The Relationship between the Undergraduate Music Methods Class Curriculum and the Use of Music in the Classrooms of In-Service Elementary Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine which experiences in undergraduate elementary music methods curricula were the strongest predictors of the amount of time elementary classroom teachers used music weekly in their classrooms. A discriminant analysis procedure was used to determine whether the variable clusters considered simultaneously were significant predictors of the amount of time elementary classroom teachers (n = 297) use music in their classrooms. Of the three variable cluster groupings, two were found to contribute uniquely to the definition of the discriminant function. More than 42% of the subjects were correctly classified as to the amount of time they used music in their classroom by simultaneously considering Variable Cluster 1 (participating in folk dances, singing games, movements; integrating music with academic subjects; creating songs, rhythms, movements) and Variable Cluster 3 (developing call charts; teaching lessons on musical concepts; practicing solfege; reading music notation; playing musical recordings as background music; identifying names of instruments in the orchestra).

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