Associate Professor of Music Education Christian Bernhard II published a manuscript based on his recent study of 196 music education majors in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, a peer-reviewed periodical of the National Association for Music Education. The article was titled, "Music Education Major’s Confidence in Teaching Improvisation."
Article Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to describe undergraduate music education majors’ confidence in teaching improvisation, according to the NAfME (National Association for Music Education) K–12 Achievement Standards. Subjects were 196 undergraduate music education majors at a public university school of music. Combined subjects reported “moderate confidence” for teaching Grade K–4 standards of improvisation, “slight” to “moderate confidence” for Grades 5 to 8 standards, and “slight confidence” for teaching improvisation standards at the Grades 9 to 12 levels, and significant differences were found among the means for all three grade levels. Confidence increased by year in school (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and by primary instrument area (woodwind, brass, voice, piano, string, percussion). Subjects reported “slight” to “moderate confidence” in their own ability to improvise but “moderate” to “great interest” in learning more about how to teach improvisation. Implications for music teacher education are discussed.
