IN SEARCH OF MUSIC EDUCATION IN 3RD CYCLE: A SURVEY IN THE
MAINLAND PORTUGUESE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Donato Filipe Nobre Rosa
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of
M.A. in Music Education
ROEHAMPTON UNIVERSITY
IN COLLABORATION WITH
ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE EDUCAÇÃO DE VIANA DO CASTELO
January 2005
A B S T R AC T
Although the Portuguese Ministry of Education recognises that Music Education
has an increasingly crucial role in the development of children and young
people, measures taken to attempt to implement Music Education in state
schools are still insufficient and have not caught up with the rest of Europe. In
basic education (the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of school), the subject is only
compulsory in the first two Cycles and is optional in the 3rd Cycle, which covers
three school years. Associated with this is the fact that there are only four
higher education courses in Portugal that qualify teachers for Music Education
at this level.
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the percentage of state schools in
mainland Portugal that actually had this subject in their curriculum in the third
cycle and how long it has been taught, since no available facts or studies could
provide these answers. To answer the questions, a survey was developed and
the population on which this survey focused was all the mainland Portuguese
public schools that taught 3rd Cycle during the 2003/2004 school year.
Given the characteristics of the population, the decision was made to use
stratified sampling. For this reason, of the 1069 state schools of different types
that had the 3rd cycle at that time, 645 were chosen randomly. To avoid
significant bias in the results a sampler of around 60% of the population was
selected. The questionnaires were sent by e-mail, given the reduced number of
questions, although postal mail and the telephone had to be used to obtain
some of the later responses.
The principal findings were that in that school year less than half (45.4%) of the
schools that were the subject of the study had Music Education in the 3rd Cycle
and that this subject had existed in these schools for between 1 and 15 years,
although there was a considerable increase in the provision at the time of the
Curricular Reorganisation, Law 6/2001 of 18 January, in the 2002/2003 school
year.
It was possible to conclude that the existence of the subject did not depend on
the geographic region of the schools, but on the type of school, the EBI/JI
presenting the highest percentage of provision and ES/3 schools the highest
percentage of absence of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle. Although there has
been an increase in the provision of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle, there is
an urgent need to take measures to ensure that this number is indeed
satisfactory. A major aspiration would be to make this subject compulsory, as it
is in other countries. For this purpose there must be more investment in
research at this level, as well as teacher training and the creation of physical
and human resources in schools.
ii
A C KNOWLEDMENTS
Particular thanks are due to Drª. Therees Hibbard and Drª. Eugénia
Moura, for the valuable advice and support during this MA course.
Much gratitude to my mother and Carla for their support, encouragement
and understanding during this research. I dedicate this dissertation to my
sister and to my future son.
iii
L IST OF C ONTENTS
Abstract ............................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledments ................................................................................................ iii
List of Contents .................................................................................................. iv
List of Tables, Graphs and Appendices .............................................................. vi
CHAPTER 1 – Introduction................................................................................. 1
1.1 Statement of the Research Problem ......................................................... 2
1.2 Research Questions ................................................................................. 3
1.3 Significance of the Study .......................................................................... 3
1.4 Delimitations of the Study ......................................................................... 4
1.5 Limitations of the Study............................................................................. 5
1.6 Organization of the Study ......................................................................... 6
CHAPTER 2 – Review of Related Literature ...................................................... 7
2.1 Why Music Education ............................................................................... 7
2.1.1 summary .......................................................................................... 14
2.2 Music Education in Portugal ................................................................... 15
CHAPTER 3 – Research Methodology ............................................................ 23
3.1 The descriptive Survey Research ........................................................... 23
3.2 Population ............................................................................................... 24
3.3 Research Sample ................................................................................... 26
3.4 Data Collection ....................................................................................... 31
3.5 Design of the Questionnaire ................................................................... 33
iv
3.6 Ethical Considerations for the Research ................................................. 34
CHAPTER 4 – Data Analysis and Results ....................................................... 35
4.1 Survey Return Rates............................................................................... 35
4.2 Demographic Data .................................................................................. 35
4.3 Research Question Data......................................................................... 37
4.3.1 Research Question One ................................................................... 37
4.3.2 Research Question Two ................................................................... 40
4.4 summary ................................................................................................. 45
CHAPTER 5 – Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations........................ 47
5.1 Introduction and Aims ............................................................................. 47
5.2 Summary of Chapters ............................................................................. 47
5.2 Research findings ................................................................................... 48
5.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 50
5.4 Recommendations for Practice ............................................................... 54
5.5 Recommendations for further research................................................... 55
Bibliography...................................................................................................... 58
v
L IST OF T ABLES , G R APHS AND A PPENDICES
Table 1 – Number of mainland state schools with 3rd Cycle by NUTS II region 25
Table 2 - Number of schools by type / NUTS II ................................................ 25
Table 3 – Sample Size ..................................................................................... 31
Table 4 - Distribution of the responses. ............................................................ 37
Table 5 – Crosstabulation of the variables Response and NUTS II Region. .... 37
Table 6 - Crosstabulation of the variables Response and Schools’ Type......... 39
Table 7 – Pearson's chi-square test for Table 6. .............................................. 39
Table 8 - Distribution of the schools that have the subject, crosstabulated by
NUTS II region and type of school. ........................................................... 40
Table 9 – Details of changes in the existence of music education. .................. 41
Table 10 – Normality test for the time variable ................................................. 42
Table 11 – Kruskal-Wallis test to check whether there are statistically significant
differences between the mean times of existence of the subject, by NUTS II
region. ....................................................................................................... 43
Table 12 – Kruskal-Wallis test to check whether there are statistically significant
differences between the mean times of existence of the subject, according
to type of school. ....................................................................................... 44
Graph 1 – Distribution of the schools by NUTS II region. ................................. 35
Graph 2 - Distribution of the schools by district. ............................................... 36
Graph 3 - Distribution of the schools by type .................................................... 36
Graph 4 – Histogram of the time of existence of the subject of Musical
Education in the 3rd Cycle. ....................................................................... 41
Graph 5 – Distribution of the schools that have the subject of Music Education
in the 3rd Cycle, by NUTS II Region. ........................................................ 42
Graph 6 – Distribution of the schools that have the subject of Musical Education
in the 3rd Cycle, by type of school. ........................................................... 44
Appendix A – Questionnaire ............................................................................. 63
vi
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
We all have a duty and a role to play in the society in which we live and of
which we are a part. These duties should be clear, specific and objective
so that we can all contribute with the best we have and with the
necessary dedication to each task. Our role, as teachers, is to pass on
knowledge, to teach a variety of topics and to equip students with what is
required for them to be ready to live in society and real life when they
have finished their education. However, as music teachers, to the duties
referred to above must be added the stimulation of creativity, of the
senses, of feelings, of emotions, of a taste for music and of musical taste.
We share very distinctive symbols and languages, creating year after
year a parallel society to which only some have access.
At the end of a recent school year, it occurred to me that my role was not
well defined. I had worked with dedication and application so that my
students could achieve the proposed objectives and above all so that they
would not miss out on this opportunity to participate in and experience
music. After working, by pure chance, in the same school for two years, a
pupil asked me: ‘And now teacher?’ This pupil from the sixth year, the last
year of the 2nd Cycle, wanted to know whether I would be at the school
during the following year to carry on the work I had developed over the
previous two years. ‘Whether we're going to have music!’ This pupil who
could not afford to attend a private music academy or school, like most
pupils in Portugal, wanted to know whether music was going to continue
to be part of his education. I replied: ‘No’.
We stimulate, we raise awareness, we explore and we discover natural
talents, so that everything can come to a sudden halt? If we all dream of
an educated, cultivated and knowledgeable society, why not ensure the
continuity of imagination, and make room for creativity and the expansion
1
of the senses and the emotions? Why should we not explore and create
identities? Why should not pupils have a choice?
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
The presence of any form of music education within the compulsory
education system in Portugal is not new. In one way or another, under
different names and with different durations, music has always been
present in the various Portuguese education systems.
Today compulsory education in Portugal lasts for nine years, stratified
into three cycles: 1st Cycle (four years, beginning at an average age for
six), 2nd Cycle (two years from the age of ten) and 3rd Cycle (three
years, from the age of 12). The organisation and curriculum programme
of the three cycles provides for the existence of Musical Expression and
Education during the 1st Cycle and for Musical Education in the 2nd and
3rd Cycles. While Musical Education is a compulsory curriculum discipline
area in the 2nd Cycle in all state schools in Portugal, with a fixed number
of hours per week, this is not the case in the other cycles.
In the case of the 1st Cycle, the area of Musical Expression and
Education can be taught by the generalist teacher (form teacher) or by a
specialist teacher. In the 3rd Cycle of basic education, Music Education is
conditioned by the situation in the school, by pupils' options and by the
availability of a Music teacher on the school staff.
Associated with this ‘good judgement’ that determines the existence of
Music Education in the 1st and 3rd Cycles is the fact that the legal
situation concerning the 3rd Cycle has never been very clear. Only with
the Curriculum Reorganisation of Basic Education in 2001, were some
details first clarified.
2
For this reason, I believe that it is important to know whether Music
Education is actually being taught in 3rd Cycle schools. Whilst previously
it could be claimed that the Law was not clear on the subject, today there
is a legislative foundation and there are government guidelines that allow
the subject to be extended as far as the end of compulsory education.
This research therefore has two aims:
a) To ascertain whether Music Education is being taught in state
schools in the 3rd Cycle in mainland Portugal.
b) To discover how long this has been the case.
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research questions for this study are the following:
1. In what percentage of state schools in mainland Portugal did the
curriculum discipline area of Music Education exist in the 3rd
Cycle during the 2003/2004 school year?
2. How long has Music Education existed at the 3rd Cycle level in
those schools?
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of this study is justified by the fact that it will enable an
evaluation to be made of the state of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle in
Portugal. This research will also provide useful information for many
music teachers. My professional experience has told me that teachers
have no idea of the percentage of schools with music education in the 3rd
3
Cycle or what conditions schools require in order to be able to offer the
subject.
To find out whether the subject is taught or not in Portuguese schools is
the first step towards improving the teaching of music in the 3rd cycle.
This study will make it possible to analyse the changes in the presence of
Music Education in Portuguese state schools in the 3rd Cycle. One will
finally know where and for how long the subject has existed in Portugal.
And this is another advantage of the research: the fact that it is a survey
on a national level.
