The Future of Education
Pre-service Primary Education Teachers’ Perceptions of their Music Skills and Knowledge to Teach Music at School
Sandrina Milhano, Politécnico de Leiria (Portugal)
Abstract
This paper aims to contribute to the reflection on pre-service primary education teachers’ regarding their skills and knowledge to teach music at school. Current pre-service primary teachers are tomorrow's teachers and they need to be able to teach music at school as part of the national curriculum. There have been concerns in Portugal that some primary teachers lack the necessary music skills, knowledge and confidence to teach the National Music Curriculum. The research questions were the following: 1) What are the perceptions of pre-service primary education teachers regarding their music skills and knowledge to teach music at school? What aspects do perceive pre-service primary teachers in music education training as most challenging? What aspects of the operationalization of music teaching at schools are perceived as most challenging by pre-service primary teachers? Individual accounts (n=15) were collected through a survey accessed by participants through an online platform. The assessment of music learning, the support for the development of the creative process, the diversification of educational proposals and the articulation of music education with other areas of the curriculum were perceived as some of the more challenging aspects of pre-service primary education teachers. Implication for teacher training, music education at school, primary teachers’ professional development is discussed.
Keywords: Music education, music teaching, school, teacher training.
References:
- Legette, R., & McCord, D. (2014). Pre-Service Music Teachers Perceptions of Teaching and Teacher Training. Contributions to Music Education, 40, 163-176. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24711077
- Hennessy, S. (2017). Approaches to increasing the competence and confidence of student teachers to teach music in primary schools. Education 3-13, 45(6), 689-700.
- King, A., Himonides, E., & Ruthmann, S. A. (Eds.). (2017). The Routledge companion to music, technology, and education. Taylor & Francis.
