Inservice kindergarten teachers generally rated these music and

music-teaching competencies more highly than did preservice teachers. Most of the category means and item means of the inservice kindergarten teachers are higher than those of the preservice kindergarten teachers. According to the results in Chapter 4, the mean for the music competency group for inservice kindergarten teachers was 2.7, higher than the mean for preservice kindergarten teachers, which was 2.6. Among the eight music competency categories, six category means of the

inservice teachers were higher than those of the preservice teachers. Only two category means of the inservice teachers were lower than those of the preservice teachers. Among the 24 item means for music competencies, the inservice teachers had 12 item means higher than the item means of the preservice teachers, four item means equal to those of the preservice teachers, and eight item means lower than those of the preservice teachers, including five items in the keyboard skills category.

There were five items in this category, and all five item means were higher for preservice teachers than for inservice teachers. It can be assumed that preservice kindergarten teachers expect keyboard skills to play an important role in kindergarten music teaching. Inservice teachers, however, find that this does not turn out to be so (see Table 2 & 4).

Similarly, the mean value for music-teaching competencies was 2.9 for inservice teachers, higher than the preservice teachers’ mean of 2.7. The music-teaching competencies consisted of 24 items within five categories. Two category means were rated higher by inservice teachers than by preservice teachers, and three

category means were rated equally by inservice and preservice kindergarten teachers.

Of the 24 item means, 13 item means were rated higher by inservice teachers than by preservice teachers. There were eight item means rated equally by inservice and preservice teachers, and only three item means were rated lower by inservice teachers than by preservice teachers (see Table 3 & 5).

Overall, 37 item means out of 48 were rated equal or higher by inservice

kindergarten teachers than by preservice teachers. It can be assumed, therefore, that inservice kindergarten teachers use those music and music-teaching competencies more than preservice teachers would expect. The inservice teachers judged the importance of the competencies by drawing on their professional experience and found that some corresponded with their actual needs. The importance of the competencies to inservice kindergarten teachers was beyond the expectations of the preservice teachers.

It was difficult to find a similar study of preservice and inservice teachers with which a direct comparison of these results could be made. However, Teachout

(1997) had similar findings in his research that some teaching skills and behaviors were ranked higher by experienced music teachers than by preservice music teachers.

Because of their teaching experiences, experienced music teachers consider some skills and behaviors more crucial for initial success than do preservice teachers. For example, “Be enthusiastic, energetic,” “Maximize time on task,” “Maintain student behavior (strong, but fair discipline),” and “Be patient.”

Sefzik (1983) inquired into the effectiveness, as perceived by elementary school teachers in their first three years of teaching, of teacher preparation programs in six areas of competency: classroom discipline, skills for teaching specific subjects, student evaluation, teaching methods and strategies, human relations skills, and skills for teaching special students. The findings showed that in every area but teaching methods and strategies, the youngest teachers, ages 20-24, had higher mean scores than did the other two groups of teachers, those aged 25-29 years and those age 30 and above. Perhaps the youngest teachers were showing more youthful enthusiasm for their teaching situations.

CONCLUSIONS

Music and music-teaching competencies are perceived as having an important value in early childhood education. It is assumed that a kindergarten teacher with adequate music and music-teaching competencies will be able to provide appropriate music instruction for her kindergartners. This study attempted to provide an

accurate description of the music and music-teaching competencies considered important by selected Taiwanese kindergarten teachers, and, more specifically, to examine the kinds of music and music-teaching competencies gained from their teacher training program that are useful for teaching music in kindergarten.

The findings of this study suggest the following conclusions:

1. The findings of the study could assist Teachers Colleges in developing their teacher training programs. Teachers Colleges should provide specific, practical, and accessible music curricula applicable to the kindergarten classroom, and sufficient

resources to ensure that graduates of both inservice and preservice programs in Early Childhood Education are well prepared to meet the growing need for music education at the kindergarten level.

2. All of the inservice and preservice kindergarten teachers surveyed agreed that all the competencies listed in this questionnaire were at least “somewhat useful.” It could be assumed that these kindergarten teachers would accept a teacher training program which provided those useful competencies. All means scores for the 48 items were rated beyond two points (1 = not useful, 2 = somewhat useful, 3 = rather useful, 4 = very useful), which means that all of the respondents agreed that the music competencies and music-teaching competencies mentioned were correspondent with their needs and applicable to their current or future teaching. Therefore, it must be assumed that Pingtung Teachers College provides appropriate music courses for both inservice and preservice kindergarten teachers.

3. Teachers Colleges should provide more conferences or training programs to help kindergarten teachers learn a variety of competencies, since inservice teachers know what kind of competencies they actually need.

4. Based on the results of this study, the music courses for preservice and inservice kindergarten teachers should contain not only the development of various music and music-teaching competencies and understandings, but also guidance in exploring teaching strategies and course materials for integrating music into other subject areas. Music professors and administrators at the Teachers Colleges should be looking to provide an effective teacher preparation program, to promote

kindergarten teachers’ positive attitudes toward their musical abilities, and the implementation of those abilities for successful teaching. With more music and music-teaching competencies, kindergarten teachers will be able to better use music in their music teaching.

5. Kindergarten administrators and school districts should support and encourage inservice teachers to attend workshops / conferences and short or long-term training programs to enhance the teachers’ teaching abilities. School districts also should offer adequate training in teaching skills that have proved to be effective for their

student population.