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9:KLJ9;L C=QOGJ<K
In this article we examine podcast creation as a methodology for exploring self podcast creation
within music teacher education. We draw on interview data concerning pre-service teacher education
teachers perceptions of a podcast creation assignment carried out within an under- reflection
graduate music education course. Students were required to use digital technology to exploring self
create an audio podcast, three to five minutes in duration, to tell their stories of, with teacher identity
and through music. Analysis of the interview data indicated that in creating the self study
podcasts, pre-service music teachers experienced enhanced reflection by combining
music and narration together; facilitation of idea exploration and communication
as a result of speaking rather than writing; the benefit of hearing their own words;
deeply personal engagement and enhanced meaning-making through creative and
artistic processes. Accordingly, we conclude that podcast creation holds significant
potential as a vehicle for exploring self within music teacher education.

*,+

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 :]fbYeaf:gd\]ftBYe]kFY`Y[`]okcq

In this article we explore the potential of podcast creation as a methodol-

ogy for exploring self within the context of a personal orientation to music
teacher education (Campbell et al. 2012). We draw on interview data collected
to examine pre-service teachers perceptions of a podcast creation assignment
carried out within an undergraduate music education course. The assignment
required students to create an audio podcast, three to five minutes in duration,
in order to tell their stories of, with and through music. The students combined
music and spoken text in a digital audio narrative, describing and reflecting
on significant personal experiences with music. Students were encouraged to
relate stories of learning music, listening to music and making music, and to
audio-illustrate the stories by incorporating relevant music excerpts into the
digital document. The assignments primary purpose was to help students gain
deeper understandings of their own relationships with music understandings
that could, ideally, inform their future work as music educators. Our intent
with this article is to explore and examine the interview data to determine if
and if so, how the assignments purpose was realized.

J=D9L=<DAL=J9LMJ=
Reflective journaling is a process of exploring and analysing events and experi-
ences through writing in order to gain new understandings and extract mean-
ing from them (Boud 2001). Journaling can support professional practice by
enhancing ones ability to learn from experience, and so has featured in pre-
service teacher education across a variety of curriculum subject areas (see e.g.
Cicero 2006; Pedro 2005; Salinas 2004; Tsang 2003; Uline et al. 2004) includ-
ing music (Barry 1996; Baker 2007; Hobbs 2007; Smith 2002). Across these
studies journaling is presented as a means of supporting reflective thinking
and practice. Dewey characterized reflective thinking as active, persistent and
careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of
the grounds that support it and further conclusions to which it tends ([1933]
1991: 9). For some time the development of reflective thinking amongst pre-
service teachers has been an important goal of teacher education (Leglar and
Collay 2002).
We identify two broad categories of reflection that can be addressed
through journaling and are significant in a teacher education context. The
first is reflection on ones teaching, the kind of reflection that Schn (1983)
calls reflection-on-action the contemplation of an experience after it has
occurred, and the challenging of personal assumptions that the experience
brings to light. Another category of reflection, which we focus on in this arti-
cle, is reflection on ones personal life history the collection of experiences
that shape ones attitudes and beliefs about learning and teaching and in
turn shape ones teaching practice. (Please see Knowles 1992; Knowles et al.
1994; Knowles and Holt-Reynolds 1991; Holt-Reynolds 1992, for their work
examining the value of personal history in pre-service teacher education.)
We believe that for music educators, experiences with music are particularly
relevant, and warrant reflective examination. Significant music experiences
include not only those that occur within teaching and learning contexts, but
also experiences with music listening and music making that occur outside
learning contexts, and simply involve engaging with music. As Ruud suggests,
identity is constructed through narratives we tell about ourselves in relation
to musical events and experiences in different contexts personal, transper-
sonal, social, and those specifically located in time and place (2006: 63).

