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A Distant Education Program for the Preaparation of Generalists:
An Experience at UFSM:
Cássia Virgínia Coelho de Souza
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Brazil

Introduction

Mato Grosso is basically a large agricultural state situated at the mid-western part of Brazil. It has a rich echo-system comprising the swampland, forest, and savannah. Its population is made up of a significant diversities, of which include Brazilians Indigenous, Europeans inherited from the agricultural colonies, and Brazilians from the south, southeast and northeast of the country. The schools for basic education in Mato Grosso are governed by the state, the municipal districts, and some private institutions. According to the National Law, schools can promote arts activities in different workloads and curricula. They are free to propose different teaching projects to suit the needs of the districts. Music is not offered with emphasis in most of the schools. Few of them enrich their curricula in music or performing activities like choirs, bands or fanfare ensembles.

The Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) is the only institution in the state that offers a music undergraduate program in Cuiabá, the capital. The program in arts education (music) prepares teachers to teach music in schools. The profile of the graduates prepared in this program is not clear because of the title which is Arts Education, although the program will be replaced by a new one soon. The idea of arts education which has existed in many schools forces teachers to teach other art subjects beside their expertise. Traditionally, arts teachers in Brazil are responsible to teach different arts subjects. In practice, they teach all arts subjects from Grades 5-8 (ages 11 to 14) in fundamental education, and in the three years of the mid-level education (ages 15 to 17) in the arts discipline. Though having difficulties, a significant number of teachers prepared at UFMT have music training included in their program. The teachers for the first years of fundamental education (Grades 1-4, ages 7 to 10), prepared in other undergraduate courses usually concentrate on methodology (equivalent to a bachelor of education degree) and do not have training in music.

The preparation of teachers for the first years of fundamental education in arts (especially in music), has been strengthened over the past few years. But it is still far from the expectation of the arts education community. This has been revealed in the teacher's teaching performances. Despite the effort of the teachers, little or almost nothing has been contributed to students' musical development (Souza 1998; Dahlke, Fantinel and Bellochio, 2000). There are also big discrepancies among the contents of the National Curricular Guidelines (Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais) (DCN) and the National Curricular Parameters (Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais) (PCN) for fundamental education (Brasil 1998a, 1997), and those of the existing proposals for the preparation of teachers in basic education.

On one hand, in the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional) (LDB) (Brasil, 1996), the learning of arts in schools is compulsory. In the area of music, it is recommended that "all students have the opportunity to participate actively as listeners, interpreters, composers and improvisers, in and out of the classroom" (Brasil 1997, 77). In spite of this, music is grouped into arts education which is one of the key knowledge areas for the fundamental education (Brasil 1998a), "arts teaching is a knowledge area with specific contents and it should be consolidated as a constituent part of the school curricula, thus requiring the preparation of teachers to guide the students development" (Brasil 1997, 51). As pointed out by Penna (2002), the status of arts education is not well-defined, and the multiple-nature of arts education persists in the PCN. On the other hand, preparation courses for arts teachers for the first years of fundamental education is quite diversified. There is a shortage of specialists in different art subjects which reveals the lack of attention given in the curricular structures for arts. The discussion on the pedagogic projects for the preparation of teachers for the first years of fundamental education points out that there is negligence on the works that have been developed in the arts, mainly in music. It should, however, be noted that teaching practice as part of the components of this course has been one of the most appreciated components in the course.

A Research Involving Distant Education in Music

Teachers trained in the art subjects for the first years of fundamental education in Brazil in most cases, have the responsibility of teaching all subject areas in arts. Music, though a part of the curriculum, is not easy to implement in schools. Although it seems to be important and necessary, music ends up having little reference related to students. In Mato Grosso, due to its huge size of the territory and consequently difficulty for interested people to access music programs, the mode of distant education assumes a prominent position as an alternative in making possible people to take courses to become teachers for teaching in first years of fundamental education. This situation motivated a research on promoting teacher-education in Mato Grosso. The result of the research led to the development of a distant education program in music, EMUSAD (Programa de Educação Musical a Distância), which aims (a) to expand teachers opportunities in learning music; (b) to offer significant experiences in music training; and (c) to understand and design music curricula. The EMUSAD was designed for preparing teachers for the first years of fundamental education in Mato Grosso.

The main question guiding the research was: Which are the pedagogic possibilities of a distant education program in music for teachers of the first years of fundamental education in Mato Grosso? A qualitative approach was chosen to direct the research. The exploration of a real situation and actual events, and the interpretation of the actions involved, are enough to prompt an analysis from the survey. The search for pedagogic possibilities of a distant education program in music for teachers of the first years of fundamental education in Mato Grosso suggested an approach of reflection with action. The understanding of the factors that characterize a situation of educational research demands analysis of the available data, as well as, the concrete observation of the studied situation which facilitates the intended analysis. In this sense, the action in educational practice prompted the necessity of an investigation which brings forth a plan of qualitative research resulted in real actions connected with objective reflection.

Different groups of people participated in the research: music educators involved in planning a teacher’s preparation program, the researcher, the monitors of the research, and the teachers that were students at the EMUSAD program. The music educators involved in the preparation of teachers were lecturers of twelve Brazilian universities; they had experience in developing education programs in the arts or music area in 2000. They were invited to participate in the discussion through electronic mail on the planning of generalist preparation in music education. The monitors were four student volunteers, students of an undergraduate program (equivalent to a music education degree) of the UFMT, and two students egress of the same course, who studied with the investigator in the EMUSAD program. They also helped to serve as teachers in the cities. Those who teach in Mato Grosso were students in 2001 from the Curso de Licenciatura Plena em Educação Básica – 1ª a 4ª série (equivalent to a bachelor of education degree) in distant mode offered by the UFMT. The group was formed by voluntary teachers originated from five different regions in Mato Grosso.

