New ways of "training" in primary school music education: results and implications of a longitudinal research study

This paper will report on current results in a longitudinal study that investigated the music teaching efficacy of students participating in the core two-year methodology component of an elementary (primary) teacher education program. The study specifically focused on the context of music teaching by generalist teachers in elementary (primary) classrooms, which is an area of teaching where many otherwise confident and competent teachers often express a reluctance to teach. It investigated the factors that affect the initial formation of music teaching efficacy and whether those same factors affect music teaching efficacy developmentally throughout teacher “training”. The aim of this paper is to discuss the results in a framework of reflection on the pedagogical approaches taken in teacher “training” of generalist teachers for music education in NSW schools.