Rachel Pennington

MUED 376

Music Teacher Effectiveness Summary

Right from the onset of this article, one vital point that stood out to me and reaffirmed my

understanding stated that it is not just one trait or attribute is connected to being an effective

music teacher, it is in fact a combination of multiple characteristics. As the research presents,

characteristics of teacher effectiveness include high level of intensity, competent verbal and

nonverbal communication skills, eye contact, feedback, physical gestures, pacing and

sequential patterns of music instruction, and posture. Mayhew’s premise supposed that

characteristic of effective teaching can be identified within seconds of a teacher presentation.

This article states, “While some characteristics of effective music teaching may not be

immediately apparent in a brief initial impression (lesson content, pacing, rehearsal structure,

planning, knowledge of subject matter) they still contribute to the effective teacher.” (Mayhew,

17).

The characteristic of “intensity” was more specifically described as a “high-magnitude

teacher,” which included descriptions of maintaining eye-contact with students around the room,

varied proximity throughout rehearsal, maintaining a rapid and exciting rehearsal pace, using

expressive conducting gestures, facial expression that differentiated between looks of approval

and disapproval, and varied the pitch, volume, and speed of their speaking voice. (Yarbrough,

18) I found this section very interesting, because I had always perceived being an “intense”

teacher as somewhat of a scary and extreme tactic that I personally didn’t think I would ever use

in my classroom, but after reading this section, it corrected my misconstructed views of “intense”

teaching. I now see this as a more effective and confident way of teaching as opposed to being

scary or drastic. It showed in a study taken by four randomly selected students, that this way the

most beneficial way for the least amount of off task behaviors, and the highest strategy for
completing tasks, as opposed to a “low magnitude conductor”. Related to this, the article

explains that being an intense teacher can also lead to being an intense conductor.

Another category of effective teaching, “conducting and nonverbal behaviors,” states that

“studies have shown that nonverbal communication such as posture, eye contact and facial

expression can influence an ensemble’s perceptions of a conductor’s ability even before the

rehearsal begins” (Fredrickson, Johnson, & Robinson, 1998; Julian, 1989). This statement was

kind of eye-opening for me, because often times when I’m conducting, I look down at my score

and I don’t make eye-contact or show facial expressions very often, because all of those are

sort of a security blanket for me. This shows that the choir or ensemble will benefit from these

things that I am often hesitant to do when I am on the podium. This research has brought home

to me the need to be able to do these things when I become a music teacher in order to be

“effective” and establish the connection with my choir and help them to be the most on-task that

I can.

The next subject brought up in the article involves “teaching patterns”. One of the key

points brought up in this section is being able to give short and clear instruction, as well as

patterns resulting in approval and specific reinforcement as opposed to patterns resulting in

disapproval and nonspecific reinforcement. This also was kind of eye-opening to me, because

my natural instinct is to explain everything in detail when I’m conducting or teaching, but the

most effective way is to give short and specific details that will overall help with pace and the

timing and structure of the class.

The next topic of “skills and behaviors viewed as important for effective music teaching

included these skills which I found very beneficial and useful to know and to someday apply to

my own teaching and my own classroom: “conducting technique, teacher-student rapport, and

instructional skills” (Bergee, 23). Another interesting element in this category includes

responses from pre-service teachers and experienced music teachers. Both of these test

groups rated personal skills and teaching skills more important than musical skills. The
explanation of this statement states, “the top seven items common to both lists were: (1)

maturity/self-control; (2) ability to motivate; (3) strong leadership skills; (4) involving students in

learning process; (5) displaying confidence; (6) organization; and (7) employing a positive

attitude” (Bergee, 24). I found this summary of the data to be the most interesting of all, as well

as contradictory to what I previously thought. I understand that musicality in a music teacher is

obviously important, but I would have never thought that it would come third in the importance of

being a music teacher. This statement alone kind of gave me a new perspective on teaching,

and a new way to apply these specific traits to my own teaching.

Overall, I found this article very helpful and beneficial to my overall understanding of how

to be an effective music teacher. I will definitely work to integrate these successful teacher

behaviors in my own classroom and teaching.