The Analysis of Content of Bachelor Study Programme of Music Teacher Training in Lithuania : Attitude of Foreign and Lithuanian Students

Teacher training institutions play a significant role in preparing future music teachers. Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (now Vytautas Magnus University, Academy of Education) as an institution that educates professional teachers and implements the study programmes of music teacher education. The aim of the research is to reveal the results of the analysis of the content of music teacher education programme highlighting the attitude of foreign and Lithuanian students. The research shows that most study subjects are thought to be very important by future music teachers, especially music knowledge and pedagogical studies. During the Bachelor studies, the majority of students (Chinese and Lithuanian) have gained the abilities at the professional level.


Introduction
It is now widely accepted that teachers' values related to music, prior musical experience and self-efficacy in teaching music have significant influence on how music is taught in schools (Dogani, 2008;Hallam et all 2009;Russell-Bowie, 2009;Finney, Philpott, 2010;Georgii-Hemming, Westvall, 2010;Burnard, 2012;Kokotsaki, 2012;Girdzijauskas, 2012;Kenny, 2014;and others).Teacher training institutions have a highly responsible mission to train competitive educators who will be able to implement changes and innovative teaching methods in schools in the future (Rauduvaitė, Lasauskienė, Barkauskaitė, 2015;Leisytė, Zelvys, Zenkienė, 2015;Salienė, 2016).Likewise, modern pedagogical theory and practice get more and more focused on responding to the challenges of the 21st century, i.e. on implementing life-long learning, assuring the quality of education, training of individuals for successful professional activities in rapidly changing social and cultural conditions (European Commission, 2015;Eurydice report, 2015; The Order of the Minister of Education and Science On the Approval of the Description of Teacher Education Model, 2017;Education and Training in Europe 2020).
The profession of a music teacher is an exceptional one and music studies are acknowledged as a specific field in higher education, which is inseparable from particularly individualised world and development of individual special musical abilities.This is a complex and sufficiently broad study area because it embraces knowledge and abilities of music, attitudes towards music values, personal qualities that predetermine successful musical activities next to general pedagogical abilities (Rimšaitė, Umbrasienė, 2010;Juvonen, Ruismaki, Lehtonen, 2012;Tavoras, 2015).
Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (LEU; now VytautasMagnusUniversity, Academy of Education) is a higher education institution in Lithuania, which prepares teachers of all kinds of arts (music, dance, theatre, fine arts).The University adapts the framework of higher-education qualification and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ETCS), as well as the same grading system.The primary goal of the university is to educate a highly qualified specialists and professional teachers in the chosen field of science ( The aim of the researchis to reveal the results of analysis of the content of music teacher education programme highlighting the attitude of foreign and Lithuanian students.The objectives of the research:to review the Lithuanian education legislation and the Bachelor StudyProgramme of Music Education at LEU; to disclose the attitudes of future music teachers towards the Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education.The methods of the research:analysis of scholarly literature sources, strategic documents on educational policy; analysis of the Study Programme of Music Education; written questionnaire for future music teachers.

Theoretical substantiation of research
Reforms in higher education in Europe and growing requirements for professional development have caused changes in the logic of study programme development and the attitude towards the goal, content of studies as well as towards assessment of the knowledge and abilities obtained during the studies.According to G. Žibėnienė (2006), in the process of integrating Lithuanian education system into European Higher Education Area it is particularly important to ensure the quality of studies because the quality is an underlying value of education.Thus, competence-based study programme has to be designed focussing on development of abilities, which have to be demonstrated in the process of education.Society involved in permanent education has stopped emphasising academic curriculum, whereas more attention has been attached to general and specialised education and training that ensure satisfaction of practical needs (Bitinas, 2013).
According to H. Šečkuvienė (2004), the good practice of music teaching is attributable to teachers' musical ability, philosophy, pedagogy and personality.Music teacher's motivation to deliver is also crucial to his or her effectiveness in teaching music in the classroom (Maguraushe, 2015).In addition, confidence, which is evidence of security emanating from grounding in a discipline, is as much of a motivator to the teacher.A music teacher requires good education in order to manage subject matter challenges when teaching and it empowers him or her to deliver confidently, which means that music teacher training and practice can develop their confidence.Music pedagogy combines the field of music and pedagogy to prepare future music teachers in general schools (Petress, 2005;Balčytis, 2012;Sakadolskienė, 2017;and others).Therefore, music students' identity construction and career development are an area of interest (Mills, Smith, 2003;Ryan, 2010).In order to provide students with better music education, we ought to start with the music teacher education/training.A contemporary higher education institution faces new challenges and goals seeking the quality of higher education.J. Lasauskienė (2013) states that the demand for new teacher competences imposes requirements for improvement of teacher training, organisation of studies that help future teachers to develop competences that answer needs of contemporary school.J. Townsend (2011) claims that a good command of content and mastery of methods are critical to effective teaching so that music teachers have a solid foundation.Content knowledge, knowledge of the curriculum and pedagogical knowledge forms a sound knowledge base for teachers.This results in qualified music educators, artistic project organizers and developers, who are able to apply the abilities acquired at university for the development of school learners' arts education and integration of the young generation into social cultural life.

