Preservice music teachers in Korea and their collaborative reflection with peers

Abstract

Recently, many researchers and scholars have focused on reflective teaching to support good practices in teaching. For effective reflection, it is necessary to encourage teachers’ reflection by promoting collaboration during which they can discuss various teaching issues and problems while supporting each other. The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean preservice music teachers’ experience in collaborative reflection sessions. I used data collected through observations, the participants’ reflective journals, and individual interviews. The results showed that as the participants gained experience while observing and teaching music classes, the contents of their reflections on technical and practical matters became more varied. Additionally, the participants’ reflective thinking, applied critically, tended to focus on the social context of the music classroom. In addition, participants predominantly showed technical level of reflective thinking rather than practical and critical levels. Finally, the results revealed that the collaborative approach enabled prospective music teachers to broaden the scope of their reflective thinking, and a sense of emotional safety in the collaborative group allowed them to honestly confront their own teaching worries and problems.

Keywords

Collaborative reflection music teacher education peer collaboration preservice music teacher reflective thinking

Introduction

Recently, many researchers and scholars have focused on reflective teaching to support good practices in the profession of teaching. In general terms, reflection may be defined as a process of “critical thought, self-direction, and problem solving coupled with personal knowledge and self-awareness” (Chant et al., 2004, p. 24). Teaching and learning always have some potential for growth and improvement (Brookfield, 2017). By reflecting on their teaching practices, teachers can consider different aspects of their teaching and their students’ learning, better understand their teaching contexts, examine and reflect on whether their teaching strategies work as intended, and consider alternative methods and ways of teaching (Farrell, 2008; Holly, 1989; Larrivee, 2005; Liu & Zhang, 2014; Valdez et al., 2018). As a result, teachers’ reflections can create better educational environments for students (Kheirzadeh, 2018) and positively affect students’ achievement levels (Kheirzadeh, 2018; Sanders, 2000). Ultimately, by reflecting not only on their teaching skills and knowledge but also on the assumptions, beliefs, values, and attitudes that underlie their teaching practices and actions, teachers can become empowered practitioners who question social norms, disciplines, ideologies, and policies and effectively change social and institutional contexts (Matthews & Jessel, 1998).

Individuals can engage in reflection independently or with others (Stegman, 2007), but for effective reflection among teaching professionals, it is often necessary to help and guide teachers to reflect on their practices (Day, 2013). Serious reflection never occurs easily or automatically, and teachers tend to “react” rather than “reflect” unless they receive help or feedback from others (Gun, 2011, p. 126). A potential solution to this may be collaborative reflection, which is defined as:

a form of reflection done in association with a small group of people in a non-threatening setting. The teachers thus collaborate in questioning the status quo and/or innovations, and in searching for meaning as they examine assumptions in their classroom practices. (Loh et al., 2016, p. 3)

Reflective thinking with others enables preservice and inservice teachers to think deeply and to develop new ideas while considering others’ diverse perspectives (Lee, 2007; Loh et al., 2016; Murray, 2015). Collaborative reflection also enables teachers to “gain a deeper understanding of their own professional development” (Parsons & Stephenson, 2005, p. 110). It is therefore critical to encourage teachers’ reflection by promoting collaborative sessions in which they can discuss various teaching issues and problems and support each other.

Many teacher educators have argued that it is necessary for preservice teachers to have the opportunity to develop their reflective thinking within their teacher education programs. Preservice teachers tend to overly focus on delivering their prepared lesson contents, leaving little time to critically reflect on their teaching practices (Cho, 2009). These teachers also tend to bring with them, unquestioningly, what they experienced and what they have learned in the past when they enter teacher education programs, and this impacts both teaching and learning (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2001; Parsons & Stephenson, 2005). Therefore, guiding reflective teaching activities in teacher education programs could help preservice teachers effectively prepare for real teaching situations.

In the last decade, Korea has put emphasis on reflective thinking in teacher education (Cho, 2009). Many teacher education programs in Korea have tried to connect theory to practice so that student teachers naturally integrate teaching theory into their practices through reflective teaching (Jung et al., 2010). Furthermore, the Ministry of Education uses a field-based curriculum, and student teachers’ reflections on their field experiences form one of the primary factors in evaluating teacher education programs (Ministry of Education & Korean Education Department Institute [KEDI], 2018). However, preservice teachers in Korea seem to lack the skills to effectively analyze what they do, relying heavily on their educators to give them solutions for their teaching problems (Cho, 2009). In this study, I will suggest that preservice teacher education programs in Korea should find ways to help student teachers develop their own reflective thinking to become more effective teachers.

