A Single Study on a Music Teacher Communication Skills

Sam Caguindagan1, Andre Mikyle Dael2, Kaye Dagala3, Mary Antonette Dagaraga4,

Kennyben Gallogo5, Queenly Lou Jayoma6, Kimberly Ann Paler7

BMED-1, Arts and Sciences Program

Introduction

Communication skills can be defined as a set of skills that enable a person to

communicate properly. Hymes (2017) mentioned that, effective communication skills consist of
knowing when to speak, when not, and what to talk about, with whom, when, where, in what
form. Communication skills allow you to understand and be understood by others. These can
include but are not limited to effectively communicating ideas to others, actively listening in
conversations, giving and receiving critical feedback and public speaking. It is an ability you use
when giving and receiving different kinds of information. Hence, good communication skills are
the cornerstone of a successful career, (Seiler and Beall, 2005).

It is essential for the music teacher’s to have good communication skills because music
requires exact and proper technique, musicianship, practice strategies, music theory and
appreciation, and to be able deliver or share effective knowledge, one should also be sensitive
to their student’s body language and be attuned to their students shifts in mood and energy
level, then make adjustments to better meet the needs of their students. Arca (2013) stated that
Music Teachers need strong written spoken communication skills. They give music lessons to a
wide range of students, from preschool children to retirees. Having the versatility to
communicate with all at these age levels is not just an asset, but a necessity. Listening skills are
vital. Music instructors need to listen carefully to musical elements such as notes, rhythm,
articulation, pedaling, shaping, tempo and flow. Based on their assessment, they assist their
students in correct consistencies and learning errors. Music teaches should posses good
perception and observation skills. They need to detect and correct improper technique and
posture which if left unchecked, could lead to injuries to the students.Silver (2018) states that
communication is both receptive and expensive. Teachers must be skilled at listening to their
students as well as explaining things clearly. Teachers need clarity of thought to present the
material. They must be able to break down complex ideas into simpler parts and smaller steps
to transmit their students. They be able to adapt their methods of communication to all students,
regardless of ability or learning style. Effective communication includes transforming the boring
into the interesting and having good presentation skills. Silver (2014) stated that the ability to
communicate well is especially important for teachers in their interaction with parents, they can’t
explain a student’s needs in a way parents understand. Moreover, if a parent recognized the
teacher’s inability to communicate effectively, the parent might wonder if that teacher
competently leads the class.
This rises the problem commonly not only for the music teachers but also the teachers handling
different discipline. The researchers observed that most classes have communication barrier.
One of which is that the class gets bored of the teacher due to his/her way of speaking. Bryner
(2007) states that in the annual Indiana University’s High School Survey of Student
Engagement (HSSSE) survey, fewer than 2 percent of students said that they were never bored
in school, about 20 percent of students said that they had considered dropping out of school,
giving some of the following reasons: 73 percent said, “I didn’t like the school.”, 61 percent said ,
“I didn’t like the teachers.”, 60 percent said, “I didn’t see the value in the work I was being asked
to do.”, and 25 percent said, “No adults in the school cared about me.” Another problem that
surfaced in the class room is the personality differences. According to Baloğu (2009), good
behaviour is necessary condition for effective teaching in which there are few children who
come to school without any problems. He also states that the children’s behaviour at school
appears to be strongly affected by within school factors. In his research, it was found that
“behaving towards the students aggressively” was the most pointed out negative teacher
behaviour, along with “speaking fast in teaching”, “threatening students with low grades” and
making discrimination among the students.” which were the more often expressed negative
teacher behaviour by the students.

In this study, the researchers would like to investigate for Music Education teacher for they are
the forefronts of the academic endeavour in providing quality education for the students.
Teachers must have good communication skills to help their students achieve academic
success. Teachers also need communication skills to further their careers in education. Above
all, teachers must have the ability to communicate their subject matter expertise to facilitate
classroom learning an participation. Students depend o their teachers to provide them with
instruction, guidance and feedback/ throughout the learning process. When a teacher fails to
communicate effectively with the students, their comprehension level drops, and they eventually
lose grasp of the subject matter. Thus, this study is made.

Methodology

Qualitative Research is a type of social science research that collects and works with
non-numerical data and that seeks to interpret meanings, concepts, definitions, characteristics,
metaphors, symbols and description of things from these data that help understand social life
through the study of targeted populations or places, (Crossman, 2020). This study is a single –
case study, the most basic from of case-oriented research. Single case studies are useful
experimental designs in a variety of situation, (Mansourov, 2011). The researchers ask consent
to the participant as their first move and took videos as their documentation for the research
purposes only. The researchers gather data by observing and interviewing questions on how
participant interact, interpret and respond to our questions. The participant would be observed
through both of her writing and oral skills. The researchers have chosen a professional music
teacher as the participant of our study. The researchers would like to examine of how good and
effective she is in terms of using English Language as a tool in communicating with her
students. Given for the fact that teaching music is difficult to apply and interpret that’s why it’s
necessary to measure the sufficiency of her skills in English Communication, both written and
verbal.
Results and Discussion

