Teacher Educator Perspectives on Music Integration in the Preparation of Preservice Elementary Classroom Teachers

In this survey research, I examined teacher educators’ perspectives regarding music integration in their music methods courses for pre-service classroom teachers. Previous researchers have defined music integration levels and styles. In the current study, half of the teacher educators defined music integration in terms that reflected the highest levels of integration, focusing on authentic relationships between disciplines, while 44% defined music integration in ways that evoked the lowest levels, placing music in a secondary role. Most participants indicated that they integrated music with other areas of the elementary curriculum, and many shared circumstances that promoted or inhibited the inclusion of music integration strategies. Among the circumstances that teacher educators saw as promoting music integration were individual course content and design, overall program structure, and buy-in from various stakeholder groups. Conversely, lack of faculty interest or expertise, limited instructional time, and concerns about students’ musical confidence and expertise were among the reported barriers to prioritizing music integration in their coursework. This article concludes with a discussion of these findings and suggestions for future research