Influence of Pre-Service Teacher Instrumental Background upon
Effectiveness of Teaching Episodes in Secondary Instrument Classes
Dr. Joseph Manfredo, Illinois State University
Dr. David W. Snyder, Illinois State University
INTRODUCTION
Despite the significance of the
secondary instrument techniques
class for teacher preparation, there
are many issues regarding their
structure and delivery, including the
qualifications of the instructor,
instrument groupings and course
content.
Of special interest are the
instructional priorities of these
classes, and how the instructor
balances the course curriculum in the
three major areas of playing skills,
teaching skills and pedagogical
content knowledge.
While music education faculty
typically include teaching the
instrument(s) as a key part of the
course, it is difficult to determine other
factors that influence teacher
effectiveness.
The enrollment of the typical
secondary instrument class includes
both specialists and non-specialists
on particular instruments.
Music education faculty must consider
if PST instrumental background,
including previous teaching and
playing experiences, influences PST
effectiveness in the secondary
instrument class.
The fundamental purpose of this
study was to examine the influence of
instrumental background (specialist
versus non-specialist) upon the
pedagogical effectiveness of teaching
episodes in a secondary instrument
techniques class. In addition, this
study investigated the impact of
teaching and playing experience upon
teaching effectiveness.
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A review of literature on the topic of secondary
instruments in music education curricula yields few
results, though there appears to be greater interest in
this topic in recent years. Previous research efforts
in secondary instrument classes have focused on
describing the structure and delivery of the classes,
perception of the value and relevance of these
courses by experienced teachers and PSTs and the
role of these classes in the music education degree
program.
However, one important issue in secondary
instrument classes has not been researched. There
has not been an attempt to investigate the influence
of the PST instrumental background upon teaching
effectiveness. It would be useful to determine the
extent to which PST teaching and playing experience
has an impact upon teaching effectiveness.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
• Four Music Education Faculty from Three
Universities
• Two Brass and Two Woodwind Techniques
Classes
• 45 music education majors (11 specialists and 34
non-specialists)
• PST taught a ten minute lesson to a beginning
level student
• PST provided verbal instruction, nonverbal
instruction and verbal feedback
• Eight proficiencies of fundamentals of tone
production
• Instrument Assembly
• Posture
• Instrument Carriage
• Hand Position
• Breathing
• Embouchure Formation
• Mouthpiece to Mouth Relationship
• Tonguing
• Each lesson was video recorded and analyzed
• Teaching effectiveness (excellent, satisfactory or
unsatisfactory)
• Pedagogical content knowledge (correct,
incomplete, wrong, or did not do)
• Student experience in teaching and playing
secondary instruments was also considered
Dr. Sean R. Powell, Columbus State University
Dr. Molly A. Weaver, West Virginia University
RESULTS
•Table 1. Mean Scores of All Specialists
•Proficiency levels of excellent (3), satisfactory (2) &
unsatisfactory (1)
•Range of mean scores from 2.00 to 2.90
•Mean scores of the three modes of instruction were
consistent in each proficiency
•Mean scores for Fundamentals #1 were higher than
the mean scores for Fundamentals #2
•Specialists received an evaluation of CCK between
36% and 100%, with a median score of 82%
•Only one student received an evaluation of wrong
content knowledge (WCK)
•Table 2. Mean Scores of All Non-Specialists
•Proficiency levels of excellent (3), satisfactory (2) &
unsatisfactory (1)
•Range of mean scores from 1.82 to 2.88
•Mean scores of the three modes of instruction were
consistent, with the exception of verbal
feedback, which was lower
•Mean scores for Fundamentals #1 were higher than
the mean scores for Fundamentals #2
•Non-Specialists received an evaluation of CCK
between 50% and 94%, with a median score of
70%
•Ten students received an evaluation of wrong
content knowledge (WCK)
•Table 3. Difference of Mean Scores Between
Specialists and Non-Specialists
•Specialists were evaluated higher in 20 of the 24
proficiencies
•Specialists scored higher in all proficiencies of
Fundamentals #1
•The difference of mean scores ranged from 0.01 to
0.69
•Only seven of the proficiencies had a difference of a
mean score higher than 0.20
•Background Data
•Of the 45 participants: 3 freshmen, 26 sophomores,
13 juniors, 2 seniors and 1 graduate student
•47% have taught private lessons
•42% have taught sectionals for a collegiate
ensemble
•31% have played a secondary instrument in a
collegiate ensemble
DISCUSSION
• Key Point #1: Can PSTs effectively teach an
instrument on which they have had no
experience prior to the techniques class?
• Specialists appear to have greater content
knowledge than non-specialists
• Non-specialists were as effective as specialists in
teaching secondary instruments
• Key Point #2: Does experience in teaching
and/or playing a secondary instrument
influence PST effectiveness?
• Year in school did not have an impact on
effectiveness
• Freshmen & sophomores scored as well or
better than juniors & seniors
• Accumulation of early field experience did not
help upper-class students
• PSTs with or without private or small group
teaching experience received high evaluations
in both content knowledge and modes of
instruction
• PSTs with or without experience playing a
secondary instrument in a collegiate
ensemble received high evaluations
REFERENCES
Austin, J. R. (2006). The teaching of secondary
instruments: A survey of instrumental music
teacher educators. Journal of Music Teacher
Education, 16(1), 55-64.
Conway, C., Eros, J., Hourigan, R., & Stanley, A. M.
(2007). Perceptions of beginning teachers
regarding brass and woodwind instrument
techniques classes in preservice education.
Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music
Education, 173, 39-54.
Weaver, M.A. (2010). Orchestrating secondary
instrument playing and teaching proficiencies for
future music educators: Effective curriculum
configuration, delivery, and administration. In
M. Schmidt (ed), Collaborative Action for Change:
Selected Proceedings from the 2007 Symposium
on Music Teacher Education (pp. 183-197).
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.