Several international studies have focused on how to promote student teachers’ reflective thinking as one aspect of their teaching practices and on how student teachers’ reflections have changed (Cho, 2009; Kheirzadeh, 2018; Lee, 2007; Parsons & Stephenson, 2005; Stegman, 2007; West, 2012). However, prior studies have focused primarily on student teachers of science and English, while research on music teachers remains limited. In particular, there has been very little research on reflective thinking among Korean preservice music teachers.

Reflective thinking for teacher education

Dewey (1933) was one of the first scholars to suggest the importance of reflective thinking. He argued that reflective thought is “active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form or knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Dewey, 1933, p. 9). Reflective thinking can thus be defined as a purposeful act of contemplation about a problem and its context through consideration of solutions and alternative and evaluation of results, leading to further improvements in experiences and practices (Bawaneh et al., 2020; Murray, 2015).

Following Dewey’s original concept, Schon (1983) introduced two terms closely related to reflective thinking: reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Reflection-in-action belongs to professionals reflecting on their practice while it is underway. As Schon elaborates, it

is a reflective conversation with the materials of a situation. Each person . . . “listens” to the surprises (“back talk”) that result from earlier moves, and responds through online production of new moves that give new meanings and directions to the development of the artifact. (Schon, 1987, p. 31)

Reflection-on-action, however, refers to the process through which professionals reflect on their practices by critically and intentionally analyzing information after the event (Schon, 1983).

There are three levels of reflective thinking: technical, practical, and critical (Taggart & Wilson, 2005; van Manen, 1977). On the technical level, professionals focus on acquiring skills and knowledge to achieve objectives and solve problems (Taggart & Wilson, 2005). Teachers engaging in reflection on this technical level try to link educational theory to practice in order to meet desired outcomes (Kang & Hwang, 2004). The practical level is more closely related to examining personal assumptions and beliefs underlying classroom practice, considering classroom situations and students’ needs and growths (Taggart & Wilson, 2005). The critical level focuses on ethical and moral issues closely related to teaching practices (van Manen, 1977). Teachers reflecting on this level tend to consider justice, equality, and emancipation as they may be imbedded in instructional planning and implementation (Taggart & Wilson, 2005).

Reflective thinking for music teacher education

Compared to other subjects in education, the literature on reflective thinking in music teacher education focuses primarily on music teachers in Europe and the United States. West (2012) emphasized that video-cases help preservice music teachers develop reflective thinking, which eventually helps them focus more on students instead of on themselves. In Conkling’s (2003) study, participants in the United States also indicated that videotaped teaching helped them identify and analyze their own teaching problems. Moreover, useful feedback from a group of peers was one of the most important factors for them in identifying better teaching strategies. Hourigan (2006) investigated the use of the case method for reflective thinking in preservice music teacher education, concluding that feedback from peers and teacher educators and writing about their experiences were important tools to promote reflective thinking among preservice music teachers.

Dogani’s (2008) study revealed that reflection enabled prospective generalist teachers in Greece not only to consider practical issues in music teaching but to become more aware of how their personal experiences, assumptions, and values affected their music classrooms. In Stegman’s (2007) study, student teachers in the United States engaged in a reflective dialogue with experienced teachers; as a result, they were able to frequently reflect on technical, clinical, and personal topics rather than critical issues.

Context of the study

This study took place at a graduate school of education at E university located in the western region of Seoul, South Korea. I purposely selected this setting because of a particular course Practice in Music Education Professional Careers offered to students majoring in music education. The course’s purpose is to help music majors prepare for their student teaching, which occurs in the following semester. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to visit and observe music classes at a middle school or high school and to reflect critically on music teaching and learning practices with peers. Thus, I thought that preservice teachers in this course would be well-prepared to explain their experiences in collaborative reflections with peers.

The course was offered from September to December 2017. To help the participants develop reflective thinking, it was important for them to have the opportunity to observe actual practice (Clausen et al., 2009) and to have an individual focus while observing those teaching practices (Loughran, 2006). Therefore, the course comprised two processes. The participants were asked to visit a neighboring middle school to watch music teachers teach and to teach a 15- to 20-min mini-lesson. They were also, as peers, to discuss articles regarding music teaching and learning and to reflect collaboratively on what they had each observed and taught. Class discussions and school visits occurred alternatively, so there were eight sessions of class discussion interspersed with six sessions of school visit.

