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CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

Music is unique in every person’s life. It is a means of relaxation for

some, while for others, it is a hobby, and is pleasurable. In all levels of

education, music has immense value. Students learn many important and

necessary values for life as music enhances their mind, and their

expressive ability. A number of researchers (Lefler, 2018; Holmes &

Hallam, 2017; Oersb & Diekstrac, 2014; Foley, 2018) found that music is

beneficial to children in cognitive, social-emotional and psychomotor

aspects. As what the ancient Greek philosopher and teacher Plato said:

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to imagination,

and life to everything.”

Regarding the implementation of K to 12 Curriculum in the Philippines,

the Music program aims to expose pupils to the development of their

appreciation for culture and music of various regions worldwide (RA

10533, 2013). As a broad subject, music covers one’s emotion, ability,

creativity, expression of feelings, taking care of oneself, socialization,

development of self-confidence and self-esteem. Correspondingly, music

seeks to expose the students’ talents and to develop appreciation for it.
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They do not only acquire factual and theoretical knowledge but are also

introduced to applications like singing, playing instruments, listening to

recordings and so on and so forth. The good thing about incorporating

music subjects is that children, at their very young age, are taught on how

to appreciate the value of music.

Primarily, music teachers have a great responsibility in planning and

performing of music education in primary schools. They should possess

necessary qualities to become successful in the field of teaching music. A

number of researchers (Smith, 2016; Gayhart, 2017; Kravchuk, 2015;

Hodges & Connell, 2013) enumerated essential qualities of a great music

teacher. Also, a level of expertise is needed to translate the subject matter

into curriculum goals for specific grade level. If the teachers will only be

teaching the theories in music, his or her endeavour will be useless. Not

only do they interact with teachers every day in the classroom but the

quality of that interaction matters for pupils’ future.

In relation to this, Ioganseth (2019) stated that using the right teaching

strategies is one of the qualities that teacher must possess. Teachers were

exposed with vast of teaching strategies which can be employed in

delivering music lessons. Studies of Moralista (2016), Altun A (2010),

Dadheech (n.d.), and Larson (2010) cited that modelling, hands-on

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learning, game-based learning and cooperative grouping are some of

effective teaching strategies in music. However, Navales (2013) argued

that these strategies would only be effective in the hands of effective

teachers. Also, this no longer takes place when problem arises in the field

of teaching.

Simply, one cannot give what one do not have. One cannot blame the

teachers for they were not fully trained in terms of music. Most of the

teachers lack the basic knowledge and skills in teaching the subject

appropriately. It makes the teachers inept in handling the subject, and it is

up to them to accept this as a challenge to continuously strive to grow

professionally. Various researches have shown that the quality of teaching

and learning music has been one of the major complaints and concerns of

educators. Thus, it makes the teachers incompetent when handling the

subject.

Relative to the study of Kilic (2012), the basic problems experienced in

the course “Music Education” in primary education schools taken from

music teachers’ perspectives were the insufficient lesson hour, number of

students in class, inadequate lesson-tools equipment, participation of

students in music lesson due to their lack of interest and disruptive

behaviour.
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Moreover, just as the researcher was honed and groomed in public

educational system, the researcher witnessed how music education was

less carried out by elementary school teachers during her time. The

experiences she had in learning music in the public intermediate grade

school consisted of having been under the tutelage evident of poor

teaching like lengthy copying of lecture on the board, lack of activities

given to the learners which could have enhanced further their skills, lack of

technology which could have put additional agility and zest among the

learners in the furtherance of their interest in learning music, and a host of

other problems.

As a result, there was less appreciation in Music as a component of

MAPEH subject on the part of the pupils as well as the teachers.

