Creative Thinking Education: Exploring Opportunities in the Elementary General Music Classroom 

• In Event: Learning, Instruction, and Teaching Across Interdisciplinary Contexts

Abstract

Creative thinking is an essential skill for success in the global economy of the 21st century. The elementary general music classroom provides a fertile environment for creative thinking instruction. Although the national music standards emphasize the importance of creative learning experiences, most music classrooms focus on rote music skills and performance techniques rather than opportunities for creative thinking through composition, improvisation, listening, and movement. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to explore factors that contribute to the inclusion of creative thinking instruction in the elementary general music classroom by examining the perceptions, preparation, and practices of elementary general music teachers as well as contextual conditions that facilitate or hinder creative thinking in general music instruction. 

Author

• Sandra Reece, Hood College
  Presenting Author