*,,

JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 244 4/12/16 12:07:38 PM

 Hg\[Ykl[j]Ylagf

Reflection concerning ones personal life history has much to do with iden-
tity. As Dolloff explains, we construct a dynamic and evolving sense of who
we are through our experiences and relationships to our environment, others,
and the results of our actions (2006: 125). Research examining the identity
development of future music educators continues to appear in music educa-
tion literature (e.g., Austin et al. 2012; Hargreaves et al. 2007; Hargreaves and
Marshall 2003; Haston and Russell 2012; Isbell 2008; McClellan 2011, 2014;
Russell 2012). Figuring prominently in this work is the ubiquitous identity
struggle between music educator as teacher versus musician (Arstegui 2004;
Bouij 1998; Froehlich and LRoy 1985; Mark 1998; Pellegrino 2009; Robert
1991; Woodford 2002). We believe there are many other nuanced aspects of
music teacher identity that are also useful for pre-service music teachers to
explore and unpack, such as the kinds of music teachers they have experi-
enced and want to be, the kinds of music they most powerfully associate with,
and the kinds of music experiences they most value and wish to bring to their
own students.
Dolloff (1999) described music teacher identity exploration enabled by
uncovering and analysing music education students personal images about
teachers and teaching, through processes including writing narratives, drawing
pictures and identifying metaphors for their teacher identities. Podcast crea-
tion provides another means of enabling music teacher identity exploration
a means hitherto unexamined in teacher education literature.
Our purpose here is to begin to fill that research gap, by exploring the
potential of podcast creation as a vehicle for exploring self within the context
of a personal orientation to music teacher education.

;GF;=HLM9D>J9E=OGJC29H=JKGF9DGJA=FL9LAGFLGEMKA;
L=9;@=J=<M;9LAGF
As a guiding framework for music teacher education, Campbell et al. recom-
mend a personal orientation. They propose that:

[] it is not only in extracting meaning from the present but through

deep analysis of past educational experiences that our future music
teachers will begin to conceptualize for themselves the complexity of
teaching as well as explicitly own their personal development as future
music educators.
(2012: 76)

Carter and Anders define a personal orientation as personalized teacher

education that focuses on coming to terms with oneself, maximizing a sense
of self-efficacy, clarifying ones values, and discovering ones own personal
meaning and style in teaching (1996: 561). At the heart of this approach is
the notion that becoming a teacher requires learning to understand, develop,
and use oneself effectively (Feiman-Nemser 1990: 4). Personalized teacher
education processes emphasize reflection, the study and writing of stories
and cases, action research, and teachers life histories, narratives, and personal
knowledge (Carter and Anders 1996: 56061).
As a means of enacting a personal orientation framework for music teacher
education Campbell et al. identify and describe three core methodologies:
(1) methodologies for exploring self, (2) methodologies for exploring school
contexts and (3) methodologies for exploring teaching and learning (2012: 80).

*,-

JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 245 4/7/16 8:27:08 AM

 :]fbYeaf:gd\]ftBYe]kFY`Y[`]okcq

Of particular interest to us are the proposed methodologies for exploring self,

such as constructing a life history or educational biography, that serve to []
uncover and articulate music teacher role identity through identification
of formative influences (families, schools, prior teaching, significant others)
(Campbell et al. 2012: 81).
In our own experience working with pre-service teachers, we also have
come to value and encourage the exploring of self as a strategy for teacher
education. We suggest that for music educators, understandings of self in
relation to music are particularly potent. Teachers practices in the music
classroom are heavily influenced by their experiences of and with music the
experiences that have contributed to the development of their core identity
and sub-identities as music educators (Ballantyne et al. 2012; Gee 2001). We
believe that music educators can benefit from the opportunity to unpack the
meanings these experiences hold. Further, we propose that the audio podcast
medium lends itself particularly well to this kind of autobiographical and
reflective work.

L@=HG<;9KL;J=9LAGF9KKA?FE=FL
As a core requirement of an undergraduate music education course for
elementary generalists designed and instructed by the first author, pre-service
teachers used Garage Band or Audacity software to create an audio podcast as
a means of exploring and unpacking their experiences with music. The assign-
ment description distributed to students included the following instructions:

Task: To produce a 34 minute podcast in which you combine person-

ally significant pieces of music or pieces that represent personally
significant interactions with music with commentary reflecting on
your relationship with music at various points in your life. For example,
one of the music clips might be a song you listened to a lot as a teen-
ager, and you might explain how the song connected you to a certain
peer group, or reflected something you were feeling, or drew you in
and captured your interest, etc. Another music clip might be a piece (or
similar to a piece) you performed at some point (maybe through private
music lessons or school music), and you might explain how the experi-
ence of learning/performing in this context made you feel, or what it
meant/represented to you.
Rationale: The exploration of your personal interactions with music will,
I believe, help you to better understand your own relationship with
music and perhaps also the relationship others (including your students)
may or might have with music.