Method

The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean preservice music teachers’ experiences as they engaged in collaborative reflections. The specific research questions were as follows: (a) What did Korean preservice music teachers reflect on? (b) How was preservice music teachers’ level of reflective thinking changed by collaborating with peers? (c) What kinds of roles did peer collaborations play in preservice music teachers’ reflective thinking?

Participants

During the first week of the semester, I, as the course instructor and the researcher, explained the purpose of this study, how to write a reflective journal, and the possibility of publishing an article based on the study’s findings. I also emphasized that their participation in the study was not a course requirement, and that it would not affect their grades in the course, adding that any data collected would be distinct from the required classroom activities. After several questions regarding the study’s procedures, all 18 members of the class agreed to participate in the study. All participants were female without any prior teaching experience in middle schools or high schools. To protect the participants’ identities, I used pseudonyms.

Data collection and analysis

I used a case study method in this investigation, through collaborative reflections, of preservice music teachers’ experiences. A case study is defined as “an exploration of a bounded system or a case (or multiple cases) over time through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information rich in context” (Creswell, 1998, p. 61). In this study, the bounded system was the group of preservice music teachers collaboratively and collectively participating in reflective teaching practices and discussions from which I collected data in the form of observations. I also studied the participants’ reflective journals and conducted individual interviews.

I kept a researcher’s log as I observed the participants’ class discussions and reflections. I also asked the participants to record their thoughts in their reflective journals after observing music classes and teaching from their own lesson plans. Each participant submitted six journal entries throughout the course of the semester. I collected additional data through individual interviews. Eight of the participants agreed to be interviewed. The purpose of the interview was to further my understanding of the participants’ experiences in collaborative reflection, along with their reflective thinking processes.

I employed content analysis for this study (Flick, 2014). Based on the theory of reflective thinking (Taggart & Wilson, 2005; van Manen, 1977), I derived three main categories based on the technical, practical, and critical levels of reflective thinking. Then, I generated subcategories in a data-driven way working to continually revise and check whether additional subcategories could be generated. For qualitative credibility (Tracy, 2010), I used triangulation for data collection, and I frequently contacted the participants, sending them the initial codes, in order to verify the accuracy of my analysis. They all agreed that the analysis reflected their thoughts, ideas, and experiences in reflective thinking.

Findings

Levels and contents of reflective thinking

My analysis of reflective journals, interviews, and observations showed that most of the topics discussed were of a technical nature, the second most frequent level being the practical, while the critical level of reflective thinking was the least frequent. From the beginning of the collaborative reflection sessions, the participants devoted themselves predominantly to technical reflections, which rarely changed throughout the weeks leading up to the last of sessions. The following section presents specific discussion topics that belonged to each level of reflective thinking.

Technical level of reflective thinking

One of the main issues on the technical level of reflective thinking was the effectiveness of teaching skills and strategies. This topic was frequently mentioned throughout the sessions. For example, during the first meeting, the participants noted the importance of real sounds in inciting students’ motivation:

Sol:

The music teacher invited musicians to the music classroom, so two violinists came to the classroom and played some music. I think it seemed to help students feel more interested in their music classes.

Sunny:

I agree with you. Students can observe bowing on stringed instruments and even the performers’ breathing. Students were also very interested in tuning instruments. In particular, these students had hardly had a chance to hear real sounds on instruments, so this performance seemed to be a very special opportunity for the students.

Min:

Right, on a music textbook, there are music sheets for fugues, so these performers played these pieces and explained the definition of fugue. I think this really helped students understand the musical form.

As the collaborative reflections progressed, the participants’ reflections became broader along with their concern for classroom management and music teacher attitude. These examples can be illustrated by notes from several participants’ reflective journals:

The class was drawing to close, but students were so loud, and everything was still a mess. I was angry and firmly asked the students to be quiet, but it was not very effective . . . I think that I need to take a carrot-and-stick approach for music classes . . . The appropriate combination of reward and punishment is necessary. (Jin’s Journal, Entry 5)

In a music class, the music teacher and students talked about instruments that students can play aside from the recorder. When the music teacher heard that several students could play stringed instruments, she smiled and showed favor . . . However, a teacher’s narrow-minded behavior might affect students’ attitudes and behaviors in class. As a prospective music teacher, I need to self-monitor my behaviors continuously. (Bin’s Journal, Entry 4)

These examples reveal that the participants had the awareness to look beyond simply linking teaching strategies for music practice to the broader context of music classes, including classroom management and teacher attitude. However, these reflections centered predominantly on technical issues, which might be natural for preservice music teachers whose limited teaching experience may lead to a lack of confidence in themselves as teachers (Stegman, 2007).

