Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Mason, Emily J
URN	etd-07082008-142619
Title	Kodály or Orff: Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of and Preference for Two Different Methodologies Used in Teaching Elementary General Music
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Music, College of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Kimberly VanWeelden Committee Chair Alice-Ann Darrow Committee Member Carolyn Piazza Committee Member Clifford K. Madsen Committee Member
Keywords	Preservice teachers music education Kodaly Orff methodologies elementary music
Date of Defense	2008-06-05
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract ABSTRACT While teacher training in music education has been a topic of interest for many years, of particular interest is what preservice teachers’ should know concerning best instructional practices when teaching music to children. The majority of research on preservice teachers has primarily focused on improving teaching skills. While this research has merit, a thorough understanding of the history of teacher training in music education, as well as the curriculum used to prepare preservice teachers appears necessary. There is an existing body of literature, which includes preservice teachers’ choice of music education as a major, methodologies and approaches used in the elementary music classroom, and university music curriculum. However, there is a lack of literature specifically focused on what preservice teachers’ know about methods and approaches used in teaching elementary general music. Research on which methods and approaches are best has yielded inconclusive results and involved in-service teachers. The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice teachers’ ability to identify two different methodologies used in teaching elementary general music when viewing teaching excerpts. Preservice teachers’ past experience with the two methodologies as well as major emphasis, personal teacher experience and method preference was also explored. Participants (N = 134) for this study were undergraduate music education majors in their sophomore, junior, or senior year of college from eight different universities across the United States. Students were in their sophomore (n = 23), junior (n = 61), and senior (n = 50) year and represented instrumental (n = 86), choral (n = 33), and elementary (n = 15) emphasis. All participants viewed a stimulus DVD of five teaching excerpts containing music lessons using either the Kodály or Orff method and chose which method they believed was being used. Preservice teachers had several choices from which to choose, Orff, Kodály, Dalcroze, Suzuki, or “Don’t Know”. Results revealed preservice teachers’ were more successful in identifying the Kodály method when viewing the teaching excerpt using solfa and the Orff method when viewing the excerpt using Orff instruments. Findings for the three remaining excerpts (Orff body percussion, Orff speech chant, and Kodály game) revealed low percentages of correct answers from all participants. However, elementary majors had the greatest number of correct responses for all five teaching excerpts. Results for past experiences, personal teacher experience, and method preference are also discussed.
Files	Filename       Size       Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)     28.8 Modem   56K Modem   ISDN (64 Kb)   ISDN (128 Kb)   Higher-speed Access    MasonEDissertation.pdf 934.76 Kb 00:04:19 00:02:13 00:01:56 00:00:58 00:00:04