Unfortunately, many teachers have begun to exclude music from their

curriculums just to make room for other subjects. Sad to say, the

implementation of music education is being offered less and less in many

school systems. We cannot deny the fact that before an individual grasped

the various skills in music, there should be first, music appreciation and

this no longer takes place when challenges amidst. This is supported by

the findings of Delport and Dhlomo (2010) that teacher attitude was
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regarded as pedagogical challenge towards music literacy development

influences learners’ future towards music.

Based on the interview made by the researcher, it was also found out

that teachers within Nasugbu East district encountered many challenges in

handling the subject. According to Mrs. Arnelia S. Peñano, the music

coordinator of Nasugbu East district, the teachers have many complaints

when it comes to teaching of Music subject. The school have insufficient

instructional materials for pupils’ practical activities in music class such as

instruments. Teachers need more trainings in applying the music

elements, reading notes, playing instruments, singing songs and

conducting. As a result, these problems continue to occur and linger from

time to time, producing more unfitted music teachers every year.

With this thought in mind, the researcher as a music coordinator of

Cogonan Elementary School found it imperative to act on this problem in

order to develop music appreciation and skills among teachers and pupils

in public elementary schools. As an offshoot of the results, the researcher

has to prepare an instructional package that would aid the teachers in

teaching Music effectively, which could eventually translate to better

learning on the part of the pupils. The researcher believes that knowledge

and skills on Music teaching are essential to ensure a solid foundation for
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teachers. The said instructional package included different learning

activities so that teachers will be equipped with confidence and proper

attitudes in the delivery of instruction.

Objectives

This study focused on developing music appreciation and skills of

teachers and pupils in public elementary schools through preparing an

instructional package.

Specifically, this study aims to:

1. Identify the profile of the music teachers in terms of:

1.1 highest educational attainment;

1.2 area of specialization;

1.3 number of years as music teacher; and

1.4 number of trainings / seminars attended in line with music,

2. Describe the interest and attitudes of music teachers.

3. Determine if there are significant differences in the interests and

attitudes of teachers when grouped according to profile variables,

4. Enumerate the strategies and constraints in the teaching of

elementary grades music,

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5. Prepare an instructional package to develop music appreciation and

skills.

Scope, Delimitation, and Limitation of the Study

This study focused on developing music appreciation and skills of

teachers and pupils in public elementary schools for the school year 2019-

2020. This study identified the demographic profile of the respondents in

terms of their highest educational attainment, area of specialization,

number of years as music teacher, and trainings/seminar attended in line

with music. This study also described the interest and attitudes of music

teachers and determined if there are significant differences between the

interest and attitudes of teachers when grouped according to profile

variables. This study also assessed the respondents’ agreement regarding

the strategies and constraints in the teaching of elementary grades music.

Lastly based from the findings, the researcher prepared an instructional

package to develop music appreciation and skills.

On the other hand, the study was delimited to teachers who are not

teaching Music subject as the respondents of the study because they

would not be able to provide the information needed by the researcher.

Moreover, the private elementary teachers teaching Music subject within

Nasugbu East district would not be included in the study as well. More so,
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this study did not determine the age as well as the gender of the

respondents since the researcher find these variables meaningless in her

study.

Furthermore, this study was limited to the responses of 147 Music

teachers on the items in the researcher-made questionnaire. For instance,

interview had been conducted to substantiate the results obtained from the

gathered data. It was also limited to the assessments of the respondents

towards their interest and attitudes as well as their perceived ideas based

on the strategies, and the constraints in the teaching of elementary grades

music.

Pedagogical Implications

This research study on developing music appreciation and skills of

teachers and pupils in public elementary schools was deemed beneficial to

the academic institution since the results of the study will provide data

which may serve as bases in improving the implementation of music

education for both teachers and pupils. Moreover, the findings of the study

will encourage the administrators to formulate different activities and

programs so that the end-goal of music education would be met. As for the

music teachers, the output of the study will serve as a reference in the

preparation of well-planned activities specific for a lesson. Meanwhile, this

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will provide the learners another avenue of learning in order to enhance

their musical appreciation and skills.