Instrumental teaching as ‘the noblest and the most under-praised job’: multiple case studies of three Hong Kong instrumental teachers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore how instrumental teachers reflect their professional development pathways with reference to their own apprenticeship experiences. The participants were three female instrumental teachers who taught the piano and violin. Reflections of teachers’ own learning experiences on their career pathways and professional development were collected from the participants through interviews, teaching diaries, and field notes. Several themes emerged from the data collected over an approximately six-month period. First, all the participants experienced long musical apprenticeships. Second, the teachers rarely perceived pedagogical skills are ‘learnable’ skills as performing skills. Finally, all the teachers were only interested in practical, examination-oriented professional development programmes, as opposed to academic or pedagogically-oriented outcomes such as journals or conferences. The unitisation of professional development choices would appear to be the most urgent and pressing problem faced by instrumental teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Instrumental teaching
• apprenticeship
• music education
• professional development
• teacher quality

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the teachers who kindly participated in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

King Cheung Calvin Lee

Calvin Lee is a Post-doctoral Fellow of The Education University of Hong Kong. He has a PhD in Music Education, with an emphasis on the instrumental teachers’ training and professional development. He has published an article in International Journal of Music Education concerning the motivation of instrumental learners. Calvin has more than 20 years of work experience in instrumental teaching, and his students cover different age groups.

Bo Wah Leung

Bo Wah Leung is currently Professor of Department of Cultural and Creative Arts and Director of Research Centre for Transmission of Cantonese Opera at The Education University of Hong Kong. He received the prestigious Musical Rights Award from the International Music Council in 2011 for his leadership in a research project titled ‘Collaborative Project on Teaching Cantonese Opera in Primary and Secondary Schools’. His research interest includes creativity in music education and transmission of traditional music. Leung is at present President-elect of International Society for Music Education (ISME), and Chair of Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education (APSMER).