Examining Elementary General Music Teachers’ Ratings of Musical Vignettes

The degree to which a teacher perceives a behavior as musical may impact their ability to support young children\u27s musicking and musical development actively. The purpose of this study was to examine elementary general music teachers’ perception of young children’s music making. Elementary general music teachers (n = 125) completed a questionnaire, rating the extent to which they agreed children and teachers described in six vignettes were engaged in making music. Vignettes were given with different conditions (1, 2, or 5 kindergartners; 0 or 1 teachers). 2x3 factorial ANOVAs showed agreement ratings were statistically different for two vignettes, one each at the teacher level or student level. The number of teachers or students involved in a vignette made no difference for the vignettes the respondents most strongly agreed or disagreed were musical. Through open-ended responses, respondents shared how they know students were making or responding to music. Some used observation for aural and visual indications, but many also wrote about compliance with the music teacher’s directions. Teachers’ assumptions about music and compliance may impact their ability to recognize some behaviors as music making, limiting their ability to respond to and support such behaviors and therefore, young children\u27s musical development