Date of Conferral

1-1-2011

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Marilyn Simon

Abstract

Pressures from education reforms have contributed to the need for music educators to embrace new and diverse instructional strategies to enhance the learning environment. Music teachers need to understand the pedagogy of teaching and learning and how these affect their praxis. The purpose of this multiple case evaluative study was to investigate the instructional methods used in 10 middle school general music programs to assist students in obtaining the National Standards for Music Education. Bloom's revised taxonomy was the theoretical framework used to evaluate the teaching praxis of the participating teachers. The research questions for the study addressed the effectiveness of the instructional strategies in the music classroom and how they align with the National Standards Music Education and Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Data were collected from an open ended survey, individual interviews, and unobtrusive documents from 10 general music teachers from suburban, rural, and urban school districts. A line-by-line analysis was followed by a coding matrix to categorize collected data into themes and patterns. The results indicated that standards-based metacognitive instructional strategies can assist music teachers in their classrooms and unite cognitive, affective, and kinesthetic experiences applicable beyond the music classroom. It is recommended that music teachers use alternative teaching techniques to promote and connect critical thinking skills through musical learning experiences. Implications for positive social change include training music educators to create learning environments that support and motivate students to learn and achieve academic success.

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