Assessing teachers’ perspectives on giving music lessons remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown period

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 health emergency has forced many music teachers to adopt remote teaching methods. The present paper investigates the practices and strategies used by conservatory-level music teachers to give lessons online in different European countries and the USA. Data from an exploratory qualitative study were collected using semi-structured interviews covering aspects such as curriculum design, lesson implementation, evaluation, examination organization, and time management skills. Interviewees offered rich descriptions of their experiences of teaching both music theory and instrumental lessons. Findings were analyzed using an inductive method, giving rise to the following categories: COVID-19 and the music school, technology, curriculum planning, managing instrumental lessons, examinations, strengths, and limitations. Participants discussed their ability to manage technology, and they employed skills such as flexibility, problem solving, and creativity in their curriculum planning and in using a variety of remote learning tools. They revised curricular activities and online teaching strategies and methods were associated with the musical instruments played. They argued that online teaching was very time consuming (e.g., planning activities, preparing materials, and exploring the new possibilities of technical tools) and that it was stressful to have lost a satisfactory work-life balance. They reported becoming more organized in the management of their activities. Internet platforms were found useful for sharing material, communicating, exchanging messages, and keeping records of all the work done. Participants learnt to use video clips systematically for modelling and teaching. They were aware of the strengths and limitations of e-learning, and they called for more institutional support and opportunities for professional development.

Teaching and learning musical instruments through ICT: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

“…On the one hand, our data set contrasts with that obtained by Biasutti et al. (2021) , who observed innovative or transformative use of ICT during lockdown, possibly due to the fact that they workd with a small and non-representative sample.…”

“…Most studies have focused, for instance, on the effects of information and communications technology (ICT; e.g., Kesendere et al., 2020 ), students’ technical difficulties (e.g., Daubney and Fautley, 2020 ; Ozer and Ustün, 2020 ), and interpersonal relationships ( Philippe et al., 2020 ; Schiavio et al., 2021 ). We found a small number of qualitative studies analysing teaching and learning practices that were based on interviews (e.g., Biasutti et al., 2021 ) with small selective samples of teachers, who showed creative and innovative responses to the need of transforming their classes into virtual classrooms. However, we did not find studies involving larger representative samples.…”

Students' Attitudes Toward Online Music Education During the COVID 19 Lockdown

“…As other studies also showed, in general, students experienced more difficulties in managing their time and regulating their learning than before the shift to online education, students investing more time and effort in their self-study (Biwer et al, 2021). The technology for supporting online music education is not only about using the e-learning platform, but also plug-ins/softwares for audio/video recording, and becoming confident in using them is very time consuming (Biasutti et al, 2021).…”

E-Learning vs. Face-To-Face Learning: Analyzing Students’ Preferences and Behaviors

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, both teachers and students had to adapt to the new social conditions and move to online education, which has become an important alternative to reforming the entire traditional education system. Given that the teachers' perspectives on e-learning during the pandemic have been presented by many studies [39][40][41][42], other researchers have stressed the importance of conducting studies that also take into account the perspective of the beneficiaries of education, that is, the students [43][44][45]. Therefore, the present research is part of this trend and tries to shed light on this niche in the Romanian educational space.…”