Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceptions of early-career music teachers regarding their preservice music education program, with respect to its success in developing competencies needed to be effective in school music classrooms. An online survey was completed by 101 school music teachers designed to elicit responses related to the following questions: (a) What are early-career music teachers’ perceptions of their preparation for teaching in school music classrooms? (b) What aspects of their work do early-career music teachers find most challenging and rewarding? (c) What aspects of their preservice training do early-career music teachers perceive as most important for successful teaching in the early years of their careers? Most teachers expressed a need for more hands-on experiences, more discussion of pedagogical problems in a variety of settings, and classroom management. Implications for teaching and research are discussed.

Keywords

early-career preservice teachers teacher challenges teacher education teacher perceptions teacher training

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ballantyne

(2006). Reconceptualising pre-service teacher education courses for music teachers: The importance of pedagogical content knowledge and skills and professional knowledge and skills. Research Studies in Music Education, 26, 37–50.

Ballantyne

(2007a). Documenting praxis shock in early-career Australian music teachers: The impact of pre-service teacher education. International Journal of Music Education, 25, 181–191.

Ballantyne

(2007b). Integration, contextualization, and continuity: Three themes for the development of effective music teacher education programs. International Journal of Music Education, 25, 119–135.

Ballantyne

Packer

(2004). Effectiveness of pre-service music teacher education programs: Perceptions of early-career music teachers. Music Education Research, 6, 299–312.

Bezzina

(2006). Views from the trenches: Beginning teachers’ perceptions about their professional development. Journal of In-Service Education, 32, 411–430.

Bridges

(1993). What our graduates wish we had told them. Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning, 4, 68–72.

Buenger

(2010). Why select new music teachers chose to, or chose not to, apply to teach in an urban school district. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 19(2), 25–40.

Cochran-Smith

Fries

(2001). Sticks, stones, and ideology: The discourse of reform in teacher education. Educational Researcher, 30(8), 3–15.

Conway

(2001). What has research told us about the beginning music teacher? Journal of Music Teacher Education, 10, 14–22.

10.

Conway

(2002). Perceptions of beginning teachers, their mentors, and administrators regarding pre-service music teacher preparation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50(1), 20–36.

11.

Conway

(2003). Great beginnings for music teachers: Mentoring and supporting new teachers. Reston, VA: MENC.

12.

Corbell

Osborne

Reiman

(2010). Supporting and retaining beginning teachers: A validity study of the perceptions of success inventory for beginning teachers. Educational Research and Evaluation, 6, 75–96.

13.

D’Aniello

(2008). Beginning teacher follow-up studies: A critical component of teacher education program evaluation and policy decisions. Intervention in School and Clinic, 43, 309–312.

14.

Darling-Hammond

(2000). How teacher education matters. Journal of Teacher Education, 51, 166–173.

15.

Darling-Hammond

(2010). Teacher education and the American future. Journal of Teacher Education, 61, 35–47.

16.

DeLorenzo

(1992). The perceived problems of beginning music teachers. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 11, 9–25.

17.

Krueger

(2000). Beginning music teachers: Will they leave the profession? Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 19(1), 22–26.

18.

Krueger

(2001). Reflections of beginning music teachers. Music Educators Journal, 88(3), 1–7.

19.

Rieg

Paquette

Chen

(2007). Coping with stress: An investigation of novice teachers’ stressors in the elementary classroom. Education, 128, 211–226.

20.

Roulston

Legette

Womack

(2005). Beginning music teachers’ perceptions of the transition from university to teaching in schools. Music Education Research, 1(1), 61–84.

21.

Sheehan

(2001). Email survey response rates: A review. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 6(2). Retrieved from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol6/issue2/sheehan.html

22.

Veenman

(1984). Perceived problems of beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research, 54, 143–178.

23.

Yourn

(2000). Learning to teach: Perspectives from beginning music teachers. Music Education Research, 2, 181–192.

Perceptions of Early-career School Music Teachers Regarding Their Preservice Preparation

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References