American Teachers - M.Ed.

Inquiry
Project Survey for Edmond Gubbins

Start of Block: General Information

Dear Teachers:

I am an international student from Ireland, completing my M.Ed. in Applied Studies in Teaching

& Learning at West Chester University. As a capstone project, I am exploring music teacher
preparation in the U.S. and in Ireland. I am requesting your participation in my inquiry though
your voluntary completion of the survey linked below.

Through my inquiry, I intend to gather insights into U.S. teachers' musical background and
experience, their pre-service teacher training and also their current teaching of music to
students in grades K-6. A similar survey is being completed by Irish primary school teachers
(Pre-K to 6th Grade) who are required to integrate music in their daily teaching. It is hoped that
the data gathered will reveal insights into best practices as part of an inquiry into music
education and variations in teacher preparation to teach music, through understanding
international practices.

Your participation in this survey is gratefully appreciated. Participation is voluntary- you are free
to quit the survey at any time or to complete only questions you select. There is no
compensation for participation and no anticipated risk from your completion of the survey below.
Data collected are anonymous.

By taking part in the survey, you agree that you have read and understand the above and that
you are giving consent for your responses to be used, anonymously, for the purposes of this
inquiry project. Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.

If you have questions, please contact me at EG900653@wcupa.edu. Sincerely,

Edmond Gubbins, M.Ed. Student, West Chester University of PA

Page 1 of 13
Q1 Please indicate your gender:

o Male (1)
o Female (2)
o Other (3)
o Prefer not to say (4)

Q2 How many years have you been teaching?

o 0-3 (1)
o 4-7 (2)
o 8-15 (3)
o 16-23 (4)
o 24-30 (5)
o 31+ (6)

Page 2 of 13
Q3 What class(es)/ grade(s) do you teach? (select all that apply)

▢ Pre-Kindergarten (1)

▢ Kindergarten (2)

▢ 1st Grade (3)

▢ 2nd Grade (4)

▢ 3rd Grade (5)

▢ 4th Grade (6)

▢ 5th Grade (7)

▢ 6th Grade (8)

▢ Special Education Teacher (9)

▢ Other (please specify) (10) ________________________________________________

End of Block: General Information

Start of Block: Part 1 - Musical Experience and Background

Q1 Do you, or have you engaged in any of these musical activities in the past? (select all that
apply) If possible, indicate for how long.

In the past (no longer

Partake in currently: More information:
engage in):

Select all that apply: Select all that apply:

Answer (1)
(1) (1)

Page 3 of 13
 Play a musical

▢ ▢
instrument (if
possible, list
instrument(s) ) (1)

Take music classes

(singing/instrumental)
(2) ▢ ▢

Song writing (3)

▢ ▢

▢ ▢
Play an instrument
with others (4)

▢ ▢
Play an instrument
alone (5)

Taken a music class

in middle/high school
(6) ▢ ▢

▢ ▢
Other musical activity
(please specify) (7)

End of Block: Part 1 - Musical Experience and Background

Page 4 of 13
Start of Block: Part 2 - Initial Teacher Music Education/ Pre-Service Teacher Training

Q1 How was your music education training delivered during your initial teacher education/pre-
service training?

o Music education as a standalone class (1)

o Music education integrated with other creative arts subjects (e.g. visual art, drama,
dance, etc.) (2)

o Other (please specify) (3) ________________________________________________

Q2 What form did this training take? (select all that apply)

▢ Large group (50 or more) lectures (1)

▢ Small group (30 or fewer) workshops (2)

▢ Practical music experience elements (e.g. music making, instrument playing, song
singing) (3)

▢ Theoretical music experience elements (e.g. music theory/literacy, history of music) (4)

▢
(5)
Pedagogy of music elements (e.g. classroom methodologies, age-appropriate practice)

▢ Other (please explain) (6) ________________________________________________

Q3 During your initial teacher education/ pre-service teacher training, were you explicitly made
aware of the relevant curricula for music education within your teaching context?

o Yes (1)
o No (2)

Page 5 of 13
Q4 What was/were the most beneficial thing/s that your initial teacher education/pre-service
teacher training in music education provided you with in your teaching career?

