Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Caitlin Kerr
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Inquiry significant part of teacher preparation
Introductory music research project would help preservice music educators
understand good music teaching
“What does an inquiry-based case study project reveal about preservice music
educators’ images and beliefs in relation to good music teaching?”
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“Good teaching cannot be reduced to techniques; good teaching comes from the
identity and integrity of the teacher”- Parker Palmer
Reducing the quality of a teacher’s work to a number or rating of student
performance does not take variables into account
Variables: students, parents, administration and media
Preservice teachers form views of teaching through “apprenticeship of observation”
Undergraduate students begin with a model of good teaching in mind, informed by
former experience of teachers
Vivid images of teaching from their experience as students
Collection of experiences multiplies as students examine and evaluate beliefs about
music teaching and learning, engage in coursework, and observe practicing teachers-
beliefs and perceptions of good music that often evolve.
Student images and beliefs often influenced by a passionate teacher or occasionally
perceived deficiencies
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Teachers can hold troublesome beliefs as a result of preconceived notions and the
way beliefs inform knowledge acquisition
Inquiry-based teacher projects aid the development of a broader view of teaching,
foster a disposition toward research mindedness and influence the ways pre-service
teachers construct their identity and imagine their work
Provide preservice teachers with opportunities to reflect on and assess their beliefs
Preservice teacher beliefs are limited to the qualities of teachers, teaching styles and
individual students
They develop skills and pedagogical knowledge that contributes to ideas about
teaching
These preconceptions can be difficult to change
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A single profile of the effectiveness of a music teacher may be too restrictive
Preservice teachers must develop practical skills and develop a knowledge base that
includes subject matter, pedagogy, and knowledge of self
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Study helps students to develop a disposition toward research mindedness
Collective case study of students engaged in a case study project of a teacher
Undergraduate music education majors at a public university in their third year of
study
Four students:
Ann- Bassoon
Louis- Trumpet
Maria- Euphonium
Olivia- Oboe
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Each student seeks an instrumental music teacher-conductor and collects data in
search of the question, what is good music teaching?
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Students asked to define good music teaching as portrayed by their particular case
Descriptions included challenging students and having high expectations, acceptance
of respect for students, and being knowledgeable about music and teaching.
Louis- good music teachers place an equal emphasis on knowing and accepting
students as they are, and transferring this knowledge to music
Olivia- flexibility and adaptability
Louis- teacher’s vision included goals for students beyond the classroom
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Louis- a good music teacher instils a lifelong solace and comfort in his or her
students
Disagreement with teacher’s approaches and reconciling the misalignment is difficult
Ann- altered view as a strategy for an expanded view of good music teaching
Olivia- good music teaching is distinctive to the individual teacher rather than a
singular construct
Teacher interaction with students a marker of good teaching
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Student researchers had a shift in their thinking
Maria- important to be knowledgeable about theory and best practice, but it is also
important to be thoughtful and reflective
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Applying what has been observed to previously held notions and looking at them
anew
Students benefitted from hearing about their colleagues experiences
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Teachers and creative music-makers engage in research activity continuously
Process of gathering data and reflecting on the way that data intersects with their
own notions of good music teaching
Good music teaching- a blend of knowledge and caring
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The intermingling of their initial images and beliefs and their work in the field helped
these student researchers better understand the complexities of teacher knowledge
and the ways it functions in a classroom
Experiential learning
Multiple school visits helpful to ability to codify good music teaching as enacted in
the field and in combination with their own beliefs
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Good music teaching encompasses a milieu of teacher, context and students
Choosing to learn from all kinds of experiences and developing critical views of the
teacher’s work
Inquiry projects help forge a deeper view of teaching and learning as student
researchers make connections between theory and practice and learn to think like a
teacher
Research mindedness is a disposition that has a place in the practice of every teacher