Music for Education

Studies in this field present musical education as a discipline that tries to mediate the values of the Czech and world classical music in today's mass culture and thus continues in the tradition of the Czech cantors. The profile of a graduate is a universally musically educated and socially useful personality. It emphasizes acquiring both theoretical and practical skills. The study represents its field as a discipline that can maximally use the latest information technologies. The study is generally focused on creating professional, pedagogical, psychological, communicational and other personal competences as an initial stage to the follow-up Master’s study Teacher of Music Education for Secondary Schools. Knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired during the studies are the basis of the ability to practice the profession of teaching assistant for music teachers and educational and auxiliary educational work. The acquired competencies give also a full qualification for the work of an instructor in free-time centres.

Music starts where the words end...

Through studying for the Bachelor’s degree graduates gain the necessary competences that allow them to critically apply the use of their pedagogical and psychological knowledge in practice as a teaching assistant or other educational worker (e.g. free-time instructor in youth centres or after-school clubs, in various civic associations engaged in pedagogical activities) in an appropriate manner.

The degree develops students’ analytical and comparative skills, which enable them to understand the diverse pedagogical reality and to use subject-specific, pedagogical, and psychological publications in their work for planning, implementing and reflecting on educational activities. They develop communication skills important for communication and collaboration with pupils/clients, colleagues in the workplace, with parents of pupils/clients and with practitioners. An important benefit of the degree is the development of self-reflective skills that provide space for the development of attitudes towards one another, to educated individuals and to the profession: perception of the responsibility of the teaching profession, the acceptance of the moral obligations of a helping profession and its ethics.

The studies emphasise the principle of interdisciplinarity (interconnection of some pedagogical and psychological subjects); the principle of sequence and gradation of themes and courses, from the more general to the more specific. The concept is also characterized by the interdependence of theory and practice. An important part of the concept is the reflective teaching practice. The principles of reflection on teaching practice and self-reflection are related both to practice and to other experience-oriented subjects. An important part of the concept is also the promotion of inclusion, which is perceived as a cross-curricular theme (also supported by a separate course).

Practical training

The system of compulsory teaching practice is aimed at developing the students’ professional competences and preparing them for the full-fledged role of a teaching assistant. The aim of the teaching assistant practice is to acquire the necessary skills for individual work with a pupil outside the process of teaching (tutoring at school in the pupils’ homes) and also when working with a teacher during lessons.

The teaching practice consists of a coherent system of consecutive subjects, which are taken from the third to the fifth semester of the degree. These are the subjects teaching assistant practice - tutoring 1, teaching assistant practice - tutoring 2, consisting of individual tutoring (60 hours), teaching assistant practice - teaching assistant 1 (60 hours) and teaching assistant practice - teaching assistant 2 (60 hours) and teaching assistant practice – teaching assistant 3. Overall, there 180 hours of teaching practice.

In the third and fourth semesters, the teaching practice is followed by the subjects self-experiential preparation for the profession 1 and self- experiential preparation for the profession 2, in which the students of the teaching assistant practice reflect (24 hours). Their aim is to enable students to have real experience with selected themes (see seminar topics) regarding personal and professional development through experiential learning with an emphasis on reflection; to encourage students to gradually take responsibility for their own learning process (self-directed learning); to enable students to become aware of and, if necessary, to revise their attitudes towards their future profession.

The system of teaching practice is regularly evaluated both through closed and open questions, both by students and the mentor teachers. The reflective seminars are also evaluated.

Further information

Website of the Department of Music :

http://katedry.ped.muni.cz/hudebni-vychova

Graduates are fully qualified as a teacher's assistant, instructor in free-time centres, as an educator in youth centres, educator in after-school clubs, and in various civic associations involved in educational activities.

No information available

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Minimum score and numbers of accepted applicants in past years

A graduate of a bachelor's studies of a combination of courses with a focus on education can continue in a follow-up master's studies of the combination of the study fields of Teaching for Primary and Secondary Schools.