Examining online video-based professional development for music teachers

ABSTRACT

This paper reports a qualitative study that investigates how five different video-based online prototypes impacted in-service music teachers’ professional knowledge and their learning experiences. Through an examination of participants’ posts and interviews, the findings showed that video-based professional development (PD) could impact teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge as they afforded reflections that could change participants’ thinking and provided a vicarious experience for music teaching. Situated in a forum, the video-based PD sessions allowed for co-construction of knowledge amongst participants. The findings also revealed challenges in participants’ active and sustained participation. The findings are discussed with extant research on effective PD and video-based PD, and take cognisance of heutagogy. We discuss considerations for online video-based PD in terms of PD content design in presenting and exploiting the video material, how we could include the diverse and flexible ways of participation, and the role of the facilitator in providing a safe environment and encouraging multiple perspectives.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional development
• video-based
• technology
• music education
• heutagogy
• pedagogical content knowledge

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Clifford Chua, Principal of Singapore Teachers’ Academy for the aRts (STAR), for his support in this study, as well as the rest of the research team in the video-mediated PD study including Alfredo Bautista (who was the first Principal Investigator who started this project but had to leave in the middle of the project), Alvyn Eng and James Lee Huan Siak for being collaborators for the project, and Clarence Tan and Joanne Wong who were the research assistants for the project.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This paper refers to data from the research project ‘Towards Responsive Professional Development for Singapore Music Teachers. Phase 3: Investigating Efficacy of Video-Based Professional Development’ (AFR 01/18 AB), funded by the Education Research Funding Programme, National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The views expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the views of NIE or STAR.

Notes on contributors

Siew Ling Chua

Siew Ling Chua is Principal Master Teacher (Music) at the Singapore Teachers’ Academy for the aRts, Ministry of Education. Her Ph.D. at the UCL Institute of Education was on growing music teacher identity. Her interests are in the professional development of music teachers, music pedagogies and cultural diversity in music education.

Leonard Tan

Leonard Tan is Associate Professor (Music) at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests focus on the philosophy, psychology, and practice of music education, often incorporating cross-cultural perspectives.