Music is a cultural phenomenon and a human need, which has existed throughout time and in every culture. Modern times offer a broad palette of music, which is outgrowing this oversaturated environment of sound, therefore it is important to be able to critically choose the appropriate type of music for a variety of particular needs and situations. During primary education, emphasis is placed on the objectives of developing aesthetic sensitivity towards artistic values and the ecology of the environment of sound and how to actively and selectively listen to music content. It is important that the teacher includes quality music of different periods, styles and genres in general music education. Within this context, the focus of our thesis is on contemporary music, which is defined as music of the present and helps realise the currents of contemporary art. The primary purpose of our master’s thesis was to investigate to what extent do primary school teachers include contemporary music in teaching music education and what their attitude as well as the attitude of their students is towards the integration of contemporary music in the teaching of music education. To this end, we asked the following research questions: how teachers assess the importance of modern music, and how often they engage in teaching it; do teachers' attitudes to the integration of contemporary music in the teaching of music education differ according to gender, age, seniority, length of employment, level of education, type of education, extended music education and the use of certain types of didactic materials, and what opinions do students hold regarding the integration of contemporary music in the teaching of music education.
The research was carried out by means of a quantitative research approach, using a descriptive and causal non-experimental method. The sample included 123 teachers of music education from different primary schools and 10 students, who as part of their extracurricular activities sing in the Bežigrad primary school choir. Data on teachers was collected via an authorial questionnaire, while data on students was collected by means of a non-standardized interview.
The obtained results have given us an insight into the attitudes teachers and students have towards contemporary music, as well as into the factors related to the latter’s inclusion in the teaching of music education. Results of the research showed that respondents generally have a positive attitude towards contemporary music and that they incorporate it in teaching to a large degree. Their views on contemporary music do not generally differ depending on the variables that we exposed (gender, age, seniority, length of employment, level of education, type of education, extended music education and the use of certain types of didactic materials). Students’ attitudes to the integration of contemporary music in the teaching of music education as well as teachers' attitudes are generally positive. Students seem to find contemporary music interesting, yet different. They mainly listen to contemporary music at school, a practice encouraged by the teachers, while very few students listen to it at home. Most are willing to encourage others to listen to contemporary music.
To summarize the research, it can be concluded that the persons included in this research possess a positive attitude towards contemporary music. Therefore, it would be a logical next step to explore how to bring contemporary music closer to those who have a negative attitude towards it and are more sceptical in incorporating contemporary music in the educational process. It would be sensible to test the skills of pedagogues working in the field of contemporary music and in the event of discovering the existence of poor professional competence find solutions to boost progress in this field.
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