Also the fact that the legislation is relatively recent is one of the aspects
that contribute to the significance of the study. It will be possible to
understand to what extent the measures implemented and the current
legislations limit the expansion of music education in the 3rd Cycle.
Although it is not the purpose of this research to solve the problems of
Music Education in the 3rd Cycle in Portugal, its conclusions and
information can be useful and crucial to help perfect strategies aimed at
the healthy development and greater expansion of the subject.
1.4 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1. The questionnaire was sent to 645 Executive Boards of state
schools in mainland Portugal that were teaching the 3rd cycle of
basic education during the 2003/2004 school year.
2. Private schools or schools on the archipelagos of Madeira and
Azores were not included in this study.
3. The stratified sample consisted of 645 schools from a population of
1069, which represents 60%.
4
4. According to Cohen et al (2003:95), the confidence level is greater
than 95% and the sampling error less than 5%.
5. The NUTS II classifications used during the study were based on
the second hierarchical level of the Nomenclature of Territorial
Units for Statistics – NUTS II.
6. The sample was proportional to the population, thus respecting the
variables ‘NUTS II region’ and ‘type of school’.
7. The main instrument used for delivery of the questionnaire was
electronic mail. However postal mail and telephone were also used
to gather data.
1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
In an attempt to obtain a sufficiently extensive sample that could safely
and reliably represent the current situation of music education in the 3rd
Cycle, no more than two research questions were included in the
questionnaire. The simplicity of the questionnaire was a key point, making
a significant contribution to the fact that 645 state schools in mainland
Portugal were represented in this study.
Although the information and conclusions to be inferred from the study
can be little more than descriptive, their significance as a source of
information can lead to precious guidelines for research that could (or
should) be explored in detail in forthcoming research.
5
1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
Chapter Two covers a review of literature concerning the subject and is
divided between the thoughts of pedagogues, researchers and music
teachers and a description of the situation in Portugal. The methodology
used, the population, sample, the data gathering instruments and their
analysis are described in Chapter Three. The results of the inquiry are
given in Chapter Four. Chapter Five contains a summary of the study and
findings, conclusions drawn from the findings, a discussion, and
recommendations for further studies.
6
CHAPTER 2 – REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Music is part of the incredibly evolution of the world. It has played an
indelible role in the construction of modern society. From Ancient Greece
to modern times, music has been present, helping to form civilisations
and to form cultures and identities. It has always been part of education.
And it still is today. However, the spectacular growth of societies and the
race for economic, technological and political power in so many countries,
has led to a need to justify the space of music in the different curricula or
syllabuses. Furthermore, the higher the level of education the greater this
need for justification. As Elliot Eisner wrote ‘in terms of educational
priorities music is regarded as nice, but not necessary. It occupies a place
on the rim of education, not at its core’. (Eisner, 2001:20)
2.1 WHY MUSIC EDUCATION
Many studies have demonstrated the benefits of music on people's lives.
The American association MENC – Music Educators National Conference
– collected in a brochure published in Spring 2002 some facts that
confirm the benefits transmitted by music education:
The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly
without exception, practicing musicians. — Grant Venerable, "The Paradox of the Silicon
Savior," as reported in "The Case for Sequential Music Education in the Core Curriculum
of the Public Schools," The Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York, 1989
Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical
school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school
were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. 44% of biochemistry majors were
admitted. — As reported in "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappan,
February 1994
(Quoted in MENC, 2002:2,3)
7
These two examples are studies that demonstrate how important music is
for people's education. However this does not appear to be sufficient to
make the space for music education in the curriculum any ‘safer’. Bennett
Reimer claimed during the International Music Education Symposium,
held on 17 and 18 April 2004 in Minnesota, that ‘music education as we
know today (...) is facing a potential crisis of irrelevancy’. (Reimer,
2004:1)
This ‘crisis’ that leads to a need to justify the presence of music in
education has been increasingly discussed within the community of Music
Education teachers and researchers, giving rise to Music Education
Advocacy. According to Paul Lehman this happens because people do
not view music as a serious subject for study but only as a form of
entertainment (Lehman, 2003:1). Michael Mark explains:
(...) We cannot expect policy makers, at least not all of them, to understand why the work
we do as music educators is important to our students, our communities, our nations, and
to civilization. We music educators are musicians as well as teachers. We know
inherently the importance and value of music. (…) If policy makers who have the authority
to control education do not know these things, then we must not only tell them, but
persuade them as well. It is the responsibility of advocates to ensure that those
responsible for formulating public policy do so on the basis of accurate knowledge and
informed judgment. (Mark, 2003:1)
Advocacy in music education is therefore not a philosophy or tendency in
music education. It is a concern to pass onto politicians and to the
general public a real, convincing message about the importance of music
education. It is precisely at this level, which message to pass on, that
there is some disaccord among music educators and researchers in
music education. Bennet Reimer quotes Estelle Jorgensen in a report of
the 1999 Housewright Symposium led by past MENC President June
Hinckley, called Vision 2020:
8
Rather than attempting to bring conflicting ideas or tendencies into reconciliation, unity, or
harmony, music educators may sometimes need to be content with disturbance, disunity,
and dissonance. Things in dialectic do not always mesh tidily, simply, or easily. Nor
necessarily ought they. The resultant complexity, murkiness, and fuzziness of these
dialectical relationships, however, greatly complicate the task of music educators.
(Jorgensen 1997:69 cited in Reimer, 1999:2)
In my opinion this dissonance results in an agglomeration of ideas and
facts that is much more vast in a situation of consent. Defenders of music
education all over the world will thus be able to use the reasons and facts
that best suit the situation in their countries, regions or districts and even
their schools, building up a much more convincing and assured rationale.
The following paragraphs present some reasons intended to legitimate
the place of music in the curriculum.
Clifford
Madsen
considers
‘music
that
study
promotes
positive
interpersonal attributes and participation enables one to be empathetic
with people of differing social and ethnic backgrounds’. (Madsen, 2003:1)
This distinguished Professor from Florida State University thus reminds
us of the social benefits arising from the inclusion of music in education.
This aspect is also defended by J. Terry Gates:
Music belongs in the education of children and young people for the same reasons that
language and number do – to expand and solidify each person’s sense of belonging to
the social group and contributing to the culture on which the society depends for its claim
to uniqueness and unity. (Gates, 2003:1)
This social aspect of music is important and should not be pushed into
the background. According to Robert Walker ‘there is no known human
culture without music’ (Walker, 2003:1). One must clearly recognise the
benefits of music, in particular in the creation of cultural identities, and
accept its role in society. People recognize that music exists everywhere,
that throughout the day we are surrounded by music, that the
development of technology around music is growing all the time, and that
9
any individual at home can have access to thousands of pieces of music
of different styles or origins. However they appear to forget that it is also
increasingly necessary to teach people to listen, to participate, to
stimulate creation and personal taste. Music education allows everybody
to have taste, a choice and an opportunity to create and interact with
sound.
Also from Florida, Jack Heller believes that ‘since all human activity
requires the ability to construct meaningful patterns in the brain, and since
music is an important way to develop such abilities, music instruction
should be basic to education’. (Heller, 2003:2). The effects of music on
the brain are also reasons raised by Wilfried Gruhn (2003), the Emeritus
Teacher from Germany:
Music stimulates the growth of brain structures and connects many activated brain areas.
Musical practice calls for fine motor coordination, and enhances the phonological loop. It
is not a question of whether music is processed in the right or left brain hemisphere,
because music fosters a strong interconnectivity and coherence of both hemispheres. As
shown by the treatment of cochlear implant children, music functions as a highly
differentiated stimulation for the underdeveloped auditory cortex. (Gruhn, 2003:1)
Susan Young and Joanna Glover (1998) also indicate a path to follow to
maintain the safe status of music education:
The arguments presented so far have focused on the utilitarian value of music
education. While these can add weight to the case for the inclusion of music in the
curriculum, the advantages are not unique to the subject. It could be argued, for
example, that children’s social and physical development could be developed just as
well through Physical Education (PE); (…) If music is to have an incontrovertible right to
be included in the curriculum, it is important to identify what experiences are unique to it
and cannot be made available via other subjects. (Young & Glover, 1998:8)
Young & Glover stress with these words the need to identify experiences
that are unique to music and that cannot be experienced in any other
way. It is indeed important for us to concentrate on the uniqueness of
10
music when defending music education. When opportunities arise to
defend music education, whether in academic, community or political
situations, we cannot run the risk of losing ground to other subjects or
areas. It is advisable to give priority to the exclusive aspects of music
education and only later supplement our case, if necessary, with
arguments that prove the utilitarian value of music. Jere T. Humphreys
from Arizona also believes that music ‘is a unique, exceedingly powerful
means of aesthetic and social expression that is central to our humanity’.
(Humphreys, 2003:2)
However Don Hodges from the University of Texas warns us that it is not
enough to merely claim that music is a unique experience. Hodges (2003)
exemplifies this with a reference to bungee jumping, which is also a
unique experience, but not one that we tell everybody they should
experience. He thinks that the short answer to the question why music
should be part of the curriculum is that ‘music provides unique and
invaluable insights into human condition’. (Hodges, 2003:1)
In his ‘final paper’ at the International Music Education Symposium, held
on 17 and 18 April 2004 in Minnesota, Gary McPherson focuses on two
key points which he believes reflect ‘children’s, parents’ and educational
authorities’ beliefs about music’:
The first concerns the general public perception that musicians are born rather than
made, and the second deals with children’s general motivation to choose and then persist
with studying music, which I align with the importance of parental support.
(McPherson, 2004:1)
He also believes that ‘to provide a more convincing advocacy message,
we need to tackle two basic misconceptions in the community’:
That musicians are born rather than made, so no amount of effort will help a child who is
not innately gifted to start with, [and] that music is fun and enriches the quality of your life,
but won’t help you get a job nor increase your chances of doing well in life.
(McPherson, 2004:4)
11
Misconceptions such as those referred to by McPherson have to be
clarified. The benefits of music education cannot be explained to the
general public without first explaining the misconceptions that exist
regarding music. In Portugal, the Comprehensive Law on the Education
System (LBSE) was established a relatively short time ago (1986). There
are many misconceptions in relation to Music Education that must be
clarified. From my experience as a teacher and having been a form
teacher several times, I believe that this is due to the fact that many
parents were educated before the 1974 Revolution and therefore have a
distorted vision of what music education consists of nowadays. This is
certainly not the only one, but just one of the obstacles that music
educators in Portugal have to face.
