Generalist teachers' self-efficacy in primary school music teaching

This qualitative study focuses on the music teaching experiences of five Australian generalist primary school teachers in their third year of teaching. The aim was to identify these teachers' current practices in teaching music, in particular their self-efficacy in relation to teaching music. A narrative inquiry methodology was employed, drawing on interviews with each of the participants. Narratives revealed that the five teachers demonstrate a range of music teaching practices, including teaching a weekly music lesson to all classes in a school, conducting choirs, attempting to sing with the aid of a CD with children, using technology to facilitate music composition, integrating music with other arts into an assembly performance, and facilitating and participating in a school-based rock band. A range of individual factors impacted on these teaching practices, including musical background, current engagement in music making, access to music professional development, access to resources, and music courses in pre-service teacher education. High self-efficacy in teaching music was achieved through mastery teaching experiences (music teaching accomplishments), verbal persuasion from parents, teachers and school principals, and to a lesser degree vicarious experiences that focused on involvement in professional development experiences.