Music Teaching Self-Efficacy in Early Childhood Teacher Education

Teachers who graduate from early childhood education (ECE) programs are often ultimately responsible for implementing music in ECE settings. In a situation-specific context such as the teaching of music in ECE settings, any concerns that pre-service teachers have about their competence as music educators may eventually result in the implementation of poorly conceptualized and ineffective learning experiences in music that involve little more than a token commitment of effort and time. The process of music-making seems to be a deeply personal one, and the personal nature of this process can sometimes act as a barrier to students' learning and enjoyment of making and teaching music in an ECE setting. Findings of this research suggest that is possible to boost pre-service early childhood teachers' confidence and competence to teach music over a single semester of study. Enhancing self-efficacy is the first step in helping generalists to develop the right blend of skills, knowledge and understandings necessary to teach music.