In 2000, Stephanie Pitts wrote an Article for the British Journal of Music
Education entitled ‘Reasons to teach music: establishing a place in the
contemporary curriculum’. In this article she notes that ‘music education
has been advocated only rarely for the acquisition of subject knowledge,
but rather for its desirable cultural influence, its preparation for the
profitable use of leisure time, and its development of sensitivity and
imagination’. (2000:34) In this article, Pitts attempts to answer a question:
‘which of these reasons, if any, is sufficient to justify the place of music in
the curriculum?’ (2000:34) After discussing and analysing each of the
reasons referred to above, Pitts concluded that none of these reasons are
enough to be a justification in itself:
The function of music in the curriculum is a facilitative one, where lessons are a source of
learning and experience that form only part of the child’s musical world and identity. (…)
Music is an important part of the curriculum, with a role as indefinable as the place that
music holds in so many lives. We need to be modest about the place of school music in
the overall musical development of the child, and yet be ambitious about its provision,
resourcing and variety, if all children are to have the opportunity to discover its potential
for themselves. (2000:41)
12
Stephanie Pitts reflects here on the true essence of music. As Elliot
Eisner wrote ‘our ability to discriminate patterns of sound far exceeds our
capacity to describe them’ (2001:23). For us teachers, educators and
researchers in music or music education, words are unable to justify the
presence of music in the curriculum. Thomas Regelski confirms: ‘the
meaning or value of music education is something that cannot be said,
only seen – in action, as praxis’ (Regelski, 2003:3). George Odam, on the
other hand, considers music to be an essential experience of life and
believes that in Western European society, it is an ‘important source of
spiritual experience for a large number of children in our schools’. (Odam,
2003:1)
Bruno Nettl, Emeritus Professor of Musicology at the University of Illinois,
also presents his ethnomusicological perspective of the value of music,
which is close to the words written above:
Ethnomusicologists have come to conclude that music does something to a person,
something not done by anything else in nature or culture. They do not consider music to
have a single main function among the various aspects of culture, and among the various
cultures of the world, except for simply being music; but the peoples of the world all feel
that they cannot live without it. Of the many domains of culture, music would perhaps
seem to be one of the least necessary; yet we know of no culture that does not have it.
(Nettl, 2003:1)
For this reason some frustration can be felt at times when attempting to
explain the true value of music, since the feelings and spirituality that
surround it exceed the capacity of all our words.
However Bennet Reimer in an article published on the website of the
International Society of Music Education draws attention to the need for
us to examine whether ‘what we do is entirely sufficient to obtain the
benefits we so vociferously and often eloquently advertise.’ (Reimer,
2003) He continues:
13
That is, we advocate for what we do when the question begging to be asked is whether
what we do is validly and optimally connected to what we claim.
(…) We spend a great deal of time and effort thinking up ways to persuade people to
accept our status quo, based on our very special values and traditions, rather than on
how we can more realistically and effectively serve the musical needs of our culture as
being our guiding aim. We tend to protect and defend and proselytize when we more
fruitfully need to critically examine who we are and what we offer. We need to look inward
rather than outward for the causes of our uncertain status in education.
(Reimer, 2003:2)
As music educators, we can only gain recognition to defend our
profession if we really exercise it with the dedication, efficiency and effort
that it requires. We should therefore first look for the faults in our
individual systems and only later look for them in external systems
beyond our own control. This task should also be carried out by all
educators and especially during teacher training courses. Only an alliance
between qualified and highly-prepared professionals and appropriate
curricula and syllabuses can enable the benefits of Music Education to
emerge. However in 1998, in an article published in the International
Journal of Music Education, Robert Walker had already written:
Thus, the justification for music in education lies in the justification of education itself. For
music educators, the task ahead is clear: get into the debate about what education is for
and what its goals should be. Don’t waste time in advocacy about music and its
educational value in a curricula vacuum. (Walker, 1998:58)
2.1.1 SUMMARY
Before defending music education to parents, pupils, education
professionals and all other groups in the community, we have to take into
account our work as music educators. We should pause for introspection
and assess our methods, our strategies and our results. If we then
discover that there are failings that are beyond our control, we can defend
music education in two different ways: through the utilitarian value of
14
music or through the intrinsic value of music. We have to take into
account that we are attempting to convince somebody who has probably
never really entered into the world of music and does not even
understand our language. We should therefore advocate music education
bearing in mind the requirements of the children who we face in the
classroom and the environment that surrounds them. Because this is the
objective that everyone has, parents, teachers, politicians or general
public: the education of our children.
2.2 MUSIC EDUCATION IN PORTUGAL
Before reaching its current form, the Portuguese Educational System
underwent many developments and reforms. But before any analysis, it is
important to note that for many years Portugal had a high illiteracy rate.
Roberto Carneiro, Minister of Education from 1987 to 1991, claims that
the Portuguese education deficit in relation to the rest of the Europe dates
from the 19th century and that those 19th century differences in literacy
rates extended into the 20th century. (Carneiro, 2001):
In the 1970’s, when many countries in central and northern Europe had already achieved
a 90% rate of secondary school attendance, Portugal was still struggling to ensure 6
years of basic compulsory schooling and suffering from illiteracy rates of nearly 30%. (…)
The last 20 years of the XX century have seen a sustained national effort to leap part of
the chasm which continues to separate us from the rest of developed Europe.
(Carneiro, 2001:11-12)
Consequently, the main purpose of governments’ legislation and
reorganization on education has been to battle illiteracy. This is one of the
reasons why music was pushed into the background, in favour of the
teaching of Maths, Science and Portuguese Language.
15
Until the mid-1960s, the teaching of music in schools was called Choir
Practice. One of the first Laws that mentioned the name ‘music education’
was the Law published in 1960. This law stated that it ‘is more opportune
to define the processes that allows the development of the ear, rhythmic
sense, expression and musical taste’. (Law no.42 994, of 28th May 1960)
The implementation of preparatory studies after primary school joined
music education and physical education in the same area, and music
became a subject that was to be taught for six years. However after the
1974 Revolution, music in primary schools was included in a new area of
studies – Movement, Music and Drama.
In 1986 the comprehensive Law on the Education System extended
compulsory education to 9 years, consisting of 3 consecutive cycles of 4,
2 and 3 years. Music education became a compulsory area of both 1st
and 2nd cycle curricula. In the 3rd cycle, music together with dance,
theatre or another artistic area (except Visual Arts, which is compulsory)
offered by the school, became a second artistic and optional area of
study. The curriculum reorganization of 1989 (Law 286/89 of 28 August)
declared that music in the 1st cycle should became associated with the
new area of ‘Expression and Education’ and that in the 2 nd cycle it should
became part of the new area of Artistic and Technological Education.
However, for the 3rd cycle, this law reduced music to mere option.
Cândido Freitas considers that this law ‘nevertheless encloses but
restricts in a certain way access to continuous education in music’.
(Freitas, 2001:27)
However, in 1990 the Portuguese Government recognised, with the
publication of Law 344/90 of 2 November, the problems surrounding art
education in the country:
16
A educação artística tem se processado em Portugal, desde há várias décadas, de uma
forma reconhecidamente insuficiente, incompatível com a situação vigente na maioria
dos países europeus. A extrema complexidade intrínseca desta área da educação e a
sua sempre problemática inserção e articulação no sistema geral de ensino, a par da
natureza muito especializada deste domínio, que, além disso, exige sempre meios
apropriados, particularmente ao nível das infra-estruturas e dos equipamentos, são
alguns dos factores que explicam este estado de coisas.
Art education has been processed in Portugal, for several decades, in a clearly
insufficient fashion, incompatible with the existing situation in most other European
countries. The extreme intrinsic complexity of this field of education and its always
problematic integration and coordination within the general education system, alongside
the highly specialised nature of this field, that, in addition, always requires appropriate
resources, particularly on the level of the infrastructure and equipment, are some of the
causes that can explain this state of affairs.
(Ministry of Education, Decree-Law 344/90 of 2 November, Diário da República (Official
Gazette) – I série No. 253 of 2 November 1990, 4522)
This Decree-Law shows the government’s increasing concern with art
education. It recognises the difference between Portugal and other
European countries and also admits the difficulty in ‘integrating and
coordinating’ art education.
In 2001 another curricular reorganization occurred (Law 6/2001 of 18
January) but music continued to be an optional discipline in the third
cycle. This law only came into force for the 3rd Cycle in the 2002/2003
school year. It provides that if a school decides to offer music education
during the 7th and 8th grades, it must be taught equally with technological
education. In this case the classes should be divided in two and each one
of the curricular area will attend the disciplines alternatively and only
during one semester. In the 9th grade students should choose only one of
the disciplines they had attended during the 7th and 8th grades. An
amendment to Law 6/2001 regulated by Law 209/2002 of 17 October
further limited the existence of music education in the 3rd Cycle, since it
requires teachers in this curriculum field to be fully tenured members of
17
the school staff (Law 209/2002, Annex III, subparagraph b). If there are
only music teachers working by contract, music education cannot exist for
the 3rd Cycle. Also in 2001 the Department of Basic Education (DEB)
published the curricular guidelines for music in the third cycle.
The most recent official document to reflect on art education in Portugal is
the Working Group Report drawn up in conjunction by the Ministries of
Education and of Culture. This report, the working group for which was
set up under Joint-Order 1062/2003 of 27 November, was concluded in
April 2004 and released to the press on 8 July 2004. It should be recalled
that this dissertation research was designed in December 2003 and
January 2004, and the field work took place between February and July
2004. This coincidence means that in the first half of the aforementioned
report one can find part of the response to the initial research questions of
this study: ‘In what percentage of state schools in mainland Portugal did
the curriculum discipline area of Music Education exist in the 3rd Cycle
during the 2003/2004 school year?’. I say ‘part of the response’, since it
represents the schools in all the Regional Directorates of Education
(DRE) in the country, with the exception of the Regional Directorate of
Education in the Alentejo (DREALENT). Thus in the data, considered
preliminary, available in the Working Group Report of the Ministries of
Education and Culture, there is a total of 339 state schools offering Music
Education in the 3rd Cycle of basic education during the 2003/2004
school year (ME & MC, 2004:15).