In addition, the assignment description included a section on techni-

cal considerations, a suggested procedure for carrying out the assignment
and an assessment rubric (for further details of the assignment, please see
Bolden 2013).

J=K=9J;@IM=KLAGF
The aim of the research reported here was to explore the potential of this
podcast creation assignment as a vehicle for exploring self within the context
of a personal orientation to music teacher education. Specifically, the study

*,.

JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 246 4/7/16 8:27:08 AM

 Hg\[Ykl[j]Ylagf

addressed the question: what were students perceptions of the experience of

exploring self through the podcast creation assignment?

J=K=9J;@E=L@G<K
We employed a qualitative case study approach to shape the enquiry, an
approach that enables the exploration of an issue of general interest by
examining particular cases (Stake 1995). According to Stake, a case is a
specific, a complex, functioning thing [] an integrated system (1995: 2).
Stake suggested that a teacher may be a case or a school or an innovative
programme. Our case corresponds to this third example an innovative
programme. Our general focus of interest is podcast creation as a vehicle for
exploring self within the context of music teacher education. More specifi-
cally, our case consists of a podcast assignment entitled My story with music
as experienced by undergraduate general education students within a music
education course at a Canadian university.

=l`a[k
Before data collection we submitted an application to our institutions ethics
review board and the study was approved. Because we (the authors and prin-
cipal investigators) were also the participants instructors, to minimize any
potential influence of this power dynamic on participation, intermediaries
(research assistants) carried out all recruitment and interviewing. At no point
were we aware who had or had not participated in the study. The research
assistants visited the first authors class towards the end of term. The first
author introduced the research assistants, then left the classroom. The
assistants described the study, distributed letters of information and consent
forms, and requested that students contact one of them if they were interested
in participating. The research assistants met with interested participants and
made clear that all data would be anonymized and password protected; that
participants could withdraw from the study at any point; and that no adverse
consequences were anticipated as a result of participation. The assistants then
asked participants to sign a consent form to ensure ongoing consent, then
conducted and transcribed the interviews.

<YlY[gdd][lagf
Employing a convenience sampling technique, we invited (via research assist-
ants) the 32 students in the first authors undergraduate music education class
to participate in the research study; nine chose to be involved (four male and
five female). Two research assistants conducted semi-structured interviews in
which participants were asked to describe their experiences of exploring self
through creation of the podcast, to compare the experience to writing papers
or exams, and to comment on the likelihood that they might one day engage
their own students in a podcast assignment.
Each interview lasted approximately 45 minutes. The nine interviews were
digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim (yielding 86 pages of data), and
transcriptions were sent to the participants for member checking.

<YlYYfYdqkak
Our analysis of the interviews involved the systematic coding and sort-
ing of data according to topics, themes and issues important to the study

*,/

JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 247 4/8/16 1:42:07 PM

 :]fbYeaf:gd\]ftBYe]kFY`Y[`]okcq

(Stake 2010). We read the interview transcripts closely and repeatedly. We used
codes to identify text segments that emerged as significant for their relation
to the research question and/or literature review (McMillan and Schumacher
2010). After the initial coding process, we compared codes for duplication and
merged them together where appropriate. Next, we organized the coded data
into related categories through a process of repeated comparison and contrast
(Strauss and Corbin 1990). Finally, we examined patterns and relationships
amongst categories to identify themes that were relevant to our research goals
(McMillan and Schumacher 2010).

