were carried out to explore the relationship between teachers’ background and their perception of ecological music education. The result demonstrated that music teachers positively perceived a potential behind music as an ecological transformation education, believing music and ecology were related, and therefore music could be used to resolve ecological crisis. Furthermore, although many teachers didn’t teach music classes related to ecology, most of them had willingness to receive training about it. On the other hand, they indicated a need for standardization of terminology such as ‘ecological music’, an introduction of example cases for ecological music classes, and the development of ecological music education programs. Also, perceiving that the workplace was nature-friendly had a positive impact on perceiving that music and ecology were related.

디지털 테크놀로지를 활용한 음악 창작 수업 실행에 관한 질적 사례 연구: 행위자-네트워크 이론에 기반하여

This study aims to explore practices of music creation classes that utilize digital technology based on actor-network theory. For this purpose, the study conducted a qualitative case study of four middle school music teachers who incorporate digital technology in their music creation classes. The study revealed that the interaction between human and nonhuman actors in and out of school differed among teachers, such as the combination of heterogeneous things, entanglement of what is mine and what is not, alliances with actors beyond the school, and coexistence of old and new. The study also found that nonhuman actors exerted their own positive or negative thingpower on teachers, such as new attempts and challenges, becoming teachers as co-learners, excessive focus on technology, and unexpected occurrences, resulting in changes in teachers’ teaching practices. Based on these findings, it was suggested that there is a need for research that considers a variety of human and nonhuman actors involved in teachers' teaching practices and comprehends music creation classes using digital technology more diversely.

Factors for improving the theoretical knowledge of future music teachers

Factors for improving the theoretical knowledge of future music teachers

Reverberations in music education: What does sound ‘do’ in our learning spaces ?

ABSTRACT Bringing together literature from music education, posthumanism, sound studies and ethnomusicology, this article considers what sound ‘does’ in music education spaces. Within posthumanism, the role of sound, as a manifestation of material-human entanglements, is under-theorised. This article, diffractively plays with the literature and evidence from a PhD project and a listening walk with pre-service music teachers, allowing the reverberations (as the continued effects and affects of bringing these materials into contact with each other), to spark generative thinking about how sound in music education is conceived. In doing so, the article presents three reverberations that challenge humanist conceptions of sound/music in education. The first considers all sound (human and non-human) as voice, which is transindividual (Chadwick in Flint [2022]. “More-than-Human Methodologies in Qualitative Research: Listening to the Leafblower.” Qualitative Research 22 (4): 521–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794121999028) , the second considers the role of sound as an invitation to ‘world-with’ (Barad [2007]. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press) and the third reverberation explores sound as affect (Gallagher [2016]. “Sound as Affect: Difference, Power and Spatiality.” Emotion, Space and Society 20:42–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2016.02.004). In thinking with these generative reverberations, this article is a provocation to explore how a posthuman reconceptualisation of sound in music education can help us re-state the importance of music as a curriculum subject.

Musical creativity in music lessons in Croatia

ABSTRACT Music lessons in Croatia are characterised by the existence of three areas that intertwine and complement each other. Thus, in music lessons, students will listen to music, participate in various activities regarding their musical expression, and learn about music. A music teacher can choose which activities of musical expression he will carry out in his own educational process, and he chooses them according to his own interests as well as the abilities of the students. This paper aims to determine the perception of upper primary school students regarding the musical creativity activities in music lessons. Students (N = 128) from two schools in the Vukovar-Srijem county participated in the survey, and one group of those students actively participated in musical creativity activities. The research results show that students generally have a positive opinion about musical creativity activities. The students who have participated in the musical creativity activities highly rate their competencies for participating in various creative activities.

Analysis of the Current Status and Progress of Research on the Teaching Competency of Music Teachers in Higher Education

Analysis of the Current Status and Progress of Research on the Teaching Competency of Music Teachers in Higher Education

Continuous Hidden Markov Algorithm-Based Multimedia Melody Retrieval System for Music Education

Education professionals receive instruction in Music Education (ME) to prepare for prospective jobs like secondary or primary music teachers, schools ensembles executives, or ensembles directors at music institutions. In the discipline of music education, educators do original research on different approaches to teaching and studying music. The most accurate and effective method of extracting music from huge music databases has become one of the most frequently discussed participants in contemporary multimedia information retrieval development. The essence of multimedia material is presented within a range of techniques since it is not bound to a single side. These several categories could consist of the song’s audio components and lyrics for musical information. Retrieving melodic information, subsequently, becomes the main focus of most recent studies. Aside from being an expensive deviate from academics, music programs are neither a viable profession neither a valid pastime. Therefore, in this study, we offer a Continuous Hidden Markov Algorithm (CHMA) related a novel method for recovering melodies from musical multimedia recordings. CHMA is considered to be the most basic dynamic Bayesian network. Two various types of audio frame features and audio example features are extracted throughout the feature extraction procedure from the audio signal according to unit length. Every music clip receives a unique approach that we implement with concurrently using various CHMA. The initial music gets processed using a trained CHMA that monitors fundamental frequencies, maps states, and generates retrieval outcomes. The training time for Traditional opera reached 455.76 minutes, the testing time for Narration achieved 56.10 minutes, and the recognition accuracy for advertisement reached an impressive 98.02%. A subsequently experimental result validates the applicability of the proposed approach.

