THIS PAPER DEALS WITH PROFESSIONAL teacher development. It specifically focuses on a research study of early childhood teachers' views and involvement in teaching music to young children. It presents findings from a comparative study of 38 teachers in three childcare centres in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and 24 teachers in four childcare centres in South Australia. Two research questions are discussed and answered: (1) What are early childhood teachers' levels of involvement in professional development in music? (2) Are there any significant relationships, that is differences and commonalities, in the findings between teachers' levels of involvement in these two cultural contexts? A unique research tool entitled Teachers' Music Development Scale was devised to collect data and measure teachers' involvement in music development. Specific findings and their implications are presented in the paper.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AthertonJ. (1999). Resistance to learning: a discussion based on participants in in-service professional training programmes. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 51(1), 77–90.
BakerF., & MackinlayE. (2006). Sing, soothe and sleep: A lullaby education programme for first-time mothers. British Journal of Music Education, 23, 147–160.
4.
BalabanM. T., AndersonL. M., & WisniewskiA. B. (1998). Lateral asymmetries in infant melody perception. Developmental Psychology, 34, 39–48.
5.
BallD., & CohenD. (1999). Developing practice, developing practitioners: Toward a practice-based theory of professional education. In Darling-HammondL. & SykesG. (Eds.), Teaching as the Learning Profession: Handbook of Policy and Practice (pp. 3–32). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
6.
BarrettJ. R. (2006). Recasting professional development for music teachers in an era of reform. Arts Education Policy Review, 107(6), 19–28.
7.
BauerW. I. (2007). Research on professional development for experienced music teachers. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 17(1), 12–21.
8.
BauerW. I., ReeseS., & McAllisterP. A. (2003). Transforming music teaching via technology: The role of professional development. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51(4), 289–301.
9.
BowlesC. L. (2003). The self-expressed professional development needs of music educators. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 21(1), 24–28.
10.
BrackenB. A., & BaronaA. (1991). State of the art procedures for translating, validating, and using psycho-educational tests in cross-cultural assessment. School Psychology International, 12, 119–132.
11.
BransfordJ. D., BrownA. L., & CockingR. R. (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school.Washington, DC: National Research Council.
12.
BrewerJ., & HunterA. (1989). Multimethod research: A synthesis of styles.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
13.
BrislinR. W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In TriandisH. & BerryJ. W. (Eds.), Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 389–444). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
14.
CampbellR. J., & St J. NeillS. R. (1994). Primary Teachers at Work.London; New York: Routledge.
ChanW. C. W., & LeongS. (2006, July). Innovative vision for early childhood music teacher education in Hong Kong:perspectives of preschool principals, teachers and preschool teacher educators on education reform. Paper presented at the 27th World Conference of the International Society of Music Education, Kuala Lumpur: University of Technology Mara.
17.
ClarkP., & HuberL. (2005). Enhancing early childhood teacher growth and development through professional development school partnerships. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 26(2), 179–186.
18.
Cochran-SmithM., & LytleS. (1993). Inside/outside: Teacher research and knowledge.New York: Teachers College Press.
19.
CohenJ. (1960). A coefficient for agreement for nominal scales. Education and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37–46.
20.
CohenL., ManionL., & MorrisonK. (2007). Research methods in education (Vol. 6th). London: Routledge.
21.
CollinsK. M. T., OnwuegbuzieA. J., & JiaoQ. G. (2006). Prevalence of mixed-methods sampling designs in social science research. Evaluation and Research in Education, 19(2), 83–101.
22.
CommeyrasM., & DeGroffL. (1998). Literacy professionals' perspectives on professional development and pedagogy: A United States survey. Reading Research Quarterly, 33(4), 434–472.
ConwayC. M., HibbardS., AlbertD., & HouriganR. (2005). Voices of music teachers regarding professional development. Arts Education Policy Review, 107(1), 11–14.
25.
ConwayC. M., Dan HibbardS. A., & HouriganR. (2005). Professional development for arts teachers. Arts Education Policy Review, 107(1), 3–10.
26.
CreswellJ. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
DavidT. (2004, 23–25 September). Questions of Quality: The Contribution of Research Evidence to Definitions of Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care Practice. Paper presented at the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education (CECDE) Conference ‘Questions of Quality’, Dublin Castle.
28.
de VriesP. (2004). The extramusical effects on music lessons on preschoolers. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 29(2), 6–10.
29.
de VriesP. (2007, 2–4 July). ‘I do music with my children because …’. Paper presented at the XXIXth AARME Annual Conference: Music Education Research, Values and Initiatives, Melbourne.
30.
Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). (2009). Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.Canberra: DEEWR.
31.
Department of Education Training and Employment (DETE). (2001). South Australian Curriculum, Standards and Accountability Framework (SACSA).Adelaide, South Australia: DETE Publishing.
32.
Diaz-MaggioliG. (2004). Teacher-centered professional development.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
33.
EbbeckM., & McDowallJ. (2003). Making the arts come alive through active researching. Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education, 2(1), 3–17.
34.
EbbeckM., & YimH. Y. B. (2007, 26 March). Music in Early Childhood Education: Teachers' level of confidence and happiness. Paper presented at the de Lissa Centenary Public Conference, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia.