Ljmklogjl`af]kk
Guba (1981) proposes four criteria for qualitative researchers to consider in
pursuit of a trustworthy study: credibility, transferability, dependability and
confirmability. We address each of these criteria as follows:
Credibility/internal validity: Triangulation of data is a means of verifying
a studys credibility. One means of triangulation is to make use of multiple
data collection strategies; in this study, however, we relied solely on semi-
structured interviews, and we acknowledge this limitation. In keeping with
research ethics requirements, it was necessary for the identities of the partici-
pants (who were our students) to remain unknown to us. As a result, it was
not possible to triangulate the findings from the interviews with an analysis
of the podcasts themselves or observation of the participants podcast creation
processes. However, triangulation can also be achieved through the use of a
wide range of data sources; a rich picture may be constructed based on the
contributions of a range of people (van Maanen 1983). We believe that our
nine participants (from a class of 32 students) constitute a sufficiently broad
range of data sources to support the credibility of our findings, which relate
to this particular assignment as experienced by the members of this particular
class and which we do not claim as generalizable. We also employed tactics
to help ensure the honesty of these informants. As the participants were our
students, we took care to ensure that their identities were never revealed to
us. All interaction with the participants, from recruitment to interviewing
to member checking, was carried out by research assistants. This enabled
students to comfortably refuse to participate if they wished and, if they did
choose to participate, to speak freely and honestly about their experiences.
A further means of bolstering a studys credibility involves member checking
(Guba and Lincoln 1989). All our participants were e-mailed the transcripts of
their interviews so that they could verify the data they had provided.
Transferability/external validity: As Bassey (1981) proposes, if readers
perceive their situations to be similar to that described in the study, they may
relate the findings to their own positions. Our study examines undergradu-
ate education students perceptions of a podcast creation assignment experi-
enced within a particular music education course. While this case is unique,
we believe that findings from this study may serve to enhance a general
understanding of the broader phenomenon (Stake 1995): podcast creation as
a vehicle for reflection within pre-service music teacher education. However,
we leave it to the reader to determine the transferability of the findings we
report here.
Dependability/reliability: As a reliability measure, the coding of themes
was carried out by a research assistant and the two authors independently,
and then the co-authors negotiated together the collapsing and categorization

*,0

JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 248 4/8/16 1:42:58 PM

 Hg\[Ykl[j]Ylagf

of codes, and identification and interpretation of key themes. To further

address the studys dependability, we have detailed our research processes so
that a future researcher could repeat them and readers may assess the extent
to which appropriate research practices have been employed (Shenton 2004).
Confirmability/objectivity: A key criterion for confirmability is the extent
to which the researcher admits his or her personal predispositions (Miles and
Huberman 1994). We acknowledge that objectivity in this study is problem-
atic for a number of reasons, chief amongst them that the podcast assignment
under examination was created and is championed by the first author. To
mitigate our biases we primarily present the participants words as evidence
of the studys findings, rather than our interpretation of them. We have also
assumed a devils advocate role in seeking and highlighting negative cases
(Guba and Lincoln 1981) that temper our findings concerning the effective-
ness of the podcast assignment.

>AF<AF?K
Through analysis of the interview data, themes emerged that support podcast
creation as an effective methodology for exploring self within music teacher
education. In the following paragraphs we describe and unpack these themes,
using verbatim statements from the participants to illustrate what we noticed.
All names are pseudonyms.

L`]e]2Emka[Yf\fYjjYlan]lg_]l`]j]f`Yf[]j]^d][lagf
A distinctive feature of the audio podcast medium is that music and narration
can be presented simultaneously. Podcasters can weave music into and around
spoken text. Participants indicated that this process of layering music and
narration served to enhance reflection; the music both illustrated and impacted
participants understandings of the musical encounters they described. As
Chris explained: Listening to that [music], having those memories come

Themes Sub-themes

Music and narrative Memory aid

together enhance Re-experience emotions
reflection Slow down and focus in

Spoken versus written More fluent reflection

word Less inhibited reflection

Hearing self Reinforces personal understandings

Repeated listening promotes refinement of ideas
Leads to development of new ideas

Getting personal Connecting with self

Revealing self

Creative and artistic Personal meaning making

possibilities Representation of self
Expressiveness

Table 1: Themes and sub-themes.

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JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 249 4/7/16 8:27:08 AM

 :]fbYeaf:gd\]ftBYe]kFY`Y[`]okcq

back, and then talking about it the relistening to yourself and the music
at the same time really made things flow [and] made things come out a lot
easier. For Chris, listening to the music excerpts aided his memory. When
he recorded his commentary, and then relistened to his own words combined
with the music, further reflection was enabled and enhanced.

Frank: It helped me kind of tap into the emotions I was feeling at the
time. It inspired me a little bit more than just thinking and it kept me
focused. Like, Okay. I played Beck from my high school days. And for
me, high school is really tough so I just, I related really strongly to Beck
and his song Loser. Because heres a guy whos saying Im a loser, I
dont care, whatever. And then all of a sudden I got a bit of a strut in
my walk. So now I am playing that song and thinking, Okay, this is my
relationship with it.

