Malaysian primary school music teachers' perceptions toward teaching music creatively / Khadijah Izzaty Zainul

"Creative teaching is an art" (Joubert, 2011). Creativity in teaching has been a long-debated topic of discussion in education. The main purpose of this study is to investigate (a) Malaysian primary school music teachers' perceptions toward teaching music creatively, (b) to investigate factors which influence the perceptions of teaching music creatively as well as to (c) identify the challenges to teaching music creatively. This study is using a quantitative method and the instrument is by using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to 22 primary school music teachers in Malaysia. The result of this study concluded that primary school music teachers view teaching creatively by three conditions, which are creative teaching technique, fun learning environment, and by creating something different. The major influence on the perceptions of the teachers is motivation and support. The challenges faced by the teachers in teaching creatively is concluded into four issues which are time issues, teachers' issues, students' issue, and issues with the facilities. This study was a first step towards looking into perceptions of Malaysian primary school music teachers toward teaching music creatively. The field of music education will benefit from more studies in this area if future studies used on a larger scale.