Abstract:
This study used Q methodology to measure the extent to
which individuals with five educational roles (student
teacher, elementary music teacher, principal, high school
music teacher, and music consultant) held five proposed
philosophies of music education (hedonic, utilitarian,
aesthetic cognitivism, aesthetic formalist, and praxial).
Twenty-seven sUbjects participated in the Q study. These
subjects were a convenience sample based on their
educational role, accessibility, and willingness to
participate. Participants completed a background sheet
which indicated their background in music, and their
responsibility for teaching music.
The sUbjects in this Q study rank-ordered a set of 60 Q
sort items (each item representing a proposed philosophical
position) twice: Sort P to reflect current practice, and
Sort I to reflect the ideal situation. The results of the
sorting procedures were recorded by the participant on the
response page which organized the rankings according to an
approximated normal distribution as required by Q
methodology.
The analysis of the data suggested that the comparison
across philosophical positions was significant and that the
results of the interaction between philosophical position
and educational role were significant, although educational
role alone was not significant. Post-hoc analysis of the
data was used to determine the significant differences
between the levels of the, independent variables used in the
model: philosophical position, educational role, and music
background.
A model of the association of the five philosophical
positions was presented and discussed in relation to the Q
study results. Further research could refine the Q sort
items to better reflect each philosophical position.
