The Musical Training of Primary Teachers: Old Problems, New Insights and Possible Solutions

Recent national and international documents dealing with education and the arts have attributed poor teaching of music in primary schools to inadequacies in the training of primary teachers. The most frequently reported problems associated with the training of teachers in music education were students' lack of confidence and their low musical ability. Against this background, a study was undertaken to examine further the extent to which participation in a music education course during pre-service training advanced the musical skills, music teaching ability, musical sensitivity, and attitudes towards music of students who become general primary teachers. It was hypothesised that the quality of music education was influenced by the multi-dimensional interactions of a range of factors. These included: attitude towards music and to music education; musical achievement; the classroom learning environment; students' preferred learning styles and their previous musical background. This paper reports data on these factors and the influence of preservice training on attitudes to music and to music teaching. The investigation confirmed general primary pre-service teachers' low perception of their competence and confidence as music teachers, and established that any limited gains in music and music teaching skills were offset by their enjoying and valuing music and music education less. Causal explanations for the findings are discussed and a model of music education is proposed both as a further means of interpreting the data and a basis for the potential re-focussing of the music curriculum.