The Impact of Popular Music Teaching in Music Classrooms: Perspectives of Malaysian Primary School Music Teachers

The Impact of Popular Music Teaching in Music Classrooms: Perspectives of Malaysian Primary School Music Teachers

Collaborative music making in the digital age: fostering creativity in vocal ensembles

ABSTARCT The article examines the role of collective music-making in the era of digital technologies in enriching and stimulating the creative process of vocal ensembles. The research utilized online surveys, questionnaires, and statistical data analysis for a comparative analysis of the impact of digital tools and online platforms on the creativity of students. Statistical methods, including comparative analysis of mean values and calculation of t-indicators, were employed for processing and analyzing the obtained data. Since t ≈ –6.85, which is less than the tabulated value of –1.655, it indicates that the difference between the mean values of the control and experimental groups is statistically significant at the significance level of 0.05. The analysis results indicate a statistically significant influence of using digital tools and online platforms for music creation on students’ creative process. The survey also revealed that digital tools allow for sound experimentation (28%), provide accessibility and flexibility in learning (27%), offer immediate feedback (20%), and enhance interactivity and collaboration (25%) through online platforms. This work expands understanding of effective approaches to integrating digital tools into music education and enhancing teaching methodologies aimed at developing students’ creative potential. The findings underscore the importance of integrating digital technologies into music education to enhance the quality and effectiveness of teaching in vocal ensembles. Thus, the research fills a gap in contemporary knowledge regarding the optimal use of digital technologies in vocal ensembles and may be beneficial for educational institutions and music teachers seeking to optimize teaching and student development processes in the modern digital environment.

Understanding ethnic minority students’ motivations to pursue higher music education over time

This longitudinal case study aimed to explore changes in ethnic minority students’ motivations to pursue higher music education during the transition from high school to university. The participants were recruited from the Yi, Mongolian and Tibetan ethnic groups in a remote mountainous region of southwest China. Data were collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study indicated that the ethnic minority students were driven both by intrinsic motivations, including a love of and interest and persistence in music, positive musical experiences and musical ability, and by extrinsic motivations, including the desire to earn a university degree by way of studying music, meet the expectations of their local music teachers and family members and repay their hometowns by serving as local music teachers. However, most of the participating ethnic minority students exhibited a shift in their motivations to study music after 2 years of university education. This shift was attributable to various elements, including peer competition, employment pressure, mentor support and the university environment. Based on these findings, we suggest ways to support ethnic minority students transitioning smoothly from high school to university and continuing their music studies.

Russian methods of teaching music as a means of training future music teachers in China

Russian methods of teaching music as a means of training future music teachers in China

Caring for our planet: a world apart or same difference? A global music collaboration

PurposeThe impact and collective threat of climate change is of key concern to all. Music and arts education can play a role by responding to the ongoing climate crisis through the creation of artworks as activism. This paper discusses a collaborative online international music project and its potential contribution to sustainable development education.Design/methodology/approach 10,427 miles and 11 hours apart, music education students undertook the project, working in groups with a mix of students from Aberdeen, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia in each group. Each student collected video footage that captured their experience of climate concerns related to their environment. Students combined and edited the footage then collaboratively composed music to accompany the footage. This research was conceived as a collaborative self-study project undertaken by the authors as music teacher educators.FindingsThe results show a range of musical and extra musical outcomes and challenges. Evidence suggests that a collaborative online international music learning experience may contribute to sustainable development education and regenerative practice more broadly. Students began to develop their practice as educators for school and community contexts embedding learning for sustainability and climate consciousness, thus enabling them to develop as active global citizens.Originality/valueThis paper argues for greater attention to the affordances of digital collaborative music technology tools to facilitate creative projects as well as the need to reimagine musical experience, drawing together strands of music, sustainability education, technology and global citizenship. This paper also argues for the importance of embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals in teaching and learning in Higher Education.

The stress level of future teachers depending on the direction of professional subject training

The article describes the influence of university educational environment on the formation of resistance to stress in future teachers. A theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of psychological stress as a state of mental tension manifested in emotional, behavioural and somatic sensations is presented. The results of testing 529 students, who were examined in April 2022, using the PSN-25 methodology were analysed. The features of the stress level of future teachers are formulated and statistically substantiated, depending on the direction of professional subject training (foreign language, music, physical education), course of study, gender. It was found that more than half of all respondents do not experience excessive mental stress. The number of students with a low level of stress increases from the first year to the third one, regardless of the direction of professional subject training. Among future foreign language teachers, a relatively higher level of mental stress prevails. This trend is statistically significant for the first-year students of the sample. Future of physical education and music teachers are more normalised in terms of mental stress which may be due to the peculiarities of educational environment of these faculties and due to the nature of educational and professional activities. Significant gender differences in the prevalence of higher stress levels in young ladies compared to young men were revealed in a sample of these two directions of training.

