Developing Dispositions Among Pre-Service and In-Service Music Teachers

Abstract

This study provides a multivariate approach to the study music teachers’ beliefs about teaching dispositions. The participants were pre-service and in-service teachers in rural, suburban, and urban settings who taught or planned to teach instrumental music or vocal / general music (N = 2838). With this study the researcher sought to explore whether dispositional beliefs were stronger with more pedagogic knowledge and classroom teaching experience and whether teaching area or locality mattered. Results suggest few statistically significant differences and no practical differences between levels of experience, teaching area, or locality. In fact, mean scores on 87 statements pertaining to dispositions of reflective, caring, responsible, authentic, and responsive showed that ratings actually decreased with the acquisition of pedagogic knowledge and classroom teaching experience.