Listening to the music enabled Frank to not only remember but re-
experience emotions from a particular point in his life, to relive his relation-
ship with the associated music, and to rediscover what that music meant to
him at that time.
Ingrid described the music as a catalyst for reflection not only because it
connected her more closely to past experiences, but because it caused her to
slow down, focus in and thereby enhanced her thinking:

Ingrid: The music helped bring out the reflection a little bit more. You
know, it just made you sit and pause and actually think. [] With the
connection piece and using the different part of my brain, I think it was
probably enhancing my thinking.

Within a personal orientation to music teacher education, Campbell et al.

advocate for pre-service teachers to explore and articulate who they are as
music teachers through the identification of formative influences (families,
schools, prior teaching, significant others) (2012: 81). We believe past experi-
ences that concern music are particularly influential in the formation of music
teacher identity and as such, are particularly worthy of analysis. Following
from the data presented above, we propose that the act of carrying out reflec-
tive analysis of musical experiences can be enhanced by the sonic presence
of relevant music excerpts. When working within the podcast medium,
re-hearing the associated music can serve to intimately re-acquaint pre-
service teachers with their past experiences of music and music learning, and
so enhance meaningful reflection about them.

L`]e]2Khgc]fn]jkmkojall]fogj\
The podcast medium permits the reflective process to be carried out and
represented through spoken rather than written words. A number of partici-
pants found reflecting through speaking more effective:

Frank: Im a vocal person. So being able to speak it was so good []

Im more well-spoken than I am well-written. I can get across what Im
thinking speaking better than I can writing it.
Chris: My thoughts just come out, when I speak [] come out better
than writing.

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 Hg\[Ykl[j]Ylagf

Grace: Yeah. And I think I was able to express my ideas more honestly,
too. Because instead of trying to be all grammatically correct instead
of focusing on that I was focusing more on what I was trying to say.
I was able to express myself easier and it was more enjoyable doing it
and I didnt feel constrained. I felt like I could actually just say what I
wanted to say.
Edward: I wasnt so concerned about having everything perfect, like
wording. It came out more like poetry instead of like an essay.

Speaking rather than writing enabled these participants to reflect more

fluently and accurately, without being inhibited by the need to conform to
rules of grammar and correct word usage.
Methodologies for exploring self should allow pre-service teachers to gain
insight into thinking, personal histories, images, assumptions (Campbell et al.
2012: 81). As indicated here, the podcast medium can facilitate and support
reflective work of this nature by removing the barrier of written text; pre-
service teachers have the chance to develop, gain and communicate insight
through speaking instead.

L`]e]2@]Yjaf_k]d^
The podcast medium also provides pre-service teachers with the opportu-
nity to hear themselves. The technical construction of a podcast necessarily
involves repeated listening in order to organize, mix and balance the vari-
ous audio events that comprise the final product. An intriguing theme that
emerged from our data was the significance of this inherent feature of podcast
creation: participants actually heard what they had to say. We identified three
distinct benefits of this phenomenon.
First of all, personal understandings were reinforced. As Alex explained:
there is just so much repetition and hearing yourself, hearing what you say,
that it really gets ingrained into your mind. Alex found that articulating then
repeatedly listening to his own ideas emphasized the opportunity to learn
from himself; he learned as a result of hearing his own words.
Second, repeated listening provided motivation and opportunity for the
refinement of ideas. If the words did not sound right, Bridget went back and
tweaked the ideas and words that expressed them. I was listening to myself
reflect and thinking about it, Well, thats not really what I was trying to say.
So you go back and you rephrase it.
Third, repeated listening led to the development of new ideas, bringing
new (or perhaps existing but unconscious) understandings to the fore:

Chris: It helped because I kept on listening to it, over and over again.
[] Every time I listened to it I probably thought of something new that
I could have added, or something new just popped up in my head.