1. Participant’s Profile

La Maestra is a professional music teacher, where she finished her elementary

education on a public school, Secondary Level Education on a prestigious high school. After
high school, she realized that she wanted to study music education as her tertiary course in
Manila, but unfortunately her mother did not allow her, not until she’ll turn 18 years old, so she
had no choice but to spend her two years at a university in Cagayan de Oro taking up AB
General. After finishing her two-year course, as promised by her mother, she then flew to Manila
to finally study music education on a college that offers her preferred course. She finished two
courses, Bachelor of Music Education (BMED) and Bachelor of Music Major in Piano (BM
Piano). Her father, passed away approximately 30 years ago, according to her, her father
worked at a plant in Jasaan while her mother was a housewife and worked as an old-sitter in the
United States on her 60’s. She is a pure Cebuano-Visayan in their family, however, they grew
up communicating in Filipino language due to the fact that her grandfather strictly implemented
to use Filipino language. He was so strict that he even quoted on his deathbed: “Lahat ng mga
apo ko ay dapat lalaking tagalog.” She further discussed that she doesn’t have any difficulties
using the English language as a mean of communication since they were encouraged to read
books, which her favorite book series on her childhood days were Nancy Drew and the Hardy
Boys series and other classic fairy tales. She has no achievements regarding of her
communication skills but with the help of it, she managed the students to reached their goal
which in fact, the department she handled had help a lot of students to graduate and was able
to pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) . She rated herself a five score out of
five, which five is the highest and one is the lowest. Knowing that she was exposed of English
language during her childhood years and still confident on using it, the researchers believed that
it is the reason why she gave herself a high score.

2. Participant’s Speaking Skills

Speaking skills are the skills that give us the ability to communicate effectively. There
skills allow the person to convey his message in passionate, thoughtful, and convincing manner.
It is the productive skill in the oral mode. Speaking skills allows us to form connections,
influence decisions, and motivate change. Without speaking skills, the ability to progress in the
working world and in life, itself, would be nearly impossible, (Lucanus, 2014).

2.1 Confidence is the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm
trust. Based on the researchers’ observation the participant exercised her confidence very well,
gestures are present and well-fit to every word that she is saying, maybe because of her years
of experience in teaching, that’s why it’s easy and normal for her to be interviewed and asked.
Teachers can acquire confidence through years of experience in teaching, (Briggs, 2014).

2.2 Comprehension is the capability of understanding something. The researchers had

observed the participant’s comprehension skills during the interview being conducted. The
participant was able to understand all the questions being asked and was able to answer well.
The participant developed her comprehension skills because she was very exposed with books
during her childhood days. Comprehension skills includes makings sense of words, connecting
ideas between text and prior knowledge, constructing and negotiating meaning in discussion
with others and much more and one of the ways to develop communication skills is through
reading variety of texts, (Adams et al, 2001).

2.3 Pronunciation is the way in which a word is spoken. The participant was able to
pronounce every words she meant. Based on the researchers’ observation the participant
possessed the good pronunciation skills, (Gilakjani, 2019). The participant made mention during
the interview that she was exposed with books which made her good in pronouncing words. To
improve good pronunciation skills is to spend a lot of time reading or listening to English
learning material.

The researchers observed that the participant has certain and precised speaking skills.
During the interview, the researchers find no errors regarding with her grammars, pronunciation
and comprehension. In addition, the participant was very confident in answering all the
questions being asked by the researchers. The researchers also noticed the the proper
gestures and intonations she conveys while explaining her ideas. To evaluate the whole
interview the good thing that the researchers observed was that, the participant is used in
speaking in English language which helped her develop her speaking skills given the fact that
she already have years of experience most especially in teaching

Appendix A
Transcription of the Interview

Question: Good afternoon ma’am, the first question is, what is your biggest achievement in
your entire career besides the strings program and why?

Answer: Biggest achievement? What is my biggest achievement in my career? I went to

masters degree, I went to graduate school for the music program.

Question: So our next question is, besides music ma’am what are the other things in the future,
like if you did not take music as your course what are the things you may see yourself in?

Answer: First of all I don’t see myself taking up other course, ever since, I was young it’s always
been music but then my mother wanted me to take up AB English and then I was like, “No Way”
so I won and I took music.

Question: what’s the reason of your mother why she wants you to take up AB English?

Answer: Maybe because she knows that I write well.

Question: Ah…but she wants you to become a teacher?

Answer: No, she just wants me to take up AB English.

Question: Okay Ma’am, so how do you see yourself after retirement?

Answer: After retirement? Haha oh my God.

Question: Are you planning to stay in Cagayan de Oro or not?

Answer: I will stay in Cagayan de Oro I will not go anywhere. I have five years to train the one
who will come after me.

Question: So last question ma’am, how do you handle pressure in your workplace ma’am?

Answer: How do I handle pressure?

Question: Do you listen to music?

Answer: No I don’t try to listen to music. Okay what do I do? I eat that’s why I have diabetes
because I used to drink coke and ice tea when I’m under pressure.

Question: Stress eating ma’am

Answer: Yes

Question: You eat a lot?

Answer: Yes, and for Christmas break I gained a lot of pounds.

Question: Okay ma’am I think the last question is, if not music ma’am what would be your
preferred career next to music?
Answer: I cannot remember thinking about other courses, because as I said ever since I was
young I just want music, I was want piano.

Question: Who introduced you to music?

Answer: My mother comes for musical family. My mother used to sing with my two sisters, and
my piano teacher is the sister of my mother who is a graduate of music. So it runs in the blood.
I’m the only one who pursued music but we all went to the same ground.

Interviewer: That’s all ma’am thank you!!!!

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