The report also concludes that of all option areas ‘the greatest selection is
in the field of Music’ and that there is also ‘a residual percentage of
schools that do not offer any artistic choice’ (ME & MC, 2004:14).
Esta situação, que poderá ser consequência dos constrangimentos legais colocados às
escolas na contratação de professores, levando a que estas recorram a professores do
quadro de escola, não permite valorizar, generalizar e, fundamentalmente qualificar as
18
práticas de experimentação e criação artísticas. A questão da formação de professores é
central e é objecto de um tratamento específico neste relatório. De facto, o modelo actual
não
desenvolve
a
aquisição
de
metodologias
específicas
que
permitam
o
desenvolvimento de práticas pedagógicas significativas neste domínio. Não parece
também suficiente a formação contínua que tem vindo a ser promovida pelos centros de
formação das associações de professores nestas áreas. O domínio de competências
específicas, que devem ser adquiridas no processo de formação inicial dos docentes,
constitui-se assim como um factor decisivo para a implementação de um trabalho
rigoroso no domínio da iniciação artística prevista na lei.
This situation, which could be a consequence of the legal restrictions placed on schools
concerning the hiring of teachers which leads them to resort to teachers already on their
staff, make it difficult to develop, generalise and, fundamentally, qualify the practices in
artistic experimentation and creation. The question of teacher training is fundamental and
is the subject of specific treatment in this report. Indeed, the current model does not
develop the acquisition of specific methodologies that can permit the development of
significant pedagogical practices in this field. The continuing training provided by the
training centres of teachers' the associations in these fields also do not appear to be
sufficient. The grasp of core competences, which should be acquired during teachers'
initial training, is thus a decisive factor for the implementation of careful work in the field
of the artistic initiation provided for in the law.
(ME & MC, 2004:14-15)
The report recognises the restrictions imposed by legislation, and the
problem that surrounds initial and continuing training of teachers. The
following recommendation is also made:
Consolidação da diversificação da oferta artística no 3º ciclo do ensino básico através da
contratação de professores devidamente habilitados, o que pressupõe a articulação
entre escolas de ensino regular, agrupamentos de escolas e escolas de ensino artístico
especializado.
Consolidation of the diversification of artistic offering in the 3rd Cycle of basic education
through of the hiring of properly qualified teachers, which presupposes coordination
between regular schools, groupings of schools and specialised art education schools.
(ME & MC, 2004:15)
Once again, reference is made to the qualifications of teachers. It is
indeed necessary to clarify some points at this level.
19
In Portugal there is just one teaching category group qualified to teach
music education in the 3rd Cycle – Group 40. According to the "Guia das
Qualificações Profissionais para a Docência" of January 2002, there are
only four different university courses in Portugal that offer this qualification
(ME, 2002:44). However the number of courses available that offer
professional qualifications in music education for the 2nd Cycle of Basic
Education is also four, but they are taught at fifteen Teacher Training
Colleges throughout the country (ME & DGAE, 2002). This difference
means that sometimes music education in the 3rd Cycle is taught by 2nd
cycle teachers and at other times by musicians who the Ministry of
Education considers to have specific or sufficient qualifications to teach.
For this reason, in my opinion, the problems related to the question of
training teachers are due to the following circumstances:
 Name of the courses – some of the courses recognised for the 2nd
Cycle are entitled ‘Courses for Basic Education Teachers – Option
of Music Education’ or ‘Courses for Music Education Teachers in
Basic Education’. Now, if they are basic education teachers and if
the 3rd Cycle is part of basic education, why are teachers from
these courses not allowed to teach in this cycle?
 Teacher training – do all musicians have the pedagogical training
necessary to teach children in this age group?
 Necessary knowledge – will all teachers of music education, with
professional qualifications for the 2nd Cycle, have enough
knowledge to teach in the 3rd Cycle?
 Number of Teachers – the number of teachers applying for jobs in
group 40 (Group of 3rd cycle Music Education Teachers) nationally
in the 2003/2004 school year was around 130, whilst the number of
teachers applying in group 06 (group of 2nd Cycle Music Education
Teachers) in the same conditions was around 1700. (in Listas
Definitivas de Graduação, 2003/2004).
20
It is important for music education that these situations be resolved and/or
clarified, since in one way or another they delay the development and
growth of artistic education in Portugal, causing confusion, instability and
insecurity both among teachers and in schools, and can cause gaps and
mistakes on the education of children.
Still on the subject of initial teacher training, I would like to make the
following comment: during the 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 school years,
the External Evaluation Committees of the Association of the Portuguese
Polytechnic Institutes (ADISPOR) evaluated seven courses for music
education teachers in basic education at the Teacher Training Colleges in
Leiria, Santarém, Viana do Castelo, Coimbra, Beja, Lisbon and Oporto
(ADISPOR, 2002, 2003). Although it is not possible to judge whether or
not it was a coincidence that courses were evaluated at that same time as
the Curriculum Reorganisation of the 3rd Cycle was approved, it can be
seen that in all the seven reports already drawn up and published, only
the report on the Course for Basic Education Teachers, option Music
Education, taught by the ESE in Leiria shows any concern with this
duality of teachers in relation to the 2nd and 3rd cycles:
Aliás, já no ano passado, referiu, foi tentada a reformulação do Plano de Estudos, mas
não obtiveram resposta por parte do Ministério da Educação. Assim, a Escola está a
trabalhar este currículo desde 1994/95, ano em que se verificou a última revisão
curricular. Ao mesmo tempo, acentuou que seria bem visto pela ESE que a bivalência da
Variante passasse a funcionar entre os 2º e 3º Ciclos, deixando de existir a actual entre
os 1º e 2º Ciclos do Ensino Básico.
Indeed, last year, it notes, an attempt was already made to reformulate the Plan of
Studies, but no response was obtained from the Ministry of Education. For this reason,
the College has been working with this curriculum since 1994/95, when the last
curriculum revision was made. At the same time, it stressed that the ESE would welcome
the duality of the Option to be between the 2nd and 3rd Cycles, instead of between the
1st and 2nd Cycles of Basic Education. (ADISPOR, 2002:20)
21
In short, Music Education and all art education in Portugal are in a
constant state of development. The primary objective of Governments
having been a reduction in illiteracy rates, music education and art
education in general have been pushed into the background, ever further
from the situation in the rest of Europe (according to Eurybase, 2001).
Although the Government has started to give increasing recognition to the
importance of the arts in education, existing legislation is recent,
sometimes unclear and in need of constant adjustments. Another issue
with
teacher
training
is
the
fact
that
there
are
lacunae
and
misunderstandings that need to be corrected and dispelled so that music
education in the 3rd Cycle can be guaranteed by capable teachers with
the necessary knowledge to teach the subject.
22
CHAPTER 3 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter clarifies and outlines the methodology used in the Research
and the procedures followed. It also describes the choice of the sample,
the participants in the study and the data gathering instruments used.
Attention is also paid to the considerations of an ethical nature that
involve research.
The particular value of scientific research in education is that it will enable educators to
develop the kind of sound knowledge base that characterizes other professions and
disciplines; and one that will ensure education a maturity and sense of progression it at
presents lacks. (Cohen et al, 2003:45)
3.1 THE DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY RESEARCH
As mentioned in the last chapter, the main objective of this research was
to evaluate the situation of 3rd Cycle Music Education in Portugal, finding
out how many mainland Portuguese schools are teaching music in this
cycle. According to Cohen et al:
The attractions of a survey lie in its appeal to generalizability or universality within given
parameters, its ability to make statements which are supported by large data banks and
its ability to establish the degree of confidence which can be placed in a set of findings.
(Cohen et all, 2003:171)
Stephen Gorard writes:
Surveys are better at gathering relatively simple facts (such as respondents’ current
occupations) or reports of behaviour (such as how often the respondent misses a day at
work) than at gathering opinions, attitudes or explanations. (Gorard, 2003:90)
The simplicity of the research questions, the lack of research in the
problem area and the large number of Portuguese schools teaching the
23
3rd Cycle justify the use of a survey. Gorard (2003) writes that ‘the use of
a survey is indicated when the data required does not already exist’
(2003: 90). As I wrote before, it is not my intention to find any solution, but
to present, share and interpret the significance of real data in a way to
find out the dimension of the real problem.
Typically, surveys gather data at a particular point of time with the intention of describing
the nature of existing conditions, or identifying standards against which existing
conditions can be compared, or determining the relationships that exist between specific
events. (Cohen et all, 2003:169)
3.2 POPULATION
The population on which this survey focused was all mainland
Portuguese state schools that taught the 3rd Cycle during the 2003/2004
school year. According to Gorard ‘it is perfectly possible to have a
population consisting in institutions’ (2003:58). The schools that compose
the population are of several different types:
Escola Básica Integrada com Jardim de Infância (EBI/JI – pre-school, 1st, 2nd and 3rd
cycles);
Escola Básica Integrada (EBI – 1st, 2nd, 3rd cycles);
Escola Básica do 2º e 3º Ciclos (EB 2,3 – 2nd and 3rd cycles);
Escola Básica do 2º e 3º Ciclos com Ensino Secundário (EB 2,3/S – 2nd, 3rd cycles +
secondary school)
Escola Secundária com 3º Ciclo (ES/3 – secondary school with 3rd cycle);
Escola Básica do 3º Ciclo ( EB3 – only 3rd cycle).
According to the on-line publication ‘Statistics of Education – Preliminary
Results’ hosted on the website of the Gabinete de Informação e
Avaliação do Sistema Educativo (GIASE - Office of Information and
Evaluation on the Education System), there were 1074 schools teaching
the 3rd cycle during the 2003/2004 school year. Also on this site it is
24
possible to find the number of schools grouped according to NUTS II (The
Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions - Table 1.
Table 1 – Number of mainland state schools with 3 rd Cycle by NUTS II region
NUTS II region
SCHOOLS
Norte
381
Centro
222
Lisboa e Vale do Tejo
332
Alentejo
79
Algarve
60
Total
1074
(Adapted from http://www.dapp.min-edu.pt/estat/03_04/pdf/IV.pdf Statistics of Education –
preliminary results, 2004: 2)
Searching in the Direcção Geral dos Recursos Humanos da Educação
(DGRHE – Department of Human Resources on Education) website we
can find schools grouped by type (Table 2). However the total number of
schools with 3rd cycle does not coincide with the number presented by the
GIASE.
