Success Attributes in Teaching Music as Perceived by Elementary Education Majors

The purposes of this study were to (a) develop an instrument, using attribution theory models, to measure perceptions of elementary education majors related to success in teaching music; (b) determine those factors that elementary education majors believe contribute to success in teaching music; (c) determine the relative strength of each factor; and (d) compare the factors with traditional and music-related attribution theory models. A researcher-developed instrument directed 306 elementary education majors to rate the degree to which they believed positive attributes contribute to success in teaching music. A principal-factor analysis produced four factors, accounting for 53.13% of the total variance. Factor 1 (understanding and organizing for individual differences in children) and Factor 3 (proactive personality characteristics) were consistent with literature on teacher effectiveness. Factor 2 (musical ability and positive feelings for music) and Factor 4 (external factors affecting music teaching), however, were similar to traditional attributional models.