Mentorship and Learning Experiences of Preservice Teachers as Community Children’s Chorus Conductors

Abstract

A service-learning model may be used to provide preservice music teachers with authentic context learning experiences and a range of pedagogical benefits, but research evidence specific to choral music contexts is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate two preservice music teachers’ experiences as interns with a community children’s chorus. Through an examination of verbal and written reflections, I sought to understand how interns perceived themselves as music teachers, their ability to implement and recall specific instructional strategies, connections they made between teaching young singers in a community choir context and future field work in public school settings, and mentor influence. Study participants were two junior-level music education majors and two children’s chorus conductors. Data collection methods included questionnaires, interns’ weekly video journals, one semistructured interview with each mentor, and one video-stimulated recall interview with each intern. Both interns assisted in teaching a weekly, 60-minute choral rehearsal for 10 consecutive weeks, and attributed their increased confidence as music teachers to this experience. They also discovered their own deficiencies in error detection and choosing teaching methods on the spot. Mentors had a positive impact on the interns’ overall experience. Implications for music education include the need to engage preservice teachers in all types of authentic context learning experiences, and to further explore the mentor’s role in these experiences.