Table 2 - Number of schools by type / NUTS II
SCHOOL TYPE
NUTS II
EB 2,3
EB 2,3/S
ES/3
EBI
EBI/JI
EB3
TOTAL
NORTE
236
26
CENTRO
114
23
118
8
2
0
390
57
23
3
1
221
LISBOA E VALE DO TEJO
181
15
103
13
7
0
319
ALENTEJO
40
10
17
6
9
0
82
ALGARVE
44
1
6
4
2
0
57
TOTAL
615
75
301
54
23
1
1069
(Adapted from http://www.dgrhe.min-edu.pt/esagrees.htm, 2004)
Comparing the totals of both tables, it is obvious that there is a difference
of 5 schools. This gap is probably due both to the fact that the data in
Table 1 results from preliminary outcomes and to the recent improvement
25
that the DGRHE has experienced (the whole department and the website
started working in January 2004).
Since it is my intention to make a quantitative study and to establish some
comparisons and generalizations, I will consider the 1069 schools as the
population and consequently to whom I intend to generalize the results of
this study.
3.3 RESEARCH SAMPLE
In perfect conditions the sample should coincide with the population but
Ghiglione & Matalon (2001) do not consider it useful:
É muito raro podermos estudar exaustivamente uma população, ou seja, inquirir todos os
seus membros seria de tal forma longo e dispendioso que se tornaria praticamente
impossível. É aliás inútil, pois, inquirindo um número restrito de pessoas, com a condição
de que estas tenham sido correctamente escolhidas, é possível obter as mesmas
informações, com uma certa margem de erro, erro calculável, que poderemos tornar
suficientemente pequeno. (Ghiglione & Matalon, 2001: 29)
‘It is quite rare to study exhaustively the entire population; to question all its members
would be so lengthy and expensive that will become practically impossible. It is also
useless because by questioning a restricted number of people, with the condition that
these have been correctly chosen, it is possible to obtain the same data, with a certain
margin of error, a calculable error, which we can make sufficiently small.’
Gorard notes time and money as two reasons for the use of a sampler
(2003:57). The author also advises the use of a ‘sampling frame’:
In an ideal study you will be selecting cases from the population at random (by chance) to
form your sample. Thus, you need to start with a list of all cases in the population and
give each of them a non-zero chance of being selected. This is another way of defining
the population to which your results can be generalized. It is the list of all the cases,
which could be, or could have been, picked as part of your sample. The list of all these
cases is called a ‘sampling frame’. One reason why it is given a special name (not
26
population list) is that in real life (not an ideal study) your sampling frame will be an
incomplete list of the population. (Gorard, 2003:58)
Also Ghiglione & Matalon consider that ‘ideal conditions are those in
which we have an exhaustive list of the population’ (2001:31).
Accessing the various government websites, it is possible to find the
names, addresses, e-mails or telephone numbers of schools. However
the validity of the list should be supported by the veracity of the data
presented on those websites. Looking deeper, it is possible to note that
the main list, and the most complete, that is accessible on the GIASE web
site is quite ‘old’. In all studies researchers cannot waste time making
contact with wrong or erroneous cases. This was therefore one of the first
obstacles that arose in the selection of the sample.
However there is a recent (and excellent) list elaborated by the GIASE
that was last updated on 28 September 2003. Although it refers
exclusively to secondary schools, it was possible to find two types of
schools included in the population (35%): EB 2,3/S and ES/3 schools.
Also the data included in the report by the Direcção Regional de
Educação do Norte (DREN), concerning exclusively the NUT II Norte,
referred to above, can be used because it refers to the school year of
2003/2004.
In summary, if I had taken into account only recent information about
schools I would have had a sampling frame that covered 57% of the
population with a low error. But since those data were limited by the
variables of location and type, it was not possible to restrict the sample
size to these sources.
In a attempt to avoid a large number of non-responses (returned mail,
schools that after all do not have 3rd cycle, etc) the sample frame of the
27
study resulted in a pooling of information selected from the national
institutes and departments of education, regional departments of
education, education web directories and national phone list (Páginas
Amarelas (Yellow Pages) – which includes addresses). All these sources
increased access to the sample.
‘Sampling is therefore the basis of all research’ (Gorard, 2003: 56). In
most books about quantitative research, it is possible to read about the
importance of the sample size. Cohen et al mention some ‘judgments that
have to be made about four key factors: the sample size, the
representativeness and parameters of the sample; access to the sample
and the sampling strategy to be used.’ (Cohen et al, 2003: 92)
While Andrew Hill and Manuela Hill commend the ‘use of small
populations and sampler sizes’ (2002: 44), Stephen Gorard advises: ‘be
ambitious in your sample size’ (2003: 60).
In attempt to insure the fair representation of the sample I choose a
probabilistic method of sampling.
A probability sample, because it draws randomly from the wider population, will be useful
if the researcher wishes to be able to make generalizations, because it seeks
representativeness of the wider population. (…) On the other hand, a non-probability
sample deliberately avoids representing the wider population; it seeks only to represent a
particular group (…). (Cohen et al, 2003:99)
Vicente, Reis & Ferrão, present other advantages related to the use of
probabilistic sampling:
(…) The selection criteria are rigorously defined, not allowing the intervention of
subjectivity and human judgments in the choice of the sampling elements. (...)
Probabilistic sampling includes the possibility to find mathematically the sample size
according to the levels of accuracy and confidence desired for the results. (Vicente, Reis
& Ferrão, 2001:48,49)
28
However these authors consider that this method becomes impractical
without the use of a sampling frame (Vicente, Reis & Ferrão, 2001:18).
The other disadvantages presented by these authors are ‘the geographic
dispersion of the sample’ and the ‘difficulty in establishing contact with the
selected elements’ (Vicente, Reis & Ferrão, 2001:49).
Due to the characteristics of the population, I decided to use stratified
sampling. Cohen et al explains:
Stratified sampling involves dividing the population into homogeneous groups, each
group containing subjects with similar characteristics. To organize a stratified random
sample is a simple two-stage process. First, identify those characteristics which appear in
the wider population which must also appear in the sample, i.e. divide the population
which into homogeneous and, if possible, discrete groups (strata), for example males and
females. Second, randomly sample within these groups, the size of each group being
determined either by the judgment of the researcher or by reference to Boxes 4.1 or 4.2.
(Cohen et all, 2003:101).
Hill & Hill considers that ‘this method is useful when the population is
large and the researcher wants a representative sampler according to
various variables’ (2002:47). In the other hand Gorard, who is quite
reluctant about the use of a stratified sampling, argues that ‘its problems
include the fact that it can require decisions about complex categories
(race, occupation) or on sensitive issues (income, age)’ (Gorard,
2003:68,69).
Fortunately these ‘complex categories’ or ‘sensitive issues’ were not
characteristics of this study’s population. Taking in account the review of
the literature and the characteristics of the population it seems to me that
the variables of ‘NUT II region’ and ‘school type’ satisfied the objectives
and questions of the study. So Table 2, designed to show the information
accessed in the DRGHE website, became a table that shows the
stratification of the population. As result the sample was divided into
29
eleven strata – five in relation to NUT II and six in relation to the school
type.
My choice was due fundamentally to the fact that if I used a simple
random sampling, within which all population elements had equal
probabilities of being selected, the results could not achieve a reasonable
level of representation and consequently they could not be generalized.
‘Stratified approach can lead to a high-quality sample by reducing the risk
of a freaky result, at least in terms of the strata characteristics’ (Gorard,
2003:68).
After this it is necessary to find how many elements will comprise which
stratum of the sample. To determine this, I used a proportional stratified
sample. However Vicente, Reis & Ferrão defines this:
A amostra estratificada proporcional é aquela em que a proporção de elementos da
amostra que possui determinadas características é idêntica à proporção de elementos da
população que possui essas mesmas características. (...) A estratificação proporcional
garante que a distribuição percentual de uma variável de estratificação na população é
respeitada na amostra. (Vicente, Reis & Ferrão, 2001:60)
‘In the proportional stratified sample the proportion of elements of the sample with certain
characteristics is similar to the proportion of elements of the sample that have those
characteristics. (…) Using proportional stratification, the distribution of a stratified variable
in the population will be respected in the sample.’
I chose this methodology to ensure the fair representation of the sample.
To make some generalizations it is imperative for both variables to be
present in the sample and in equal proportions. To avoid a large bias in
the results, I decided to use as a sampler around 60% of the population
(Table 3).
30
Table 3 – Sample Size
SCHOOL TYPE
NUTS II
EB 2,3
EB 2,3/S
ES/3
EBI
EBI/JI
EB3
TOTAL
NORTE
145
16
71
4
1
0
237
CENTRO
69
13
34
14
2
1
132
LISBOA E VALE DO TEJO
109
8
63
8
5
0
193
ALENTEJO
23
7
10
3
6
0
49
ALGARVE
26
1
4
2
1
0
34
TOTAL
372
45
182
31
15
1
645
3.4 DATA COLLECTION
‘A key decision affecting the likely response rate, cost speed, sample size
and length of your questionnaire is how you intend to deliver it to your
sample’ (Gorard, 2003:91). I decided on a technology-based delivery
method: electronic mail. Geographic disposition (of the sample), cost and
time were some points that influenced my decision.
Email approaches are even better in some respects, leading to cheaper use of the
telephone lines (or digital television), easier access to worldwide samples and at present
an atmosphere of camaraderie and friendly informality. Response rates to email surveys
may also be better than by telephone (Selwyn, 2002). Selwyn and Robson (1998) cite
examples of 50-90% responses rates using email and they compare this to rates of 2050% in conventional mail surveys (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias 1996). The times
taken to respond are excellent (almost instantaneous) and the responses can be returned
in an already computer-readable format.
(Gorard, 2003:95)
Despite these advantages, Selwyn and Robson (1998) agree that
‘research via e-mail runs the risk of being marginalized as a form of
electronic junk mail’. This problem is due to the fact that presently there is
a great deal of junk email on the world wide web. People tend to activate
their junk email filter not only against the excess of junk email but also to
prevent viruses.
31
Selwyn & Robson (1998) present another disadvantage related to the use
of email as a research tool:
(…) It is virtually impossible to guarantee the respondent anonymity as their name (or at
least their e-mail address) is automatically included in their reply. Although, as Thach
(1995) points out, this lack of anonymity does not preclude the researcher still
guaranteeing the respondent confidentiality, the validity of the e-mail questionnaire is
comprised in this way. (Selwyn & Robson, 1998:2)
In this study this ethical problem does not exist. The data that I intend to
collect are public and everyone can have access to it. This study will
simply gather all these public data.