Practical level of reflective thinking

Practical reflection topics were closely related to several issues such as participants’ assumptions and beliefs about music teaching and classroom environments as well as the importance of understanding students’ needs and knowledge. Interestingly, the remarks showed that when reflecting on teaching practice, from the very beginning of our series of sessions, they drew on students’ needs and level of knowledge. Bang reflected on learners as follows:

What would it be to truly understand students? When several students tried to provoke me during a class, I tried to suppress students’ wrong behaviors using a teacher’s authority . . . I believe that all education starts from a teacher’s understanding about students, but it is not easy . . . Students’ family environments, temperaments, inclinations, and characteristics all affect who students are, and I as a music teacher need to consider all those issues. (Bang’s Journal, Entry 5)

During the sixth meeting, several participants discussed how to differentiate teaching methods based on students’ needs and individual understanding:

Jang:

While teaching and observing students, I wondered how to differentiate teaching methods based on students’ characteristics. I tried to do it, but it was not easy.

Kyung:

Oh, teaching all students with the same method is not very effective. One class might be different from other classes because of students’ prior musical skills and knowledge. Students in class A might have a low level of recorder skill compared to other classes even though they are in the same grade.

Park:

Right. That’s why it is important to figure out students’ characteristics and knowledge. I think we need to think more about students’ characteristics. When we teach the same contents to different classes in the same grade, we need to apply different teaching processes or methods for each class.

One of the most interesting results of practical reflection was that as collaborative reflection progressed, prospective music teachers started to reflect on the personal assumptions and beliefs underlying music classroom practices. One participant’s reflection on her teaching behavior illustrates this clearly. Park had the opportunity to teach an orchestra, and she spent significant time tuning students’ instruments and teaching a proper playing posture. She reflected on this situation as follows:

When I was in middle school, I played a Korean traditional instrument in an ensemble. The teacher in this ensemble spent a lot of time teaching basic notes, tempo, and posture . . . I think that’s why I value tuning instruments and teaching playing posture before students learn playing techniques . . . When I reflected on my teaching behaviors, I was surprised that my previous teachers’ behaviors were naturally reflected in my teaching behaviors. I think that I need to observe my unconscious behaviors and determine whether these behaviors might not be effective or might have a bad influence on students’ learning. (Park’s Journal, Entry 2)

During her interview, Young also mentioned that collaborative reflection had enabled her to reflect on her teaching philosophy:

While I participated in collaborative reflection, there was a lot of change. One of the biggest changes was my teaching philosophy. I thought that music teachers need to encourage all students to experience success in a music class, so I tend not to allow students to fall behind . . . However, I realized that the way my parents raised me affected my teaching philosophy . . . While observing a music class and discussing with peers, I realized that one of the main purposes of music class is to enjoy music. When students could enjoy listening to music and playing instruments, they could be happier and lead happier lives. (Young’s interview)

Compared to participants’ technical level reflections, there was a small number of discussions on practical reflection topics; however, more than half of the participants believed that collaborative reflection helped them consider the practical level of reflective thinking (Dogani, 2008). These participants indicated that they had the opportunity to think about students’ needs and level of knowledge and examine their own assumptions about their teaching behaviors and teaching philosophy.

Critical level of reflective thinking

Although most participants’ reflections were centered on the technical and practical levels, issues of critical thinking did arise. The critical reflection topics identified in this study were related to two primary issues: a music teacher’s status in society and a school’s role in helping students to have their dreams. Regarding music teachers’ social status, Min connected students’ inappropriate behavior in music class to music teachers’ poor status in Korea:

After listening to a recording, the music teacher asked students to talk about their feelings on the music. At this time, one student suddenly mimicked the teacher’s way of talking and behaving. Other students started to laugh, but the teacher was very upset. The teacher has years of teaching experience and good teaching skills, but what made this particular student show disrespect? I think that the music teacher’s poor status in our country might be an underlying cause of this situation. This society tends to consider music teachers to be less valuable than teachers in other subjects. Can I handle that as a music teacher? What should I do? (Min’s Journal, Entry 2)