Working within the podcast medium enabled participants to actually hear

themselves, with the concomitant result that understandings were reinforced
and refined and new understandings were developed. Thanks to the podcast
creation process, pre-service teachers came to know themselves better.
Given that methodologies for exploring self serve the purpose of developing
personal awareness and building on beliefs that already exist (Feiman-Nemser
and Buchmann 1989), the evidence that podcast creation enables pre-service

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 :]fbYeaf:gd\]ftBYe]kFY`Y[`]okcq

teachers to unpack and hear their own thoughts suggests its strong potential
as a methodology for exploring self.

L`]e]2?]llaf_h]jkgfYd
The podcast assignment also encouraged pre-service teachers to get personal
to engage with the activity at a deeply personal level:

Harriet: It was really personal because you got to think back on your
life and how youve progressed. It was eye opening too, because you
were saying things you hadnt even thought about yourself. Like, it
really makes you think about your life and how youve gotten to where
you are.

In creating the podcast Harriet found that she was uncovering aspects of
herself that she had not consciously noticed, because the podcast medium
encouraged her to speak them out into the open. Bridget similarly identified
the power of the podcast to bring personal aspects of herself to the fore, there-
fore enabling her to become aware of and connect with them. She explained:
compared to writing a paper, creating a podcast and like listening to yourself,
your music choices. Its a lot more a part of you. Its a lot more personal.
Ingrid eloquently offered: It opens up a little part of who you are.
Campbell et al. (2012) present methodologies for exploring self as vehicles
for supporting a personal orientation to music teacher education, an approach
defined by its focus on coming to terms with oneself (Carter and Anders 1996:
561). As our data indicate, working with music and voice within the podcast
medium provided rich opportunities for pre-service teachers to connect with
and express personal aspects of self; we therefore propose that podcast crea-
tion of this nature fits well with a personal orientation to teacher education.

L`]e]2;j]Ylan]Yf\Yjlakla[hgkkaZadala]k
Participants also found the podcast work to have considerable creative and
artistic potential, which enabled personal meaning making and (self) expres-
sion of it:

Bridget: Youre composing something a little bit because you are blend-
ing all these different songs together, youre putting in your own words
and its something that youre creating. And so, it was way more
meaningful.

Bridget identified a process of artistic meaning making and self-expression

realized through the podcast creation assignment. Similarly, Harriet noticed
and took delight in the musical gestures she made within her podcast; for her,
the opportunity for creative work enabled personal expression and represen-
tation of self:

Harriet: It was so much fun to go through it and to listen through it and

to hear all the little musical things youd do. [] It gives the student a
chance to be creative and show who they are as an individual.

Alex seized the opportunity for artistic creativity by bringing in sound effects,
to represent his journey of becoming a music teacher:

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 Hg\[Ykl[j]Ylagf

Alex: I had the podcast made and then I was listening to it, and I was
thinking there is just something missing at the beginning and the end.
I had the idea of me as a music teacher, so then, it was a journey. So I
needed footsteps, too [] the metaphor of me, of my journey.

Podcast construction provided these participants with opportunities to be crea-

tive, and enabled the artistic crafting and expression of meaning. In essence,
podcast creation enabled these pre-service teachers to engage in a form of
arts-based research. Barone and Eisner (2011), amongst others, have identi-
fied that working with material artistically is a particularly rich way of engag-
ing with it and making meaning from it. They pose the question: why not
use the arts as a way of promoting understanding, of diversifying perspective,
of securing insight? In other words, why not recognize their epistemologi-
cal potential? (Barone and Eisner 2011: xii). The podcast creation assignment
has distinct parallels with artistic tools for self-study that Weber and Mitchell
(2004) describe, highlighting their potential for enabling reflexivity: like a
mirror, artistic representations of self are able to simultaneously connect and
distance creators from themselves:

By its very nature, artistic self-expression taps into and reveals aspects
of the self and puts us in closer touch with how we really feel and look
and act, leading, potentially, to a deepening of the self-study. Yet para-
doxically, such acts [] also force us to take a step back and look at
ourselves from the new perspective provided by the medium itself,
increasing the potential for a deeper self-analysis. [] Using artistic
modes of representation thus increases the likelihood of finding a voice,
of making an impact (whether negative or positive) on the reader/viewer/
community and, of course, on oneself.
(Weber and Mitchell 2004: 986)

Our participants described the artistic nature of their podcast creation work;
they made meaning and expressed it through artistic and creative manipula-
tion and representation of content. As Weber and Mitchell point out, artistic
representations have significant potential for impacting those who receive the
art and those who create it. Given that the inherent purpose of a methodol-
ogy for exploring self is to gain self-understanding, we propose that the rich
potential for engaging artistically in podcast creation increases the likelihood
of the creator developing deep understandings and making a meaningful
impact on herself, and thereby suggests yet another reason to support podcast
creation as a methodology for exploring self within a personal orientation to
music teacher education.

