“Your passion makes it happen”: A survey on Weifang teachers’ attitudes in teaching Chinese folk music

In contemporary music education in Mainland China, school music teaching contents are influenced by the official music curriculum, titled “Full-time Compulsory Music Curriculum Standard (Pilot Edition)” published in 2001. Since music is not an accountable subject for senior high school entrance examination, students in primary and secondary schools do not value the study of music. Selections of teaching contents may depend on the teachers’ attitude towards music and music education. Moreover, there is a gap between education policy and actual implementation of curriculum in China. The government has appealed for enhancing Chinese folk music since the People’s Republic of China was established. Nevertheless, cultural dislocation as an evident problem exists in contemporary music education till now. The study investigates the possible relationship between teachers’ attitude towards teaching Chinese folk music and their music teaching practice via a survey of secondary school teachers in Weifang, Shandong Province. A total of 72 secondary school teachers responded to a questionnaire survey on their attitude towards teaching Chinese folk music and how they perceive their students’ attitude on learning Chinese folk music. Additionally, six semi-structured interviews with voluntary teachers were undertaken to explore the constraints of teaching Chinese folk music. Findings indicate that there is a contradiction between teachers’ attitude and actual teaching: most of the respondents possess a positive attitude towards teaching Chinese folk music while they spend limited time in teaching the genre. Owing to their lack of sufficient understanding of Chinese folk music, music teachers excessively rely on using existing music textbooks. Obviously, promoting Chinese music education requires music teachers to develop their professional training and possess an appropriate ideology. Meanwhile, implications are proposed to improve this educational dilemma. Copyright © 2014 Arts Education Conference 2013.