Music teachers’ labeling accuracy and quality ratings of lesson plans by artificial intelligence (AI) and humans

This study explored the potential of artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) to generate lesson plans for music classes that were indistinguishable from music lesson plans created by humans, with current music teachers as assessors. Fifty-six assessors made a total of 410 ratings across eight lesson plans, assigning a quality score to each lesson plan and labeling if they believed each lesson plan was created by a human or generated by AI. Despite the human-made lesson plans being rated higher in quality as a group ( p < .01, d = 0.44), assessors were unable to accurately label if a lesson plan was created by a human or generated by AI (55% accurate overall). Labeling accuracy was positively predicted by quality scores on human-made lesson plans and previous personal use of AI, while accuracy was negatively predicted by quality scores on AI-generated lesson plans and perception of how useful AI will be in the future. Open-ended responses from 42 teachers suggested assessors used three factors when making evaluations: specific details, evidence of classroom knowledge, and wording. Implications provide suggestions for how music teachers can use prompt engineering with a GPT model to create a virtual assistant or Intelligent Tutor System (ITS) for their classroom.

Pre-service music teachers’ satisfaction with the teacher education curriculum in northern China

Pre-service music teachers’ satisfaction with the curriculum has implications for student learning and curriculum development. It is necessary to investigate pre-service music teachers’ satisfaction with the curriculum to help universities respond to changing social needs. However, there is lack of empirical studies on this topic in China. This study aims to explore the degree of satisfaction of pre-service music teachers in northern China with the curriculum to reveal the current challenges and issues in music teacher education. For this, a quantitative statistical method was adopted to conduct a questionnaire survey among 421 pre-service music teachers who major in music education in four different universities in northern China. The satisfaction survey regarding curriculum content and curriculum design was conducted to identify challenges and issues in the current music teacher education curriculum. The results show that pre-service music teachers are moderately satisfied with the curriculum. The findings indicate the following: 1. Teaching methods are monotonous; 2. There is some ambiguity concerning teaching objectives and training standards; 3. Practical courses and practice mentors need to improve; and 4. Pre-service music teachers lack confidence in the preparation for teaching in the future. Universities can significantly contribute to improving curriculum satisfaction and students’ confidence in teaching preparation by actively providing teaching-related knowledge, skills, policies and goals. Universities should consider the learning needs of pre-service music teachers and improve traditional teacher-centered teaching methods to improve teaching quality.

Analysis of the Reasons for the Problems of Music Teaching in Chinese Universities

The reasons for the problems of music teaching in Chinese colleges and universities are manifold. Firstly, the influence of education system and policy is an important factor. The current education examination system in China pays too much attention to scores and promotion rates, leading schools and teachers to pay more attention to exam-oriented education, and music education often becomes a neglected part. At the same time, the unbalanced distribution of educational resources also makes some colleges and universities with poor music teaching conditions and insufficient teachers to provide high-quality music education. Secondly, the backwardness of the concept of music education is also one of the causes of the problem. In addition, the imperfection of teacher training and selection mechanism is also one of the causes of the problem. At present, the training system for music teachers is not sound, and there is a lack of ways to train music teachers with comprehensive qualities. Meanwhile, the irrationality of the teacher evaluation mechanism also prevents some music teachers with professional skills from getting due recognition and incentives, which leads to the shortage of teachers.

The Influence of Short Video Music on the Development of Middle School Students' Mental Health: Exploring the New Music Classroom from the Perspective of Music Psychology

Short video music has a greater and deeper impact on the daily life of junior high school students. In order to explore the causes of its formation, from the perspective of music psychology and therapy, from the characteristics of short video music and junior high school students' psychological development, this paper analyzes how short video music affects the ears of teenagers. Under the influence of mass media, whether music teachers can make use of these characteristics to better apply them to the classroom. How to use short video music as a "double-edged sword" has become one of the important research topics in music teaching.

Tutoring as a form of work and preventive activity by music school teachers

The article aims to present the use of tutoring in individualised work with music education students and show the benefits of this work style. Initially, the tutoring method and its philosophical and methodological assumptions were introduced. Then, the specificity of music education was discussed, along with the possibilities of using tutoring in working with students and their parents. Finally, the preventive function of this method and its use to build students' mental resilience in accordance with the concept of resilience were discussed. The methodical aspect of tutoring combined with the teacher's competencies creates an opportunity to create a unique master-student relationship, typical of music education.