________________________________________________________________

End of Block: Part 2 - Initial Teacher Music Education/ Pre-Service Teacher Training

Start of Block: Part 3 - Music Education in the Classroom

Page 6 of 13
Q1 Using a 5-point scale with 0 being least comfortable and 5 being most comfortable, rate your
comfort level for each of the following activities:

Page 7 of 13
 0 (1) 1 (2) 2 (3) 3 (4) 4 (5)

Singing a song with

children (1) o o o o o
Teaching a music
listening lesson (2) o o o o o
Teaching a lesson
on music notation/
music literacy (3) o o o o o
Playing singing
games with
children (4) o o o o o
Using and
explaining musical
terminology (e.g.
pitch, timbre, o o o o o
dynamics, etc.) (5)
Teaching a
movement lesson
with children using
music (6)
o o o o o
Using music to
supplement
another subject (7) o o o o o
Selecting
appropriate songs
(8) o o o o o
Getting children to
compose a short
piece of music
using instruments o o o o o
(9)
Getting children to
compose a song
(10) o o o o o
Facilitating children
in performing a
piece of music (11) o o o o o
Leading/conducting
a choir (12) o o o o o

Page 8 of 13
 Playing an
instrument during a
music lesson (13) o o o o o
Including children
with special
educational needs
in a music lesson o o o o o
(14)
Differentiating for a
variety of learners
during a music
lesson (15)
o o o o o

Q2 How comfortable are you at implementing the following strands of music education?
Neither
Extremely Somewhat comfortable Somewhat Extremely
uncomfortable uncomfortable nor comfortable comfortable
(1) (2) uncomfortable (4) (5)
(3)
Listening
and
Responding
(8)
o o o o o
Composing
(9) o o o o o
Performing
(10) o o o o o

Q3 As a rough percentage, how much time do you devote to each of the strands of the music
curriculum in a typical school week? (drag the sliders to indicate the percentage)
_______ Listening and Responding (1)
_______ Composing (2)
_______ Performing (3)

Page 9 of 13
Q4 Are you involved, or have you been involved in any of the following typical school music
activities? (select all that apply and provide number of times, etc. in the box)

▢ Leading/conducting a choir (1)

________________________________________________

▢ Facilitating/rehearsing/organising a school show (2)

________________________________________________

▢ Creating/facilitating a music project (3)

________________________________________________

▢ Facilitating school band/orchestra (4)

________________________________________________

▢ Other (please specify) (5) ________________________________________________

Q5 How do you rate your ability to effectively implement the music curriculum in comparison to
other teachers? (drag the slider)
Far Moderately Slightly Average Slightly Moderately Far
below below below above above above
average average average average average average

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Your ability (1)

Other teachers (2)

Page 10 of 13
Q6 What areas of the curriculum, if any, do you integrate music education with? (select all that
apply)

▢ English (1)

▢ Irish (2)

▢ Mathematics (3)

▢ History (4)

▢ Geography (5)

▢ Science (6)

▢ Visual Art (7)

▢ Drama (8)

▢ Social, Personal and Health Education (9)

▢ Physical Education (10)

▢ Religious Education (11)

▢ Other (please specify) (12) ________________________________________________

Q7 In your current teaching situation, does your school have access to music teaching
resources?

o Yes (1)
o No (2)
Skip To: End of Block If In your current teaching situation, does your school have access to music
teaching resources? = No

Page 11 of 13
Q8 What resources are available? (select all that apply)

▢ instrument bank/collection (1)

▢ digital music resources (2)

▢ classroom textbooks (3)

▢ C.D./music collection (4)

▢ instrument rental scheme through the school (5)

▢ visiting music teachers/specialists (6)

▢ trips to musical concerts/shows (7)

▢ Other (please specify) (8) ________________________________________________

End of Block: Part 3 - Music Education in the Classroom

Start of Block: Part 4 - Visions for Music Education

Q1 What areas of music curriculum do you think you are relatively strong in implementing?

________________________________________________________________

Q2 Are there any areas of the music curriculum you feel that you could improve on
implementing?

________________________________________________________________

Q3 What do you feel you would need to improve/strengthen your teaching of music in the
classroom? (e.g. resources, specific training, etc.)

________________________________________________________________

Page 12 of 13
Q4 What do you think are some of the biggest challenges in implementing the music curriculum
to students?

________________________________________________________________

Q5 If you did not have any limitations on how to structure a music curriculum, what would music
education look like in your classroom?

________________________________________________________________

End of Block: Part 4 - Visions for Music Education

Page 13 of 13