Interview questions for semi-structured interview with experts

1. Tell me briefly how you came to be in your position within the music department.

2. Describe your musical background and experiences as a student.

3. Briefly describe your experiences as a music teacher, K-6/Infants – 6th class.

4. As a U.S. teacher, what do you think about Irish primary school teachers (Pre-K-6)
having to implement and teach the national music curriculum to their students? (Do you
see any advantages or disadvantages to this model of music education provision?)

OR

As an Irish teacher, what are your thoughts regarding the idea of music specialist
teachers?

5. What are your thoughts on the vignettes of the Irish/American music teachers?

6. Do you think the vignettes of Irish/American teachers written accurately reflect the majority of
teachers today?

What changes/additions, if any, would you make?

Is there anything omitted from the vignettes that you feel is important?

7. If you were able to develop a new music curriculum with no limitations, what would it
look like?

8. What do you consider to be some of the biggest challenges facing teachers in

implementing music in their classrooms?

9. How do you think these challenges can be overcome?

10. Some of the data gathered so far in the inquiry indicate that teachers lack confidence in
the area of composition. Do you have any insights or guidance into why this may be the
case? What can be done to remedy this situation? (IRISH TEACHERS ONLY)

11. Another finding emerging from the data indicate that teachers do not feel they are
adequately prepared to teach music from their initial teacher education/preservice teacher
training. What do you have to say in response to this? (BOTH SETS OF TEACHERS)