However this was not the only delivery method that I used. Schools
without email addresses and the number of undelivered emails led me to
use postal mail delivery. My personal experience with the use of email
points to two main causes for ‘mail delivery failures’: inexistence of the
email address and the size of the accounts. Many people, including
teachers and head teachers, still do not consider electronic mail to be a
form of primary communication, and end up using it only sporadically.
However schools and their administrators should be more aware that
nowadays e-mail is a form of communication that is increasingly used and
preferred. If schools include in their e-mail address in their contact
information, they should therefore check it more regularly.
On the other hand, the fact that schools submitted their institutional e-mail
address in the contact information led to failure to deliver the
questionnaire. Many schools mistakenly present an e-mail address
ending in ‘@escolas.min-edu’ which serves ‘exclusively communication
between the central and regional services of the Ministry of Education or
Public Administration authorities and institutions of education’. (GIASE,
2004)
32
Another instrument used to gather information was the telephone.
Although initially its use was not planned, its application was due
essentially to the fact that there was certain strata of the sample were
highly reduced in number. The lack of response from some of these strata
could have threatened the representativeness of the study. These were
therefore important responses for the generalisation of the results.
3.5 DESIGN OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
The design of the questionnaire (see Appendix A) was quite simple and it
was not attached to the email. It was the email. I decided to do this
because many people are afraid to infect their computers by opening
email attachments.
An introduction, the research questions and some words to show
gratitude for the cooperation comprised the questionnaire. In the
introduction I presented the research objectives and myself. This
introduction, as well as the entire questionnaire, was addressed to the
school head teacher.
The research questions were: ‘does your school have music education,
as an option or as a discipline, in the 3rd Cycle?’ and ‘how long has this
option/discipline existed?’ The decision not to use multiple choice
answers was due to the fact that the initial question had only two possible
answers: yes or no. On the other hand, the lack of existing research in
this field meant that I had few resources in the literature to help me
choose the answer fields for the second question.
As it was my intention to deliver the questionnaire through email without
the use of attachments, the layout was quite simple. I did not modify the
font or the size/ colour of the cases because this would enlarge the size
33
of the email and consequently could proportionate non-delivery. However,
people that usually communicate by email are used to this kind of layout;
and it is more informal. The informality that is inherent to email plus the
option not to use multiple-choice for the research questions encouraged
respondents to make some comments (see chapter four). In some cases,
the questionnaire turned into a talk between colleagues - teacher to
teacher.
3.6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE RESEARCH
As mentioned above, this study simply brought together information of a
public nature. For this reason, there are no ethical problems related to
invasion of privacy, confidentiality and betrayal. (Cohen et AL, 2003)
Although the anonymity of the participant schools is ensured, many of the
head teachers who received the questionnaire may have been concerned
at some point that they were being evaluated. If this did indeed occur, it
may have been essentially due to the fact that research on education in
Portugal is still recent and uncommon.
The participants were also informed of the objectives of the study in the
introduction to the questionnaire.
Other research issues linked to ethics in Robson (1993) and Cohen
(2003) were studied, but no links were found to this study.
34
CHAPTER 4 – DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
The data that emerged from this research were processed using the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences – SPSS. At this stage of the
presentation of the data, no comments on the subject by the participants
are included.
4.1 SURVEY RETURN RATES
All the questionnaires were completed and returned, giving a return rate
of 100%. This rate of participation owes essentially to the fact that the
questionnaires were distributed by electronic mail, postal mail and by
telephone. The simplicity of the questionnaire and the response time it
required were two major factors that would have led participants to
respond.
4.2 DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
As mentioned above, this study covered 645 schools with 3rd Cycle
education on mainland Portugal during the 2003/2004 school year. Graph
1 represents the distribution of the sample by NUTS II and Graph 2
represents the distribution of the sample by district.
Graph 1 – Distribution of the schools by NUTS II region.
250
200
F
R
E
Q
U
E
N
C
Y
150
100
50
0
Norte
Centro
Lisboa e Vale
do Tejo
NUTS II
35
Alentejo
Algarve
Graph 2 - Distribution of the schools by district.
Distrito
120
Frequency
100
80
60
40
20
0
u
lo
se l
Vi ea ste
R Ca
la
Vi do
a
an
Vi al
b
tú
Se rém
a
nt
Sa
rto re
Po leg
rta
Po
oa
sb
Li
a
iri
Le da
r
ua
G
ro
Fa
a
or
Év bra nco
m ra
oi B
C lo
te
as a
C nç
a
ag
Br
a
ag
Br
ja
Be o
r
ei
Av
DISTRICT
Distrito
Analysis of Graphs 1 and 2 shows that the NUTS II regions with most
schools represented in the study are Norte with 237 (36.7%) and Lisboa e
Vale do Tejo, with 193 (29.9%). The NUTS II region with lowest number
of schools in the sample are Algarve with 34 (5.3%) and Alentejo with 49
(7.6%). The districts with most schools in the sample are Lisbon (106)
and Oporto (99). The least represented are Guarda (10) and Bragança
(12).
Graph 3 represents the distribution of the sample schools by type.
Graph 3 - Distribution of the schools by type
400
300
F
R
E
Q
U
E
N
C
Y
200
100
0
EB 2,3
EB 2,3/S
ES/3
Schools’ Type
36
EBI
EBI/JI
The most frequent type of school is the EB 2,3 (372 schools, 57.7%). This
is followed by the ES/3 (182 schools, 28.2%). The EB 2,3/S was
represented by 45 schools (7.0%). There are 31 EBI schools (4.8%).
Finally, there are 15 EBI/JI schools (2.3%).
4.3 RESEARCH QUESTION DATA
4.3.1 RESEARCH QUESTION ONE
The responses to the first question of the study – enquiring whether the
school has Musical Education in the 3rd Cycle – are distributed as
indicated in the table below.
Table 4 - Distribution of the responses.
Valid
yes
Frequency
293
Percent
45.4
Valid Percent
45.4
Cumulative
Percent
45.4
100.0
no
352
54.6
54.6
Total
645
100.0
100.0
The results indicate that the percentage of schools that do not have the
subject of music education in the 3rd Cycle (54.6%) is higher than the
percentage that do have this artistic curriculum area (45.4%).
Table 5 – Crosstabulation of the variables Response and NUTS II Region.
110
58
NUTS II Region
Lisboa e Vale
do Tejo
82
% within Response
37,5%
19,8%
% within NUTS II
46,4%
127
% within Response
% within NUTS II
Norte
Count
YES
Answer
Count
NO
Total
Count
Centro
Total
Alentejo
Algarve
20
23
293
28,0%
6,8%
7,8%
100,0%
43,9%
42,5%
40,8%
67,6%
45,4%
74
111
29
11
352
36,1%
21,0%
31,5%
8,2%
3,1%
100,0%
53,6%
56,1%
57,5%
59,2%
32,4%
54,6%
237
132
193
49
34
645
37
As can be seen in Table 5, the NUTS II region in which there are more
schools with music education in the 3rd Cycle is Norte with 110 schools.
This NUTS II region was also the region that, in percentage terms,
presented the least difference between yes and no, with 46.4% positive
responses compared with 53.6% negative responses. On the other hand,
the Algarve was the NUTS II region with the highest percentage of
positive responses (67.6%).
The NUTS II region that, in percentage terms, gave most negative
responses was Alentejo, with 59.2% negative responses compared with
40.8% positive responses.
To determine whether the geographic location and the existence of the
subject of Musical Education in the 3rd Cycle are independent, a chisquare test was applied based on the previous contingency table. The
result of the test was the following:
Table 5.1 - Pearson's chi-square test for Table 5
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear
Association
N of Valid Cases
Value
8.075(a)
8.125
.463
4
4
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
.089
.087
1
.496
df
645
A 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 15.44.
Pearson's chi-square test achieved a statistical significance level of 0.89
(greater than 5%), which can show the independence between the
variables NUTS II Region and Existence of the subject of Musical
Education in the 3rd Cycle.
38
Table 6 - Crosstabulation of the variables Response and Schools’ Type.
School Type
Yes
Answer
No
Total
Total
Count
EB 2,3
231
EB 2,3/S
24
ES/3
9
EBI
18
EBI/JI
11
293
% within Response
78,8%
8,2%
3,1%
6,1%
3,8%
100,0%
62,1%
53,3%
4,9%
58,1%
73,3%
45,4%
141
21
173
13
4
40,1%
6,0%
49,1%
3,7%
1,1%
100,0%
37,9%
46,7%
95,1%
41,9%
26,7%
54,6%
372
45
182
31
15
% within Schools’
Type
Count
% within Response
% within Schools’
Type
Count
352
645
Table 6 indicates that the schools of the type EB 2,3 are the schools
where more music education is taught. However the type of school with
the highest percentage of positive answers is the EBI/JI. It can be seen
that the schools that, in percentage terms, presented the least difference
between yes and no were the E2,3/S, with 53.3% positive responses
compared with 46.7% negative responses. It is also to be noted that the
schools that, in percentage terms, gave most negative responses were
the ES/3, with 95.1% negative responses compared with 4.9% positive
responses.
Table 7 – Pearson's chi-square test for Table 6.
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear
Association
N of Valid Cases
Value
169.852(a)
201.630
66.729
4
4
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
.000
.000
1
.000
df
645
A 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 6.81.
Pearson's chi-square test has a level of statistical significance below
0.0005, which can show that the variables schools’ type and existence of
the subject of musical education in the 3rd Cycle are dependent. In other
words, there is a greater tendency for the subject to exist in one type of
school than in another. In this case, and after examination of Table 6,
39
schools of the EB 2,3 type are more likely to have the subject, and
schools of the ES/3 type are least likely.
Table 8 - Distribution of the schools that have the subject, crosstabulated by NUTS II region and
type of school.
Type
EB 2,3
95
EB 2,3/S
9
Centro
40
Lisboa e Vale do Tejo
Alentejo
Algarve
Norte
NUTS II
Region
Total
Total
ES/3
EBI
EBI/JI
2
3
1
110
7
1
8
2
58
65
4
5
5
3
82
11
4
1
0
4
20
20
0
0
2
1
23
231
24
9
18
11
293
The greatest frequency of schools with the subject of music education in
the 3rd Cycle occurs in Norte in EB 2,3 schools (95). This is followed by
Lisboa e Vale do Tejo also in EB 2,3 schools (65). The lowest occurrence
is in the Alentejo at EBI schools (0).
