What kind of role model are we educating in the Music Teacher Training Department?
An exploration of the effectiveness of the Music Teacher Training courses & internships within the Dutch Caribbean context, for the future music teacher.
Research Question: Which values, pedagogical attitudes and culturally diverse musical competences are fostered through courses and internships that center Dutch Carribean musical culture, in relation to the intended learning outcomes?
In the Music Teacher Training department, Dutch-Caribbean music and culture (focus on Aruba and Curaçao) has a small but permanent place in the curriculum. This concerns the courses Ensemble Practice in B2 and the Profile Internship in B4.
In the course Ensemble Practice (3 ECTS), students receive instruction in music from Curaçao and Aruba: playing various styles, as well as lessons in transmission/teaching and cultural context.
Students can choose to complete (part of) their profile internship (12 ECTS) in Aruba or Curaçao. In the past year for example, one student completed an internship at the IPA (the teacher training college of Aruba) and helped future primary school teachers of Aruba learn how to teach music to children.
What do these lessons and experiences bring to the students? To examine this, I use, among other frameworks, the model by John Harland and Lois Hetland, Desired and Achieved Learning Effects of Art Education (2009 – Cultuurnetwerk Nederland). This model measures primary effects (knowledge, skills, creativity, investigative attitude) and secondary effects (enjoyment, personal growth, transfer effects).
I have observed/will observe lessons and conduct surveys and interviews with students and teachers to investigate where the lessons should be intensified or adjusted. These possible adjustments will follow in the autumn, after which I will evaluate the outcomes and draw conclusions.