The methodology and organization of research
The analysis of scholarly literature sources was conducted, the learning outcomes of the study programme of Bachelor Study Programme of Music Educationwere analysed, the questionnaire survey of students of the study programme and the qualitative analysis of the data were conducted.The data were collected and processed with Microsoft Office Excel calculating absolute and percentage frequencies in descriptive statistics.The questionnaire consisted of five scales and questions.The scales were used to evaluate possibilities of practical application of the content of music education, insights in the process of management, application of educational technologies, establishment of environment, combination of differentiation and individualisation in the process of music education.The questionnaire consisted of 19 statements, which provided information about the level of abilities and knowledge obtained by the students during studies in music education (the statements were adapted following the ESF funded project "Improvement of Study Practice and Mentoring System for Beginner Teachers by Training Supervisors with Mentor Qualities", ESF/2.4.0-K01-037/SUT-258).Answering the statements, the respondents were asked to choose one of the four responses: master, professional, satisfactory and low.The sample of the quantitative research included 103 students from the analysed study programme (62 Chinese students and 41 Lithuanian students).

Research results
The primary goalof University is to educate a highly qualified professionals and competent teachers in the chosen field of science who are able to successfully operate in the fast-changing society.The aim of Bachelor Study Programme of Music Educationis to train a music educator who has completed higher education studies and possesses a theoretical understanding of music education based on the newest results of scientific research; who is able to creatively organize high quality music education, to communicate and collaborate while implementing it, to consider the diversity of learners (in terms of their abilities, social or economic background, etc.) and individual needs of every learner; who has obtained foundations for continuous personal and professional improvement and demonstrates a solid determination and motivation to work in music education.
Furthermore, Table 1 below shows the outcomes of Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education.The analysed Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education aims at preparing a competent music teacher as well as a researcher and a leader.
Table 1 presents the outcomes of the Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education from different aspects.In addition to the acquisition of a solid foundation (the professional skills and theoretical knowledge), future music teachers are expected to develop their self-development ability, cooperation abilities and communicational skills as well as a disciplinary research ability.

