| The purpose of this study, was to investigate the relationship between Fine Arts Teaching Methods Courses and the use of music in elementary school classrooms. Accordingly, this study examined the effect of music methods courses on frequency and choice of musical activities in elementary school classrooms. One hundred forty-seven in-service elementary school teachers from randomly selected elementary schools from Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming were asked to complete a researcher-developed Web page questionnaire. The results obtained through the questionnaire revealed data about educational and musical backgrounds of the research participants, their experiences with Fine Arts Teaching Methods Courses and their use of music in their classrooms. Information regarding educational and musical backgrounds of the research participants was obtained in order to discover relationships between years of teaching experience, musical experiences during their educational years, length of music methods courses, and the frequency of musical activities in their elementary school classrooms. The results of this study indicate that music methods courses have only a marginal effect on preservice elementary school teachers' willingness to integrate music into their classrooms. Based on those findings, it seems that those elementary school teachers with musical backgrounds are the most likely to include music in their curricula. Further research is needed to establish how music methods courses could provide better training for preservice elementary school teachers who have limited musical backgrounds. |