35.
Education and Manpower Bureau HKSAR. (2006). Guide to the pre-primary curriculum.Hong Kong: The Curriculum Development Council.
GanserT. (2000). An ambitious vision of professional development for teachers. NASSP Bulletin, 84(618), 6–12.
39.
GirolamettoL., & WeitzmanE. (2007). Promoting peer interaction skills: Professional development for early childhood educators and preschool teachers. Topics in Language Disorders, 27(2), 93–110.
40.
GreenL. (2001). How popular musicians learn.Aldershot: Ashgate.
41.
GruenhagenL. M. (2007). Investigating professional development: Early childhood music teacher learning in a community of practice. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.
42.
HalsteadJ. M., & TaylorM. J. (2000). Learning and teaching about values: A review of recent research. Cambridge Journal of Education, 30(2), 169–202.
43.
HerzogB., & KollP. (1990). The practitioner's perspective. In BurkeP., HeidemanR. & HeidemanC. (Eds.), Programming for staff development: Fanning the flame (pp. 68–86). New York: Falmer Press.
44.
HoW. C., & LawW. W. (2009). Sociopolitical culture and school music education in Hong Kong. British Journal of Music Education, 26(1), 71–84.
45.
HoY. C., CheungM. C., & ChanA. S. (2003). Music training improves verbal but not visual memory: Cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations in children. Neuropsychology, 17(3), 439–450.
JohnsonR. B., & ChristensenL. B. (2004). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches.Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
48.
KazimierczakP. (2004). Simply music!: innovative music experiences for children under five. Croydon, VIC: Tertiary Press.
49.
KerchnerJ. L., & AbrilC. R. (Eds.). (2009). Musical experience in our lives: Things we learn and meanings we make.Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
50.
KoutsoupidouT. (2010). Initial music training of generalist kindergarten teachers in Greece: What do they ask for and what do they receive?Arts Education Policy Review, 111(2), 63–70.
51.
KumarR. (2011). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Longman.
52.
LeeC. H. J., ChangC., ChungH., DickieC., & SelkerT. (2007, January). Emotionally reactive television. Paper presented at the 12th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces archive, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
53.
LobmanC., RyanS., McLaughlinJ., & AckermanD. J. (2004). Educating preschool reachers: Mapping the teacher preparation and professional development system in New Jersey. Retrieved 25 October, 2008, from http://www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/EducatingPreschoolTeachers.pdf.
54.
McAllisterG., & IrvineJ. J. (2000). Cross cultural competency and multicultural teacher education. Review of Educational Research, 70(1), 3–27.
55.
McAlpineL., & HarrisR. (2002). Evaluating teaching effectiveness and teaching improvement: A language for institutional policies and academic development practices. International Journal for Academic Development, 7(1), 7–17.
56.
National Association for the Education Young Children (NAEYC). (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment and program evaluation Retrieved 29 March, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/.
57.
NietoS. (2003a). Challenging current notions of “highly qualified teachers” through work in a teachers' inquiry group. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(5), 386–398.
58.
NietoS. (2003b). What keeps teachers going?New York: Teachers College Press.
59.
OlsonG. B. (Ed.). (1987). Music teacher education: Partnership and process (a Report by the Task Force on Music Teacher Education for the Nineties). Reston. VA: Music Educators National Conference.
60.
RamburuthP., & McCormickJ. (2001). Learning diversity in higher education: A comparative study of Asian international and Australian students. Higher Education, 42, 333–350.
61.
Russell-BowieD. (2001, December). Student teachers' perceptions of anxiety and confidence in relation to music education. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education, Fremantle, Australia.
62.
Russell-BowieD. (2008). MMADD about the arts!: an introduction to primary arts education (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.
63.
SanM. M. (1999). Japanese beginning teachers' perceptions of their preparation and professional development. Journal of Education for Teaching, 25(1), 17–29.
64.
SmithK., & Lev-AriL. (2005). The place of the practicum in preservice teacher education: The voice of the students. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 33(3), 289–302.
TangC. (1996). Collaborative learning: The latent dimension in Chinese students' learning. In WatkinsD. A. & BiggsJ. B. (Eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological and contextual influences (pp. 183–204). Hong Kong: CERC and ACER.
TashakkoriA., & TeddlieC. (2003). Handbook of mixed methods in aocial and behavioral research.London: Sage.
69.
Villegas-ReimersE. (2003). Teacher professional development: An international review of the literature.Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning.
70.
WallsK. C. (2008). Distance learning in graduate music teacher education: Promoting professional development and satisfaction of music teachers. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 18(1), 55–66.
71.
WelchG. F., & AdamsP. (2003). How is music learning celebrated and developed?Southwell, Notts: British Educational Rresearch Association.
72.
WonklingS. W., & HenryW. (1999). Professional development partnerships: A new model for music teacher preparation. Arts Education Policy Review, 100(4), 19–23.
73.
YoungS., StreetA., & DaviesE. (2007). The Music One-to-One project: Developing approaches to music with parents and under-two-year-olds. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(2), 253–267.
