Perception Dimensions of Music Classroom Teaching - An exploratory Monitoring Study of pupils, students, student teachers and teachers

Abstract

The research project OSIRIS uses videographic tests in order to examine to which extent targeted interventions can improve future teachers’ observational skills during their studies.  The pilot study at hand, OSIRIS 1, looks at the relevance of different basic dimensions of perception. In a video-based test 275 individuals (high school students, M. Ed students for music, other M. Ed students, teachers on probation and teachers for music) rated the dissimilarity of presented freeze frames from exerts from several music lessons which they had watched beforehand. The analysis of qualitative data reinforces the observation that the frame of reference is initially shaped by general educational-methodologic dimensions. Students tend to associate music lessons with more music-related forms of expressions whilst teaching staff gravitates more towards educational-methodologically based comments. A three-dimensional model of a multi-dimensional scale was able to establish the dimensions attention, co-operation and the actual making of music. It should be noted that perception of Music Classroom Teaching is strongly defined by general educational aspects. Furthermore, the connecting dimension between educational and musical aspects can be described as ‚co-operative interaction’. Differential results are only found in the capacity to remember educationally relevant stimuli. Experts in the relevant field do better in the subsequent memory recognition test than university or high school students. In employing a dimensional analysis of the frame of perception OSIRIS 1 provides significant insights into the methodological foundations of a later intervention study.