Factors Influencing Pre-Instructional Decisions: An Initial Investigation of Expert Music Teacher Perceptions

Pre-instructional decisions that teachers make fundamentally and directly influence their students’ music learning. Particularly with expert educators, as defined by their professional qualifications and education, these decisions reveal teachers’ motivations and pedagogical reasoning. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine pre-instructional decisionmaking from the perspective of expert music teachers, as framed by these two research questions: (1) which factors have more influence on pre-instructional decision-making among expert music teachers? and (2) what are the differences in pre-instructional decision-making by expert teachers in terms of teacher characteristics (gender and teaching experience) and educational setting (teaching level and musical context)? In a rank order analysis, teaching experience had the most prominent influence followed by materials and facilities, while the least influential factor was curriculum. In comparing differences among classroom-based and performance-based music teachers, results were largely the same. Performance-based teachers, however, ranked the influence of their own musical activities and assessment higher than did their classroom-based counterparts, who gave more emphasis to their own education and state curricula. Non-parametric tests revealed further insights, including directions for future research on pre-instructional decision-making among expert music educators, as well as recommendations for enhancing pre-service music teacher preparation and in-service professional development