Sol supported Min’s reflection, showing that she could widen her reflective horizon and consider the status of music teachers and music itself as a subject matter in our society. In her individual interview, Sol mentioned social dimensions that affect music classes in schools:

I thought about school environments, the relationships among teachers, and ranking among school subjects . . . All people in Korea value college entrance examinations, so several subjects such as English and mathematics are considered to be important in schools, but arts subjects including music are considered less valuable. These social environments affect how students consider music subject matter and music teachers. I can’t change this situation, but I think I need to do something to improve that. (Sol’s Interview)

Additionally, after talking to several middle school students, Yoon reflected on why students are not very interested in musical activities. In her fourth journal entry, Yoon wrote the following:

After talking to two students, I realized that students need to feel motivated about attending school. Students need to reflect on why they need to go to school. Even though I may try to implement various teaching methods in music class, that’s not enough. I think that a majority of students do not have dreams, so they cannot find reasons to attend school and learn music. Schools need to play a role in helping students find what they want to do and who they want to become in the future. (Yoon’s Journal, Entry 4)

Although participants’ critical thinking occurred less frequently than technical and practical level reflections, some participants demonstrated that they could reflect critically on music teachers’ status in Korea and on the important role of schools in helping students build their own dreams and feel motivated about attending school.

The role of peer collaboration in reflective thinking

The second area of collaborative reflection that I investigated was the role of peer collaboration in the participants’ reflective thinking. The participants showed that while interacting with peers, they could be especially honest about their own worries and problems. They were also able to think with their peers about alternative ways for effective teaching and to consider aspects of practice that went beyond the day-to-day routines of music classrooms. Several examples of each issue are presented below.

I am not the only one! Several participants in this study expressed that the collaborative approach enabled them to identify with peers who could empathize over concerns and worries, and they could feel assured of their belonging in the group through collaboration. For example, when asked about the most significant difference between the course in which I imbedded this study and other classes in graduate school, Jin mentioned the common worries that prospective music teachers might have:

In the collaborative group, I could be more frank about confronting my worries about music teaching. While listening to others’ thoughts, I thought that I am not the only one who worries about these problems. We all had similar problems, and this allowed me to think more deeply about my own worries. Yes, my peers were like a green light showing approval of me reflecting on my own issues. (Jin’s Interview)

Young also stated that the collaborative work helped her to be honest about her practices and to be more accepting of herself:

While talking with peers, I felt comforted. I am not the only person who worries about these issues. Everybody has their own reasons to think about these teaching problems, which are not very different from mine. With my peers, I became more honest about my own practice and accepting the way I am. (Young’s Journal, Entry 4)

It must be pointed out, however, that not all of the participants felt that a sense of emotional safety in the collaborative group helped them reflect deeply on their teaching practices. Nevertheless, peers in their similar situations exchanged emotional support, which eventually allowed them to be fully and honestly aware of and able to monitor their own feelings, concerns, thinking, and teaching practices.

New insights into reflection

Participants in this study commonly mentioned that collaborating with peers helped them to broaden the scope of their reflective thinking. Peers enabled them to question the underlying elements of teaching practices and stimulated deeper levels of thoughtful reflection on those practices. For example, Bin stated that the experience of collaboration enhanced her reflectivity by leading her to consider different aspects of music teaching:

During this course, I focused on reflecting on myself as a music teacher . . . While discussing with peers, I realized that other people might have different ideas and opinions on what I considered to be necessary. For example, I considered informal relationships with students to be important, but several peers advised that I need to consider different aspects of informal relationships with students. That helped me examine my preconceptions about music teaching. (Bin’s Interview)

In fact, prospective music teachers expressed diverse thoughts regarding the same teaching situation. During the fourth meeting, for example, participants discussed the effectiveness of peer teaching. They expressed two conflicting opinions about it, as reflected in the excerpt below:

Bae:

While preparing a musical, the teacher used the peer teaching method. The teacher chose several students in each part and asked them to teach the rest of the students. I don’t think it was very effective because several students could not concentrate on what their peers demonstrated.

Ting:

That’s totally different from what I thought about. I know that because students needed to discuss their parts, the class seemed to be disorganized and messy. However, their musical expressions and creativity became much better than before. We need to consider this aspect of whether certain teaching methods are good or not.