Table 1 The outcomes of the Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education
The outcomes of undergraduate music teacher education The student will know the scientific systematic basics of music (music language, music history, music aesthetics, music psychology etc.) and education (education theories, philosophy, psychology, sociology) and the use of technologies in the practical musical pedagogical activities.
The student will be able to participate in musical activities (sing, play musical instruments, value the phenomena of musical culture in the context of arts, possess good moral values).
The student will be able to see and assess learners' different musical skills, their needs, inclinations and learning styles through the personification of the music education al content, the environment.S/he will be able to assess learners' achievements, focusing on the learners' development of general competences.
The student will be able to provide good conditions for every single learner (including students with special educational needs or those who are extremely talented) to participate in the educational process by maximizing the learner's potential.
The student will be able to create a safe, open, involving, tolerant for all (despite age, sex, social environment, language, nationality, culture, religion etc.), enforced, motivating, creative learning environment through self-expression and self-governed education by using the diversity of the music education process, tools and digital technologies.
The student will be able to plan and organize a learner-oriented music education process; systematically assess learner's efficiency, provide feedback, promote the development and evaluate every learner's musical achievements.
The student will be able to search and analyse education documents and scientific resources, to plan and carry out researches based on the latest scientific information, to disseminate the research results to music pedagogues and the society.
The student will be able to assume the role of a leader and take responsibility for professional activity and for the musical culture of educational institutions.S/he will also be able to include the school's community into the realization of music education aims, cooperate with education assistance experts and social partners.
The student will be able to develop a professional identity, improve personal effectiveness through evidence-based professional activity.
The curriculum of the Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education consists of six modules (240 ETCS).The main modules are as follows: subject-specific module (90 ETCS), module of pedagogical studies (60 ETCS), and study subjects established by the university (51 ETCS).These three modules involve music-related and pedagogical subjects.In addition, students can also select a subject (9 ETCS) offered by the university.Moreover, the final Bachelor thesis takes up an important part of 15 credits.
The analysed Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education generally consists of three sections, which are subjects established by the University, pedagogical subjects and subject-specific studies.This research discloses that most subjects are very important for future music teachers, especially the pedagogical studies and musical theory.
Subjects established by the University include Foreign Language (English or other), Professional Language and Philosophy Education, which are generally regarded as very important by both Chinese and Lithuanian students.The module pedagogical studies consists of theoretical studies and Teaching Practice.In general, the subject of Pedagogy is regarded as very important by both Chinese and Lithuanian students (91 and 94 percent respectively).Moreover, around 70 percent of the students consider Education Psychology to be a very relevant subject.Combined with the theoretical part, Teaching Practice is also very important for almost all students, especially the Teaching Practice under the Supervision of Mentor and Independent Teaching Practice.Overall, all the subjects of pedagogical studies are considered to be very important by the majority participants, except for Health Education and Educational Systems, which are regarded only as important rather than very important by most Chinese and Lithuanian students.
Most subjects from subject-specific studies are considered as very relevant (especially Piano and Solfeggio) by more than 80 percent of Chinese and Lithuanian students.Moreover, more than 70 percent of the students (both Chinese and Lithuanian) consider Singing and Harmony to be very important subjects.In addition, Music Aesthetics and Analysis of Musical Works are regarded as very important by 60 percent of students.However, the majority of Chinese and Lithuanian students consider History of Lithuanian Music as a significant subject.There are 27 percent of Chinese students who think that Management is not a very important subject for a music teacher and only 9 percent of Lithuanian students are of the same opinion.
In the Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education, Bachelor's Thesis or Project is the final work of the studies, the high importance of which is indicated by the majority of Chinese (55 percent) and Lithuanian (69 percent) students.
The following part of the questionnaire was about the level of abilities students are gaining / have gained during their Bachelor's studies.There were six sections, which include: the ability to practically apply music education content, ability to effectively plan music education, ability to manage the music education process, ability to develop a music education environment and the ability to differentiate and individualise music education.Students had to evaluate themselves and indicate what level of abilities they gained during their Bachelor's studies.
During the Bachelor's studies, most students gain abilities at the professional level.Table 2 below shows the different aspects of the ability in the practical application of music education, which discloses the students' level of ability in the practical application of music education.The data in Table 2 illustrate the students' level of ability in the practical application of music education content obtained during music teacher training studies.Most students obtained abilities at the professional and satisfactory levels.62 percent of Lithuanian students marked the "satisfactory" level in terms of ability to select the content of music education according to the goals, objectives, age, experience and musical skills of the students.55 percent of Chinese students chose the "professional" level regarding their ability to critically evaluate or update the content of the curriculum, to adapt (transpose, arrange, organize, harmonize) musical compositions taking into account their students' abilities.The relevance of the analysed abilities is recognized by H. Schippers and P. S. Camphell (2012) because while modelling music teaching, the teacher seeks successful development of school learners' musical abilities and meaningful perception of music that opens a path for school learners to the perspectives of getting familiar with musical cultures and traditions.Thus, the teacher's ability to practically implement curriculum allows him or her to develop strategies for its implementation.
The data on ability to manage the music education process involves the organization ability that includes organizing a lesson, designing the learning process, presenting the musical activities and evaluating them are presented in Table 3.