As the number of students (2230 students) of the Curso de Licenciatura Plena em Educação Básica – 1ª a 4ª série was high, the diagnostic actions with the teachers were limited to a questionnaire. After the verification of the results of the questionnaire, discussion among music educators together with an analysis of the situation, the EMUSAD program was planned, organized, and developed leading to its establishment. The main aspects of concerns pointed out by the teachers include the studied repertoire, the understanding of teachers’ role in their students' music education, issues of contents related to children's music education, means by which they wanted to work in the program, and forms of assessment, which were of great importance to the planning of the course. The next phase involved is the preparation of teaching materials. The EMUSAD program was presented in print - a fascicle - accompanied by musical examples recorded in a compact disc (CD). Other printed materials and CDs could be used along with the work, depending on the explicit needs in the plan.

To render the pedagogic proposal of the EMUSAD, the work was presented in the form of a university extension program, with 90 hours in duration between August and November 2001. The program is opened to teachers. Their studies were made at distance, and the cities offering the program provide library facilities, sound equipment, tape recorders, rooms for classes, consultations, communication via letters and Internet. There was one meeting with the teachers in each city for discussion and clarification of doubts. The program had 279 participants.

The learning assessment was in the form of individual and group projects done at the end of the EMUSAD program on musical knowledge attained in activities and reflective thoughts on completed musical actions, as well as the development of critical reflection on music teaching. The application of knowledge in situations, instead of theorethical musical knowledge, proposed by the Referenciais para a Formação de Professores (References for the preparation of teachers) was evaluated (Brasil 1998b). The assessment instruments were developed starting from the questionnaire where teachers chose a list of activities and a final musical product. The assessment was designed during the course which includes three types of activities: 1) musical composition, 2) specific issues of the course content, and 3) notes of the study diaries indicating knowledge construction and difficulties in the understanding and making of music.

The evaluation of the EMUSAD program was conducted via a questionnaire conducted at the end of the course, as well as comments and suggestions collected from people involved in the research. The items considered in the questionnaire were the materials, the researcher's and the monitors’ attendance, the interaction in the proposed activities, the teaching approach and the organization of the program. The data collected through the learning assessment and the program evaluation, and the interactions among the people involved in the research were grouped and organized in categories for analysis which elucidates hypotheses built during the research, which supplies the bases for the conclusion.

Conclusion

The program of EMUSAD was only made possible because of the involvement of the teachers. These teachers, although being very busy, were willing to work collaboratively, and they were highly motivated in music making. According to the teachers’ reports, they felt that the contents of the EMUSAD program were difficult, and students did not have enough time to study. They stated, among other things, that they had been rewarded because they have learned about music and about music teaching. The program influenced them in several aspects of their educational activities favoring the construction of wider conceptions related to music education, an exchange on the meaning of music teaching, children's general and musical development, and the necessary music preparation for teachers. The teachers participated in different types of assessment opined favourably on their practices, interpretations and knowledge. The task that appeared to be the least developed was that related to the systematic building of music knowledge.

The activities proposed by the teachers after they have observed children playing demonstrated to be simple, but were of extreme relevance to children's age group of the initial series and, perfectly possible to be guided by non-specialist teachers in music. The teachers' compositions demonstrated great imagination and creative potential in sound production. These compositions were concrete products of the transformation of groups of sounds in musical speeches which are full of expression, intention and organization. The task confirmed that making music in collaborative ways can enhance interaction, learning and pleasure, and is a part of the processes of the development. The encouraging elements of the teacher's reflective practice, autonomy, collaboration, motivation and diversity permeated all the teachers' activities and were reflected in the results of the research. All the factors point out that the music pedagogic actions learnt in the distant mode were not only relevant, but also possible.

References Brasil. 1996. Lei no 9.394 de Diretrizes e Bases para a Educação Nacional. Brasília: 20 de Dezembro de 1996.

Brasil. 1997. Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais – Arte. Brasília: Secretaria de Educação Fundamental – MEC.

Brasil. 1998a. Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Fundamental. Brasília: CEB nº 2, de 7 de Abril de 1998.

Brasil. 1998b. Referenciais para Formação de Professores. Brasília: Secretaria de Educação Fundamental / Ministério da Educação e do Desporto.

Dahlke, Iara Suzane, Elisângela Forete Fantinel, and Cláudia Bellochio. 2000. A Educação Musical na Formação de Professores. Text on-line of the Revista do Centro de Educação. Available from: http://www.ufms.br/ce/revista/revee/edi9802/102-2-98.html Acessed 01/10/2000.

Penna, Maura. 2002. Professores de música nas escolas públicas de ensino fundamental e médio: uma ausência significativa. Revista da ABEM, no 7, setembro.

Souza, Cássia Virgínia Coelho de. 1998. Educação de Adultos: A Educação Musical a Distância como Possibilidade para a Aproximação com a Escola Regular. In Fundamentos da Educação Musical 4, ed. Joel da Silva Barbosa. Salvador: ABEM.