Abstract

Music teacher candidates spend part of their Bachelor education in practice schools with mentor teachers before starting work. Observing music teachers in the classroom empower candidates to understand how music teaching and learning occur in classrooms, and also enlightens them on how mentor teachers teach, which then expands their awareness about different teaching styles. This research compares candidate music teachers’ preferences in teaching styles and their perceptions of mentor teachers’ teaching styles. The research was conducted using the quantitative approach with survey methodology. The survey was administered during the autumn teaching semester of 2015 to 2016. Two hundred eighteen candidate teachers participated in the survey, selected randomly from education faculties under the fine arts music education departments of seven Turkish state universities. The research data was collected by the Teaching Style Inventory developed by Grasha. The datasets were analyzed by linear regression analysis (simple linear regression). The research findings concluded that candidate teachers’ own teaching style has a significant relation with mentor teachers’ teaching styles. Therefore, they are sensitive to the teacher’s mentor role in forming their own teaching styles.

Key Words: Music teacher candidates, mentor teacher, teaching styles.