Faculty of Education - Theses

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End date: 2009 × Start date: 2000 × Subject: Music teachers × Subject: Training of ×

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    An investigation into the design and implementation of professional development programmes in technology for music teachers
    Oldham, Christine L ( 2009)
    The ,purpose of this study was to investigate the design and implementation of professional development programmes in technology for music teachers. The aim of the study was to identify characteristics of effective professional development and formulate a new paradigm for professional development. Music technology offers much to enhance music education for students, but many teachers are apprehensive about using it. The study examined research literature related to music education, information and communications technology and professional development. A school-based action research project provided practical data for the study. Reflection on this project and the literature found that effective professional development in music technology is school-based, authentic, collaborative and ongoing. Teachers will reap the benefits of such professional development when they participate in online communities of learning, engage in reflective practice, embrace lifelong learning and seek the guidance of mentors.
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    Creative spirit in classroom music education
    King, Gary ( 2005)
    Nurturing creativity by responding to students' unexpected initiatives requires teachers themselves to be models of spontaneity and improvisation. Thirty-one anecdotes were collected from practitioners of the Orff Approach to classroom music education and discussed online, uncovering a variety of responsive strategies that resulted in increased collaboration and engagement. The study drew on the Social Constructivist models of education and creativity expounded by Vygotsky, Csikszentmihalyi, Gardner and Anna Craft, and on the epistemology of Wittgenstein as Alice made sense of her Wonderland conversation with Humpty Dumpty. Practical solutions were offered to an apparent dilemma, that nurturing student creativity appears to require a state of anarchy to exist in the classroom. Four themes emerged from the data. These documented teachers' insightful responses to classroom 'shenanigans' and aggression, the benefits that followed when teachers were willing to 'go' the extra mile', the desire of teachers to create and sustain a cooperative classroom atmosphere and the importance of linking classroom music activities to children's lives in a meaningful way. The study findings suggest that responsiveness is an important key to nurturing independent creative thinking.