<AK;MKKAGF9F<AEHDA;9LAGFK>GJEMKA;L=9;@=J=<M;9LAGF
Carter and Anders identify as significant to a personal orientation to teacher
education: reflection, the study and writing of stories and cases, action research,
and teachers life histories, narratives, and personal knowledge (1996: 56061).
In this article we have presented research data that indicate the podcast crea-
tion assignment effectively engaged pre-service teachers in narrating musical
life history stories and exploring the personal knowledge embedded within
them. However, our analysis has also allowed us to identify a significant missed
opportunity in our participants experiences of this assignment.

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 :]fbYeaf:gd\]ftBYe]kFY`Y[`]okcq

The podcast assignment was presented as a means of exploring expe-

riences with music, but did not explicitly require pre-service teachers to
consider and connect to their own music teaching. Campbell et al. explain that
methodologies for exploring self should focus on beliefs, attitudes, predis-
positions, personal experiences, conceptions, or images of teaching (2012:
80). We undertook this research believing that experiences with music play
a critical role in forming music teachers beliefs, attitudes, predispositions,
conceptions and images of music teaching, and that these personal experi-
ences richly examined through a podcast creation assignment would inform
pre-service teachers future teaching that the knowledge they developed
through exploring their own musical stories would then influence how they
bring musical experiences to their own students. Yet, when asked if explor-
ing his past experiences with music would impact his future teaching, Darryl
responded:

Mmmm. Yes and no. [Pause] I dont think that this assignment had a
huge impact on me as a future teacher aside from: Oh, I could probably
use podcasts in my classroom! But the learning that came from it []
just talking about my own past and my own experiences [] I dont
think it will have any influence really.

The fact that the podcast assignment did not explicitly encourage pre-service
teachers to explore connections between their past experiences and present
and future teaching practices was a missed opportunity. As participant Alex
offered: Maybe thats one thing that might be a little bit of a suggestion, to
see how you can get your story through music to connect with your teaching
experience. Clandinin and Connelly would agree:

Self-knowledge, in the end, is not important. As means it is all-

important [] the researcher obligation, his or her responsibility, is to
be concerned with what is out there. Looking in must take its place as
shedding light on what is out there. Looking in must make for a better
professional landscape.
(2004: 597)

To improve the effectiveness of the podcast assignment, pre-service teachers

need to be encouraged to connect what they have learned by looking in at
themselves and their past experiences to the educational opportunities they
can envision when they look out at their work with learners in the present
and in the future.
Participant Chris told us: It gives me insight into my, my teaching, now. I
think it shows where it kind of went wrong or where it went right in my own
music education. And I think I can take from that. Pre-service teachers like
Chris need to be encouraged to make explicit and communicate within the
podcast what exactly it is that they can take from their own music experiences
to enhance the music experiences they will in turn provide for their students.
The assignment should be redesigned to provoke teacher candidates to not
only comment on experiences with music, but also with learning and teach-
ing. Then, within the podcasts they create, pre-service teachers can determine
implications for their own future teaching.
Ballantyne et al. point out: It is important to assist [pre-service music
teachers] in transitioning from seeing their university instructors as the givers

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JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 254 4/8/16 1:43:42 PM

 Hg\[Ykl[j]Ylagf

of knowledge about teaching, to having the [pre-service music teachers]

reflect on and construct their own meanings (2012: 223). By encouraging pre-
service teachers to make the connections between past experiences and future
teaching, the podcast creation assignment could help them to achieve this
goal to construct their own personal and meaningful experience-informed
understandings of music teaching.