4.3.2 RESEARCH QUESTION TWO
The following graph shows the mean value and standard deviation of the
time of existence of the subject of Musical Education in the 3rd Cycle.
The highest frequency of the variable occurs at 2 years. In addition, it can
be seen that the distribution is asymmetrical, with a tail that extends from
1 to 15 years.
40
Graph 4 – Histogram of the time of existence of the subject of Musical Education in the 3rd
Cycle.
200
F
R
E
Q
U
E
N
C
Y
150
100
50
Mean = 2,4
Std. Dev. = 1,702
N = 290
0
0
5
10
15
Time in years
Table 9 – Details of changes in the existence of music education.
Years ago
15
12
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1989/ 1992/ 1994/ 1995/ 1996/ 1997/ 1998/ 1999/ 2000/ 2001/ 2002/ 2003/
School year
1990
1993
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Number of
schools with
1
2
3
5
8
10
14
15
23
56
256
293
music
education
Percentage 0,16% 0,31% 0,47% 0,78% 1,24% 1,55% 2,16% 2,32% 3,56% 8,69% 39,69% 45,42%
From an analysis of Table 9, it is easy to see that the key school year was
2002/2003, with growth of 31% compared to the previous school year.
However, it is also to be noted that the second largest growth in terms of
the existence of the subject of music education occurred between the
school years of 2002/2003 and 2003/2004.
41
Graph 5 – Distribution of the schools that have the subject of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle,
by NUTS II Region.
3
2,5
2
Mean
Time
(years)
1,5
1
0,5
0
Norte
Centro
Alentejo
Lisboa e Vale
do Tejo
Algarve
NUTS II
An inspection of the above graph shows that there are regional
differences between the mean times of existence of the subject. For
example, schools in Lisboa e Vale do Tejo have had the subject for
longer than the schools of the Alentejo. Yet, to verify whether this
difference is statistically significant, it is necessary to apply a hypothesis
test.
The Table presents the result of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to check the
normality of the Time variable.
Table 10 – Normality test for the time variable
One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test
Time
N
290
Mean
Normal Parameters(a,b)
Most Extreme
Differences
2.40
Std. Deviation
1.702
Absolute
.396
Positive
.396
Negative
-.283
Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z
6.749
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
a Test distribution is Normal.
b Calculated from data.
42
With the low level of statistical significance of the test (less than 5%), it
can be concluded that the variable does not present normal distribution,
at a significance level of 5%. Thus, the hypothesis test to answer the
question raised should be a non-parametric test. And, since the number
of NUTS II is greater than two, a Kruskal-Wallis test should be applied.
The following shows the result of the Kruskal-Wallis test to check whether
there are statistically significant differences between the mean times of
existence of the subject, by NUTS II region.
Table 11 – Kruskal-Wallis test to check whether there are statistically significant differences
between the mean times of existence of the subject, by NUTS II region.
Ranks
NUTS II Region
Norte
Time
Centro
Lisboa e Vale
do Tejo
Alentejo
Algarve
Total
N
Mean Rank
109
143.81
57
161.95
81
153.09
20
88.40
23
135.70
290
Test Statistics(a,b)
Time
Chi-Square
df
Asymp. Sig.
18.279
4
.001
a Kruskal Wallis Test
b Grouping Variable: NUT II
The test presents a significance of 0.001 (less than 5%), therefore it can
be concluded that there are statistically significant differences between
the mean times of existence of the subject, by NUTS II Region, for a
significance level of 5%.
An inspection of the follow graph shows that there are differences
between the mean times of existence of the subject according to the type
of school. For example, schools of the EBI type have had the subject for
longer than EBI/JI schools.
43
Graph 6 – Distribution of the schools that have the subject of Musical Education in the 3rd
Cycle, by type of school.
3
2,5
Mean
Time
(years)
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
EB 2,3
EB 2,3/S
ES/3
EBI
EBI/JI
Schools’ Type
However, to verify whether this difference is statistically significant, it is
necessary to apply a hypothesis test. As for the previous question, a
Kruskal-Wallis test should be applied. The following shows the result of
the Kruskal-Wallis test to check whether there are statistically significant
differences between the mean times of existence of the subject,
according to type of school.
Table 12 – Kruskal-Wallis test to check whether there are statistically significant differences
between the mean times of existence of the subject, according to type of school.
Ranks
Type
EB 2,3
Time
N
EB 2,3/S
230
Mean Rank
144.54
23
146.48
ES/3
9
153.22
EBI
18
184.44
EBI/JI
10
88.25
Total
290
Test Statistics(a,b)
Chi-Square
Time
12.666
df
Asymp. Sig.
4
.013
a Kruskal Wallis Test
b Grouping Variable: Type
44
The test presents a significance of 0.013 (less than 5%), therefore it can
be concluded that there are statistically significant differences between
the mean times of existence of the subject, according to type of school,
for a significance level of 5%.
4.4 SUMMARY
The tables and graphs presented above show that during the 2003/2004
school year music education was part of the curriculum in the 3rd Cycle of
Basic Education of 45.4% of the state schools in mainland Portugal. The
NUTS II regions of Norte and Algarve presented the highest percentage
of positive responses, 46.4% and 67.6% respectively, while the NUTS II
region of Alentejo had the highest number of negative responses (59.2%).
From an analysis of the data, it can be seen that the geographic location
of schools does not influence the existence of music education in the 3rd
Cycle, since they are independent variables.
Of all the types of school surveyed, the EBI/JI type have the most music
education (73.3%), whereas schools of the ES/3 type have a percentage
of negative responses of 95.1%. The facts also show that the variables of
existence and type of school are dependent.
The data are unbalanced for the time of existence of music education in
the 3rd Cycle, varying between one and fifteen years. The NUT II region
where the subject has been taught in the 3rd Cycle for longest is Lisboa e
Vale do Tejo, whereas the NUT II region of Alentejo is the region where
this artistic subject is most recent. It is also shown that the variables of
geographic location and time of existence of the subject are dependent.
45
Schools of the EBI type are those that have offered the subject of music
education for the longest time, with an average of nearly 3 years, unlike
schools of the EBI/JI type, which have offered the subject for an average
of 1.5 years. However, the surge in music education in the 3rd Cycle
occurred in the 2002/2003 school year. Finally it was confirmed that the
time of existence and type of school variables are dependent.
46
CHAPTER 5 – FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION AND AIMS
A survey was planned and put into practice with the purpose of (i)
ascertaining whether Music Education in the 3rd Cycle is being taught or
not in Portuguese schools and (ii) how long this subject has existed. A
questionnaire was thus drawn up and sent to a stratified sample of 645
state schools with the 3rd Cycle in mainland Portugal, during the
2003/2004 school year. The main instrument used in the distribution and
gathering of the questionnaires was electronic mail. The sample included
schools of different types and from different regions.
This chapter is divided into three parts. First, a brief summary is made of
the contents of each chapter. Next, the research findings are presented
and the conclusions are discussed. Finally, recommendations are made
for practice and further research.
5.2 SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS
Chapter One presents the motives that led to this research, as well as its
objectives. The research problem is stated and the research questions
are asked. This chapter also discusses the significance of the study, and
expresses the limitations of the research.
Chapter Two is divided into two parts. The first part reports on a review of
national and international literature on the subject. The first part of the
chapter presents the opinions of pedagogues, researchers and educators
in music education on the benefits arising from the inclusion of music
education in the curriculum. An introduction is given to the international
objectives and trends in music education advocacy. In the second part of
the chapter, a description is made of the Portuguese situation from
47
historical and legislative perspectives. The Decree-Laws with most
influence on Portuguese art education are analysed, particularly with
regard to music education.
The third chapter is a description of the methodology used. The
population of the study is defined and described, as well as the reasoning
behind the composition of the sample. Reference is made to the data
collection
instruments
and
the
questionnaire
applied.
Ethical
considerations are also mentioned.
Chapter Four presents the findings, as well as the tests applied to the
variables.
Chapter Five comprises the conclusions of this report and attempts to
indicate ways to improve, expand and develop Music Education in the 3rd
Cycle of Basic Education in Portugal.
5.2 RESEARCH FINDINGS
The research findings are now presented according to the objectives of
the research.
i. To ascertain whether Music Education is being taught in state
schools in the 3rd Cycle in mainland Portugal.
The results obtained in the survey applied to 645 Portuguese schools
show that music education exists in the 3rd Cycle in 45.4% of these
schools. The NUTS II regions with most positive responses were Algarve
(67.6%) and Norte (46.4%), whereas Alentejo, with 40.8%, was the NUTS
II Region with the most negative responses. It was also proved that the
existence of the subject does not depend on the geographic location of
the school.
48
The types of school that in general contributed with most positive
responses were of the EB 2.3 (78.8%) and EB 2.3/S (53.3%) types.
However, of all the types of school, the EBI/JI presented the highest
frequency of positive responses, 73.3%. Schools of the ES/3 type
presented the highest frequency of negative responses (95.1%)
compared to positive responses (4.9%). Using Pearson’s chi-square test,
it was ascertained that the variables ‘type of school’ and ‘existence’ of the
subject of music education are dependent.
ii. How long has music education been taught in the 3rd Cycle of
Basic Education.
The results obtained showed that the subject of music education has
existed in Portugal for an average of 2.4 years. It was noted that the
subject began to be part of the curriculum in most schools in the sample
in the 2002/2003 school year. It was also determined that the area of
music education has been taught in the 3rd Cycle in Portugal for 15
years. The subject has existed for the longest time in the NUTS II
Regions of Lisboa e Vale do Tejo and Centro, and is most recent in the
schools of the NUTS II Region of Alentejo. It was also determined that the
variables ‘time of existence’ and ‘NUTS II region’ are dependent.
On the other hand, the schools that have had the subject of music
education longest are schools of the EBI type, followed by schools of the
ES/3 type. Schools of the EBI/JI type are those that have offered this
artistic area for the least time. Finally, it was demonstrated that the time of
existence and type of school variables are dependent.
49
5.3 CONCLUSIONS
1. Music education is part of the curriculum in the 3rd Cycle of Basic
Education in almost half of Portuguese schools.
