Didattica della musica ed insegnante efficace: un'indagine quantitativa Music teaching and the effective teacher: a quantitative study

Teaching and learning are two dimensions of the same educative process; it is a complex condition where the individual can meet and experience his or her own cultural and social system, sharing meanings, symbols, and languages (Frabboni, 1999). A condition of effective teaching may develop when the teacher puts into his or her professional activity some specific characteristics with the aim to promote students' learning and autonomy in the educational process. There are some aspects in teacher's activity which may foster the development of a more adaptive learning context, where many different educational opportunities are offered. In that condition, teacher has no more a function of merely transmission of academics contents and skills, but he or she has to support students' personal growth, considering and respecting their ambitions, needs and opinions (Rogers, 1969; Gordon, 1974). In music education, effective teaching has the aim to contribute to students' achievement and to support the development of a positive and adaptive learning context for each pupil (Cheng and Durrant, 2007). The analysis of the main elements of effective music teaching must take into account the specific features that defined instrumental and vocal music training. First, these lessons are characterized by a one-to-one teacher-student relationship, a condition very different from collective classes. Second, learning goals include the acquisition of both theoretical concepts (music theory, ear training, rhythm discrimination and reproduction) and practical skills connected with instrumental and vocal technique. Third, teachers' beliefs seem to influence the didactic method used during music lessons. If they believe that respecting and transmitting traditional performance practice is the core of teaching process, they will propose the contents to students without stimulating and supporting critical reviews and personal interpretations. On the other hand, if teacher gives more importance to the development of students' musical identity, it is more likely that he or she adopts a learner-centred teaching method. In the end, there are some psychological, emotional, and motivational aspects which emerge in students' experience and may foster or interfere with the music learning process (e.g. music performance anxiety and achievement motivation). Considering effective music teaching, two research trends may be identified: the first considers single components of the teaching process, while the second tries to define a more general structure which includes all the elements that are involved in music teaching. In the first approach studies focused on specific features are considered with the aim to understand the impact of each dimension on music teaching. From this perspective, some aspects have emerged as components of effective music teaching. The first refers to the particular one-to-one relationship between teacher and pupil (Presland, 2005; Gaunt, 2008; Creech and Hallam, 2010; Zhukov, 2013). The second aspect is related to teachers' reflections about effective teaching and the beliefs they develop about this concept (Teachout, 1997; Butler, 2001; Mills and Smith, 2003; Madsen and Cassidy, 2005; Gaunt, 2008; Bautista, Echeverría and Pozo, 2010). Another characteristic widely explored in that context is the quality of verbal and non-verbal communication during music lesson (Durrant, 1994; Cavitt, 2003; Karlsson and Juslin, 2008; Bautista et col., 2010). This dimension includes all the instructions and feedbacks used during teaching and learning process and, at the same time, the exchange of feelings, reflections, issues and requests which is at the basis of a positive teacher-student relationship. In addition to these aspects, research studies have also considered the following components connected to the didactic activity: teaching strategies (Young, Burnell and Pickup, 2003), lesson structure (Madsen, 2003) and the instructional cycle (Price, 1992; Bowers, 1997). All the discussed elements have a great impact on the educational process, influencing both teacher’s and student's activity. A condition of effective music teaching seems to be characterized by a positive interpersonal teacher-student relationship regulated by proper communicative exchanges. In it, teachers and students are involved in building a common view and they share an educational project where strategies and objectives are chosen on the basis of mutual respect and attention to pupil's needs and potentialities. In the second research approach different general models of effective music teaching have been proposed. Among them, one has been defined by Towsend (2011), who identified two main dimensions in music effective teaching: the artistic and educative dimension (“artistry”) and the relational one (“attitude”). Both these elements have to be taken into account when promoting efficacy in music teaching. The second model has been presented by Lehmann, Sloboda e Woody (2007) and it is composed by five dimensions of music teaching: teacher-student relationship, teacher's promotion of student's learning autonomy and self-regulatory strategies, the quality of communicative system during music lessons, the three-phase instructional cycle, and teachers' professional training, which has to improve professional skills before and during teaching career. The research in the field of effective music teaching has offered important findings on a so complex theme, both on a theoretical and practical side. However, there are some critical issues that need to be discussed more in detail. First of all, many studies use a case study methodology: although this offers a detailed analysis, the results cannot easily be generalized in a broader educative context. Moreover, a experimental validation of the proposed theoretical models is missing (Capperella-Sheldon, 2010); they can take credit for having linked the theoretical findings with practical activities developed in classroom, but they do not validate the proposed structures, merely using them with practical aims. On the other hand, many studies examine single components of music teaching without trying to integrate them in a wider theoretical structure. Finally, there is a lack of reflections about the practical implications of research findings: the link between theory and practice in music education needs to be improved. The current research project tries to face the critical points emerged from this literature review, with the aim to identify specific personal and professional characteristics of instrumental and vocal music teacher which may impact effective music teaching. Considering the results, a possible theoretical model of effective music teaching, focused on the field of instrumental and vocal music training. The main educational objective is to foster a deeper understanding of the elements which impact an effective music teaching condition and to highlight possible relationships between these aspects; all these reflections may be useful in planning and improving pre-service and in-service music teachers’ training. To test the hypothesis, a quantitative methodology has been used: for collecting the data, a set of questionnaires has been proposed to 160 Italian music teachers who works in Conservatories, private music schools and secondary schools. The instruments have gathered information about the teaching method, professional self-efficacy, social skills, beliefs about musical ability. Results have highlighted that there are some personal characteristics of music teacher that have an influence on particular dimensions of effective teaching in music field. More specifically, beliefs on the nature of musical ability seems to have a positive impact on elements connected to professional self-efficacy, teaching method and teacher-student relationship. Moreover, a low level of discomfort in expressing some social attitudes may be linked to the development of elements that support a condition of effective teaching in music education. From these consideration, several educational implications emerge: they are related to the necessity of promoting the development of correct beliefs about musical ability and of fostering the improvement of social competence in early music teacher training