Table 3
The ability in the management of the music education process: future music teachers' point of view  3 reveals that the majority of the students evaluate themselves as being at the professional level, while the rest of the students indicate that their level is satisfactory.75 percent of the Lithuanian students chose the "professional" level regarding their ability to understand the purpose of the assessment of the results of their students, and ability to base their music education on it.Generally, compared to students from China, more Lithuanian students evaluate themselves as being at the professional level.
The data in Table 4 refer to the students' ability in the application of effective music education technologies.This ability includes selecting and applying new music education technologies, establishing a dialogue and correctly applying various ways of music education.
About half of the Chinese and Lithuanian students are at the professional level of applying effective music education technologies.In addition, there are more students that situate themselves at the satisfactory or master level here than regarding other abilities (Table 4).The research conducted by S. H. M. Carvalho, A. Scavarda (2014) substantiates the relevance of ability to apply various technologies of education.Music education can become a phenomenal means, which helps to convert links between technologies and social, economic and cultural life.This would not only enable school learners to expand and deepen their knowledge of music but would also contribute to building a more favourable attitude towards various genres and styles in a contemporary school.The data in Table 5 illustrate the students' ability to develop a music education environment.This ability contains the aspects of music creation, choosing training tools appropriately, participating in professional musical activities and creating a supportive environment.5 above shows that the majority of students (both Chinese and Lithuanian) indicated the professional and satisfactory levels in the following abilities: 61 percent of the Chinese students consider themselves to be at the professional level in participating in musical activities professionally, gathering and leading students' musical collectives.Around 33 percent of the Lithuanian students think that they obtained the ability to create a supportive environment for the development of their students' musical abilities.
The students' level of ability to differentiate and individualize music education is demonstrated in Table 6.This ability involves applying differentiated music education, taking into account individual needs, combining group work and reflecting on the experience of the students' music education.The data presented in Table 6 reveal that most Chinese and Lithuanian students place themselves at the professional and satisfactory level in those abilities.Half of the Chinese students indicate that they are professional in those abilities.50 percent of the Lithuanian students chose "satisfactory" for the ability to select and apply differentiated music education methods taking into account the individual needs and musical experience of their students.On the basis of the analysed abilities, the teacher seeks acknowledgement of the value of each learner's personality and employment of all the powers of his or her pedagogical mastery making attempts to reveal the individual musical powers in the most comprehensive manner.According to Z. Rinkevičius and R. Rinkevičienė (2006) the ability of music teacher to demonstrate own understanding of music is perceived as a general idea in music teacher training and education.

Conclusions
The study reveals the content of the analysed Study Programme of Music Education from the perspective of foreign and Lithuanian students.The Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education provides a solid foundation for all-around musical knowledge and pedagogical theoretical studies combined with teaching practice, in order to cultivate music educators who creatively organise high quality music education, communicate and collaborate when implementing it, as well as consider the diversity of the learners.
The research revealed that most subjects in the curriculum are regarded as very important for the future career by the majority of Chinese and Lithuanian students, particularly the pedagogical theoretical subjects combined with Teaching Practice.While most of the answers were similar among Lithuanian and Chinese students, there were some noteworthy differences.The results showed that the Chinese students concentrate more on performance subjects, while Lithuanian students place more focus on the basic music subjects.The majority of the students (both Chinese and Lithuanian) claimed that they gained the necessary abilities during their Bachelor studies.Overall, all students are of the opinion that the combination of the pedagogical subjects and study subject studies is important.To sum up, based on the participants' answers it can be noted that the Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education is able to provide a solid theoretical and practical foundation for prospective music teachers.The subjects offered in the Bachelor Study Programme of Music Education meet the needs of prospective music teachers.
The Structure of the Study Programmes at LithuanianUniversity of Educational Sciences, 2013; The Draft of the Lithuanian Teacher Training Conception and its Substantiation, 2016).This paper will disclose and analyse the attitudes of future music teachers and experienced music teachers towards the undergraduate music teacher training programme.The problem of research: what content of music teacher training programme could satisfy the expectations of the changing society.
purpose of the assessment of the results of my students, and I can base their music education on it.

Table 2
The ability in the practical application of music education content: future music teachers' point of view ** Lithuanian students * Chinese students

Table 4
The ability to apply effective music education technologies: future music teachers' point of view

Table 5
The ability to develop a music education environment: future music teachers' point of view