Teachers often claim that they learn more from teaching experience than from course work. In this qualitative study, the author explored the value that six preservice teachers attributed to peer teaching, early field experiences, student teaching, and self-arranged teaching experiences engaged in during their university education. Consistent with Dewey’s theory of experience, as the participants interacted with their teaching experiences, they each created continuity among and derived their own meanings from them. This individualized aspect of learning was enriched as they also experienced the value of learning within a community of educators. Meaningful learning from all types of teaching experience appeared to be fostered by a balance between doing (action) and undergoing (reflection), both individually and in community. Dewey’s theory of experience proved useful in illuminating possible reasons for similarities and differences in the teaching experiences that each participant valued.
Bauer, W.I., & Berg, M.H. ( 2001). Influences on instrumental music teaching. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 150, 53-66.
2.
Berliner, D.C. ( 2008). The nature of expertise in teaching. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser , D. J. McIntyre, & K. E. Demers (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd ed., pp. 808-823). New York: Routledge. (Original work published 1992)
3.
Brand, M. ( 1982). Effects of student teaching on the classroom management beliefs and skills of music student teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 30, 255-265.
4.
Bullough, R.V., & Gitlin, A.D. ( 1989). Toward educative communities: Teacher education and the quest for the reflective practitioner. Qualitative Studies in Education, 2, 285-298.
5.
Butler, A. ( 2001). Preservice music teachers’ conceptions of teaching effectiveness, micro-teaching experiences, and teaching performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 49, 258-272.
6.
Clift, R.T., & Brady, P. ( 2005). Research on methods courses and field experiences. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. M. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education (pp. 309-424). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
7.
Colwell, R.J. ( 2003). Program evaluation in music teacher education. Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 158, 4-41. (Original work published 1985)
8.
Conway, C. ( 2002). Perceptions of beginning teachers, their mentors, and administrators regarding preservice music teacher preparation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50, 20-36.
9.
Creswell, J.W. ( 2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Dewey, J. ( 1934). Art as experience. New York: Perigee Books.
11.
Dewey, J. ( 1963). Experience and education. New York : Macmillan. (Original work published 1938)
12.
Dewey, J. ( 1998). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process (Rev. ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Original work published 1933)
13.
Dewey, J. ( 2005). Democracy and education. Stilwell , KS: Digireads.com Publishing. (Original work published 1944)
14.
Duke, R.A. ( 2005). Intelligent music teaching: Essays on the core principles of effective instruction. Austin, TX: Learning and Behavior Resources.
15.
Eisner, E.W. ( 1994). The educational imagination: On the design and evaluation of school programs (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan College Publishing Company.
16.
Erickson, F. ( 1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 119-161). New York: Macmillan.
17.
Feiman-Nemser, S., & Buchmann, M. ( 1985). Pitfalls of experience in teacher education. Teachers College Record, 87, 53-66.
18.
Fenstermacher, G.D. ( 1986). Philosophy of research on teaching: Three aspects. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 37-49). New York: Macmillan.
19.
Fredrickson, W.E., & Pembroke, R.G. (2002). "When you pinpoint incorrect notes and they still miss them, what do you do then?" (Perceptions of music field experience students). Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 153/154, 8-11.
20.
Goodlad, J.I. ( 1984). A place called school. New York: McGraw-Hill.
21.
Grossman, P.L., & Richert, A.E. ( 1988). Unacknowledged knowledge growth: A re-examination of the effects of teacher education. Teaching & Teacher Education , 4, 53-62.
22.
Harwood, E., & Wiggins, J. ( 2001). Composing a lesson: Examining our metaphors. The Mountain Lake Reader, pp. 32-41.
23.
Hollingsworth, S. ( 1989). Prior beliefs and cognitive change in learning to teach . American Educational Research Journal, 26, 160-189.
24.
Holt-Reynolds, D. ( 1991, February). Practicing what we teach. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Teacher Educators , New Orleans, LA.
25.
Jansen, G., & Peshkin, A. ( 1992). Subjectivity in qualitative research. In The handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 682-725). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
26.
Knowles, J.G., & Holt-Reynolds, D. (1991). Shaping pedagogies through personal histories in preservice teacher education. Teachers College Record, 93, 87-113.
27.
Krueger, P.J. ( 1985). Influences of the hidden curriculum upon the perspectives of music student teachers: An ethnography. Unpublished doctoral dissertation , University of Wisconsin-Madison.
28.
Leglar, M., & Collay, M. ( 2002). Research by teachers on teacher education. In R. Colwell & C. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 855-873). New York: Oxford University Press.
29.
Lortie, D.C. ( 1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
30.
Merriam, S.B. ( 1988). Case study research in education: An introduction. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
31.
Nierman, G.E., Zeichner, K., & Hobbel, N. ( 2002). Changing concepts of teacher education. In R. Colwell & C. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 818-839). New York: Oxford University Press.
32.
Paul, S.J. ( 1994). Music education is a performance degree. Yamaha’s New Ways in Music Education, 9(1), C2-C3.
33.
Paul, S.J., Teachout, D.J., Sullivan, J.M., Kelly, S.N., Bauer, W.I., & Raiber, M.A. ( 2001). Authentic-context learning activities in instrumental music teacher education. Journal of Research in Music Education , 49, 136-145.
34.
Richards, C. ( 1999). Can preservice teachers be prepared for student teaching?The Mountain Lake Reader, pp. 33-38.
35.
Richert, A.E. ( 1990). Teaching teachers to reflect: A consideration of programme structure. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 22, 509-527.
36.
Rideout, R., & Feldman, A. ( 2002). Research in music student teaching. In R. Colwell & C. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 874-886). New York: Oxford University Press.
37.
Robbins, J. ( 1993). Preparing students to think like teachers: Relocating our teacher education perspective. The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning, 4, 45-51.
38.
Rodgers, C.R. ( 2002). Defining reflection: Another look at John Dewey and reflective thinking. Teachers College Record, 104, 842-866.
39.
Schmidt, M. ( 1998). Defining "good" music teaching: Four student teachers’ beliefs and practices. Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 138, 19-46.
40.
Sindberg, L., & Lipscomb, S.D. (2005). Professional isolation and the public school music teacher. Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 166, 43-56.
41.
Snyder, D.W. ( 1996). Classroom management and the music student teacher (Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 1996). Dissertation Abstracts International, 58(01A), 117.
42.
Stake, R.E. ( 1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
43.
Tabachnick, B.R. ( 1980). Intern-teacher roles: Illusion, disillusion, and reality . Journal of Education, 162(1), 122-137.
44.
Teachout, D. ( 1997). Preservice and experienced teachers’ opinions of skills and behaviors important to successful music teaching. Journal of Research in Music Education, 45, 41-50.
45.
Verrastro, R.E., & Leglar, M. ( 1992). Music teacher education. In R. Colwell (Ed.), The handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 21-37). New York: Macmillan .
46.
Zeichner, K.M., & Tabachnick, B.R. (1981). Are the effects of university teacher education "washed out" by school experience? Journal of Teacher Education, 32(3), 7-11.