Data shows that music education is indeed a subject present in
Portuguese 3rd Cycle schools. If we take into consideration that there are
other artistic options such as drama or dance, we might consider music to
be one of the areas that is most requested by schools and pupils.
However, it is important to decide whether schools offer conditions for
music education. As an example, I will describe the situation of music
education in the school where I currently teach.
It is an EB 2,3 school where attendance of music education is compulsory
in conjunction with technological education in the 7th and 8th years and
optional in the 9th year. However, the school does not have the physical
or material conditions for this. Of the three rooms allocated for music
education in the 2nd or 3rd cycles, none have any type of sound
insulation, one has a radio with a CD player, another has instruments
although in an insufficient number for a whole class of around 25 pupils
and the last does not even have a blackboard with staves. Obviously, if
the conditions for teaching this subject in the 2nd cycle are already
deficient, they have become even worse with the extension of this artistic
area to the 3rd cycle. On the other hand, the school does not have the
financial capacity to satisfy material requirements. The existence of the
subject in the 3rd Cycle can end up disturbing the functioning of music
education for the 2nd cycle.
Music education should exist in the 3rd Cycle, but with the necessary
conditions for its implementation. The existence of the subject in
precarious or deficient conditions is of no interest to teachers or to pupils.
50
It is important that the moments for learning music in the 3rd Cycle are
adapted to the needs of pupils and contribute to the growth of their
musical knowledge and skills.
2. The subject of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education
is very recent in Portuguese schools.
Music education has only existed for a short time in Portuguese schools,
2002/2003 being the landmark year for the expansion of the subject in the
3rd Cycle of Basic Education.
Bearing in mind the benefits of music education on the education and
training of children, this is a worrying situation, the main consequence of
which is the defective teaching of the pupils. Although Governments have
begun to recognise the importance of the arts in education, fifteen years
were necessary for a Curriculum Reorganisation. If we compare the data
from the 2000/2001 school year when only 3.56% of schools had music
education in the 3rd Cycle, with 45.4% in 2003/2004, it can be easily
concluded that Law 6/2001 of 18 January was crucial for the expansion of
this curriculum field. Furthermore, it shows that schools and pupils were
receptive to the existence of music education in the 3rd Cycle. Only this
‘receptivity’ and desire to continue with music education justifies the mass
participation in this curriculum area. On the other hand, no previous law
had been as objective and enlightening on the subject of art education in
the 3rd Cycle. However, there are still legislative omissions that need to
be resolved and the Law must be adapted to the actual requirements of
the schools and pupils. Legislation should not limit or restrict education
but instead facilitate and regulate the different forms of learning.
However, this mass participation may be damaging for the future of music
education in the 3rd Cycle. As demonstrated in Chapter Two, there are
51
only four courses in Portugal that offer professional qualifications for
music teachers to the level of the 3rd cycle. My personal experience as a
teacher tells me that there are a good number of people teaching the
subject without qualifications, both in terms of pedagogical training and in
terms of their level of knowledge. This is very serious and could have
devastating consequences for Music Education at the 3rd Cycle level.
There is an urgent need to qualify existing teachers, encouraging and
developing continuing training in this area, and it there will also be an
urgent need to reassess the parameters that grant Teacher Training
Colleges (Escolas Superiores de Educação) and Universities the power
to train teachers for this area in this cycle. It is necessary to train
competent and capable teachers to guarantee the proper functioning of
the subject of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle, so as to ensure that the
expansion of this artistic area is not brought to a halt, nor disappoints the
schools and pupils that have 'invested' in it.
As evinced by many of the comments made in the responses to the
questionnaire, a significant number of schools that have had music
education for two years will soon no longer be offering it. It is necessary
to ascertain whether these cases of ‘withdrawal’ are due to factors that
are beyond the control of the teachers, such as the weak dynamics of the
subject within the academic community or the lack of motivation of pupils.
Teachers who have an opportunity to teach music education in the 3rd
Cycle must do so fully aware that if they are effective and convincing they
are not just strengthening the position of music education in the 3rd
Cycle, but are also guaranteeing their own professional future.
On the other hand, the fact that music education in the 3rd Cycle is a
recent subject in Portuguese schools gives us some hope, in the sense
that we still have time to perfect legislation, methods, practices and
teachers so as to support, expand and guarantee the position of Music
52
Education within the curriculum of the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education in
Portugal.
3. Schools of the ES/3 type tend not to offer music education in the
3rd Cycle.
The fact that only 4.9% of the schools of this type that participated in the
survey offered the subject of music education in the 3rd Cycle contradicts
the LBSE, since the universality of education or equal opportunities are
not maintained, at least not in all categories. Clearly the pupils who attend
schools of the ES/3 type have fewer opportunities to continue to receive
Music Education as part of the school curriculum.
This limited number of schools of the ES/3 type that teach music
education in the 3rd Cycle is due in part to the fact that, according to Law
209/2002 of 17 October, there has to be a music teacher on the
permanent staff of the school. It is understandable that there are no music
teachers on the permanent staff of the ES/3 schools since in Portugal,
with the exception of the six Specialist Music Secondary Schools spread
across the country, there is no vocational area of Music in state
Secondary Education. If these schools have never taught the subject, it is
logical that there are no teachers of that area on their staff. I believe that it
is necessary to create exceptions to the legislation to permit this type of
school to offer music education in the 3rd Cycle.
On the other hand, the fact that these schools are not originally equipped
with rooms and instruments for teaching music, unlike schools of other
types, such as the EB2,3 may also be a reason for this low percentage of
provision of the subject.
53
Also the fact that the schools of the ES/3 type teach the top two levels of
non-higher education leads to a greater concern with job opportunities for
their pupils. For this reason all the efforts of schools of this type will be
primarily aimed at the preparation of pupils for the labour market,
forgetting or ignoring the contributions of Music Education to citizenship. It
is therefore necessary to advocate music education at secondary schools
with the 3rd Cycle, in order to inform, clarify and convince people of the
contribution of music education to adult life.
5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE
I will now present two recommendations that I believe to be crucial for the
development of the subject of music education in the 3rd Cycle:
legislation, teachers and pupil motivation.
 Legislation
Legislation is undoubtedly the main controller of education in Portugal.
For this reason, it is necessary to determine whether it satisfies the
interests of education and specifically of artistic education or if it is
adapted to the reality of schools. It is important for there to be regular
assessment of the Laws in force. However, I would like to make two
suggestions that could significantly contribute to the development of
Music Education in Portugal:
-
The creation of legal and/or provisional conditions so that
secondary schools with the 3rd cycle can offer music education in
their 3rd Cycle curricula.
-
Reassessment of the professional qualifications of Music Teachers
in the 3rd Cycle.
54
If society is in constant flux, education should accompany the interests of
society. If education evolves, legislation should also be in a constant
process of maturity, so that it can fully serve the interests of education.
 Teachers
Together with pupils, they are the major promoters of Music Education.
Without competent and well-trained teachers, Music Education will never
achieve a safe status at any level of education. There must be more
uniformity in methodologies and strategies so that the work carried out is
not prejudicial to the development of this artistic area. It is fundamental for
there to be better clarification of the qualifications necessary to teach the
subject of music education in the 3rd Cycle, as well as a review of the
courses that grant these qualifications.
However, it is also necessary to encourage Music Teachers in the
previous cycle (2nd cycle) to further motivate their pupils. Without
motivated pupils there can undoubtedly be no option of Music Education
in the 3rd Cycle, not even with a good provision of music classes.
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Electronic mail is without a doubt one of the new instruments that
facilitates the collection of data in research work. It can be particularly
useful to cover a vast and geographically dispersed sample, which makes
it a quite economic method. In addition, it offers a high response rate.
However, it is to be noted that most of the participants consider it to be an
informal means of communication. The underlying informality of electronic
mail was not at all prejudicial to this research since there were only two
55
research questions. However, I would suggest the use of multiple choice
in the case of longer questionnaires, in the form of editable attachments.
As I mentioned above, there is hardly any existing research in Portugal on
this topic. For this reason, I chose to use a sufficiently broad sample so
that I could submit facts that were as real as possible, limiting myself to
two research questions. However, many more have remained unasked.
Without a doubt, if I was assured in advance of the total availability of the
schools for this research, many other questions would have been asked,
and many more conclusions would have been presented. Thus future
research should:
 To determine whether the physical and material conditions
necessary for music education in the 3rd Cycle exist;
 To verify the training of Music Teachers in the 3rd Cycle;
 To understand whether there is a relationship between the musical
traditions of the different regions and the existence of the subject;
 To analyse whether the music training of the head teachers has
any influence on the existence of the subject;
 To observe the motivation of pupils who frequent music education
in the 3rd Cycle;
 To study and put forward the cases of schools that have had Music
Education for more than ten years;
However, I believe that I managed to achieve the proposed objective: to
elucidate on the nature of the Music Education in the 3rd Cycle in
Portugal and to collect and present facts that can be used as a foundation
for further research. This study can thus contribute to the development of
Music Education in Portugal. Let us now research and work on this topic
in order to guarantee the future of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle and
56
also so that in the near future we are discussing Music Education at the
secondary level.
57
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Appendix A – Questionnaire
Póvoa de Santa Iria, 2004
To The Director of ,
My name is Donato Rosa. I am studying for a MA degree in Music Education
offered jointly by the ESE de Viana do Castelo and the University of
Roehampton/Surrey (London), and I am currently preparing my final dissertation.
In parallel, I am teaching the subject of Music Education at the EB 2,3 João
Villaret school (Loures).
The dissertation will be on the topic of Music Education in the 3rd Cycle.
However, it is not possible to obtain from the official authorities detailed
information about the number of schools that have as an option/provision the
subject of Music Education in the curriculum of the 3rd Cycle.
For this reason, I would like to hereby request your collaboration in a survey
covering all the state schools in mainland Portugal that teach the 3rd Cycle of
Basic Education.
Your collaboration entails answering the following questions:
1. Does your teaching establishment have Music Education as an optional
subject/provision in the school in the 3rd Cycle?
1.1 If you answered yes - How long has it had this option/provision?
The answers can be sent (together with the name of the school) to the
following e-mail addresses:
donatorosa@sapo.pt
donato_rosa@sapo.pt
.
Thank you for your attention and time.
Yours faithfully,
Donato Rosa.
63