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Student, Cooperating, and Supervising Teacher Perceptions of Educational and Musical Interactions During Student Teaching

Journal of Music Teacher Education

Published online on

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the participants’ perceptions of the concurrent educational and musical interactions among student teachers, cooperating teachers, and me as a supervising teacher and participant observer. Two cooperating teachers and two student teachers worked together daily for 2 months while teaching elementary and middle school string orchestra students. Concurrently, these four teachers and I participated in chamber music experiences each week. Data included individual interviews, observations of student teachers’ teaching and music-making interactions, and researcher’s reflections and notes. Participants described advantages of working together in an educational setting: student teachers formed a support system, student and cooperating teachers learned from each other, and sectionals benefited the string students and cooperating teachers. Participants found musical interactions were considered positive and valued experiences, helped the student teachers reach a higher level of chamber music performance, helped forge relationships between participants, and had personal and educational implications.