Similarly, Sol mentioned that she could begin to consider various perspectives and issues closely related to music teaching and learning through collaborative reflections. When asked about her experience with collaborative reflection, Sol responded:

I really liked how we discussed several issues regarding teaching practice. My peers reflected on several issues that I had not considered yet, which helped me more deeply reflect on my own teaching practice. As you explained, reflection does not occur automatically, and there are many areas that we need to consider. So far, I tended to think about teaching issues that I wanted to reflect on and I was interested in, but my peers helped me realize that I focused on too narrow aspects of teaching and I should put light on aspects of practice that I might not have thought about. (Sol’s Interview)

Sol was one of the notable participants who exhibited an increase in critical thinking through reflection. It might be possible that peers’ diverse perspectives enabled Sol to find additional opportunities to contemplate issues beyond the day-to-day routines of music classrooms and to reflect critically on teaching situations from social, moral, and political dimensions.

Discussion and conclusion

As the participants in this study gained experience through observing and teaching music classes, the contents of their reflections on technical and practical matters became more varied. These contents include teaching strategies, classroom management, teacher attitudes, the ability to accurately understand students, and personal assumptions underlying music teaching. In addition, the study’s findings suggested that, compared to participants in previous studies (Dogani, 2008; Kang & Hwang, 2004; Parsons & Stephenson, 2005; Stegman, 2007), prospective music teachers in Korea tend to focus more on music classes’ social context on the critical level of reflective thinking. This study has demonstrated that Korean society’s influence on music classes is an important topic on which prospective music teachers critically reflected. This finding might indicate that prospective music teachers in Korea experience and confront the realities of the teaching profession within a system where music is considered to be among the least important subjects and a majority of Korean students do not feel motivated about attending school. Therefore, I suggest that the social conditions in which music teaching and learning are situated are addressed in music teacher education programs before prospective music teachers experience these aspects of their authentic contexts. This would help them consider a variety of social and cultural factors that may affect students’ attitudes and motivations in music classes.

Similar to previous studies (Kang & Hwang, 2004; Kheirzadeh, 2018; Liu, 2015; Stegman, 2007), the study’s participants engaged predominantly in reflective thinking at a technical level, rather than at a practical or critical level. This is not surprising given that prospective and novice teachers have limited teaching experience and tend to focus on the technical aspects of teaching and problem-solving (Stegman, 2007). Compared to experienced teachers, prospective and novice teachers lack a solid foundation of theoretical knowledge in education and teaching strategies that they can freely utilize and adapt depending on students’ characteristics and different classroom conditions. This would make it difficult for them to connect educational theory to teaching practice for effective teaching (Kheirzadeh, 2018). Of course, this study’s findings do not imply that there is a hierarchy among technical, practical, and critical levels of reflective thinking. Rather, it is important to give prospective music teachers opportunities to examine all three dimensions of reflective thinking (Liu, 2015). Prospective music teachers begin with more focus on issues closely related to specific teaching situations; then, as they gain teaching experience, they start to shift their attention to student-centeredness (Stegman, 2007). It remains important, however, to think about more useful and practical guidance that can help to widen the scope of prospective music teachers’ reflections.

Collaborating with their peers might be one way to help student teachers engage on a deeper level of thinking about their teaching practices. The results of this study showed that its collaborative approach had enabled prospective music teachers to broaden the scope of their reflective thinking. Previous studies have concluded that dialogue with more experienced teachers was essential in guiding prospective teachers to reflect on their teaching practices (Hourigan, 2006; Parsons & Stephenson, 2005; Stegman, 2007); nonetheless, this study also indicated that critical peers can offer another source of help in gaining new insights through reflection (Conkling, 2003). In particular, the emotional safety that the participants experienced in their peer interactions allowed them to allay their own fears and to honestly confront their own teaching-related worries and problems. This finding implies that, for prospective music teachers with limited years of teaching experience, emotional support from their peers is one of the most important factors that can promote reflective thinking.

It is important to note, however, that all participants in this study did not benefit from collaborative reflection. Means of addressing this issue might include having more organized questions from teacher educators, on instructional issues, students’ learning, teaching situations, and ethical and moral issues closely related to teaching practices. Individual reflection could be deepened among peers through more specific topics with concrete feedback (Postholm, 2018). Also, reflection-based actions might foster prospective music teachers’ reflections (Liu, 2015). In this study, I emphasized the process of reflection with peers, but this reflection was not directly connected to follow-up actions that could have triggered other levels of reflection. Future studies might consider the establishment of reflection-based actions to change prospective music teachers’ reflective thinking on their teaching practices.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Jihae Shin

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