The relationship between the undergraduate music methods class curriculum and the use of music in the clasrooms of in-service elementary teachers
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the undergraduate music education methods class curriculum and the amount of time music concepts and activities were used each week in the classrooms of in-service elementary teachers. A secondary purpose was to determine the differences among in-service elementary teachers' use of music concepts and activities in their classrooms by selected background factors. Subjects (n=416) were randomly selected elementary classroom teachers from the states of Georgia (n=106), North Carolina (n=101), South Carolina (n=100), and West Virginia (n=109). A researcher-developed questionnaire was mailed to principals who distributed the questionnaire to the teachers and secured their return. The questionnaire explored background factors of the subjects, the degree to which they experienced 17 music activities and concepts in their undergraduate music methods class, and the frequency with which they used these activities and concepts in their own classrooms.A discriminant analysis procedure was utilized to determine whether the variable clusters considered simultaneously were significant predictors of the amount of time elementary classroom teachers' use music in their classroom (n = 297). Of the three variable cluster groupings, two were found to contribute uniquely to the definition of the discriminant function. Over 42% of the subjects were correctly classified into the amount of time they used music in their classrooms by simultaneously considering variable cluster I (participating in folk dances, singing games, or other motor movements; integrating music with other academic subjects; creating songs, rhythms, movements) and in variable cluster 3 (developing call charts for listening lessons; teaching lessons on a specific musical concept; practicing solfege for pitch discrimination; reading music notation and rhythms; playing musical recordings as background music; identifying names of instruments in the orchestra) (see Table 9). Also, significant differences (p <.05) were found between subjects by gender, participation in music ensembles in high school and college, participation in private music instruction in high school and college, and the inclusion of a music specialist; and among subjects by educational background, number of years taught, grade level taught, philosophical positions, and undergraduate music methods course requirements.