;GF;DMKAGF
In summary, our data demonstrate that podcast creation has rich potential
as a methodology for exploring self. Podcast creation permits pre-service
teachers to:

s Combine music and narration together, with the result that the music can
serve to intimately re-acquaint pre-service teachers with past experiences
and so enhance meaningful reflection about them
s Explore and communicate ideas through spoken words, potentially more
effective for some than written words
s Repeatedly listen to and so actually hear themselves, which in turn serves
to reinforce personal understandings, motivate and facilitate the refine-
ment of ideas, and enable the development of new ideas
s Engage with the activity at a deeply personal level, thanks to the
mediums potential for rich personal expression through music and
voice; and
s Experience enhanced opportunities for meaning making and self-
expression through artistic and creative manipulation and representation
of content.

Given the affordances identified here, podcast creation has significant educa-
tional implications. We believe our research has demonstrated benefits of
podcast creation as a vehicle not only for reflection but also for learning in
general, and for representing that learning. And while working with audio and
music seems particularly relevant within a music education context, we believe
podcast creation has potential that transcends disciplines. We believe there
are many instances and contexts in which a traditional writing assignment
could be more effectively realized as a podcast creation assignment, whether
it be a reflective piece, a presentation of research, a piece that presents and
discusses concepts and ideas, or some other. The podcast medium provides
powerful and multifaceted potential for engaging with and communicating
anything that one might write about.
Returning to the context of this particular assignment, while the partici-
pants in our study did not experience the full potential of audio podcast crea-
tion as a methodology for exploring self within a personal orientation to
teaching (because the assignment focused on experiences with music and did
not explicitly address teaching), we nevertheless believe our study demon-
strates the significant potential of podcast creation as a tool for reflection
within this context. We believe the podcast medium could also effectively
serve to address the methodologies for exploring self that Campbell et al.
(2012) propose (but that were not a focus of the podcast assignment in this
study) such as exploring images of teaching, creating and analysing teach-
ing metaphors, discussing possibilities for self-as-music teacher, and explor-
ing personal interpretations of coursework and teaching experiences. It would

*--

JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 255 4/7/16 8:27:09 AM

 :]fbYeaf:gd\]ftBYe]kFY`Y[`]okcq

simply be a matter of repurposing and reshaping the podcast creation assign-

ment to capture these pieces.
Once more into the breach

DAEAL9LAGFK9F<<AJ=;LAGFK>GJ>MJL@=JJ=K=9J;@
This study was limited by a variety of factors. Objectivity in this study was
problematic because the podcast assignment under examination was created
and is championed by the first author; ideally, the research would have
been carried out by an individual unconnected to the assignment, course or
programme. Another limitation was the number of participants interviewed;
a greater proportion of class members participating in the study would have
improved its credibility. The study was also limited by the fact that only one
iteration of the assignment was examined; the recruitment of participants that
had experienced the assignment in previous or subsequent iterations of the
course would have provided another means of triangulating the data, thereby
improving credibility. Further, the study was limited by the kind of data
collected and analysed (interviews). Other data collection techniques such
as conducting focus groups and observing and/or interviewing students as
they created the podcasts would have provided a more detailed sense of the
students experiences and allowed for data triangulation. Similarly, it would
have been helpful to collect and analyse artefacts the participants podcasts
themselves.
In addition to addressing these limitations, further research could examine
podcast creation assignments in different contexts, i.e. in other music teacher
education courses and programmes led by different instructors in a variety of
geographical locations, as a means of gauging transferability. Further research
could also examine the effectiveness of podcast creation within teacher educa-
tion in general, or indeed within any educational context.

J=>=J=F;=K
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KM??=KL=<;AL9LAGF
Bolden, B. and Nahachewsky, J. (2015), Podcast creation: A methodology for
exploring self within music teacher education, Journal of Music, Technology
& Education, 8: 3, pp. 243260, doi: 10.1386/jmte.8.3.243_1

;GFLJA:MLGJ<=L9ADK
Dr Benjamin Bolden, music educator and composer, is an associate profes-
sor in the Faculty of Education at Queens University. His research interests
include the learning and teaching of composing, community music, arts-based
research, creativity and Web 2.0 technologies in education. As a teacher, Ben
has worked with preschool, elementary, secondary and university students
in Canada, England and Taiwan. An associate composer of the Canadian
Music Centre, Bens compositions have been performed by a variety of profes-
sional and amateur performing ensembles. Ben was editor of the Canadian
Music Educator, official journal of the Canadian Music Educators Association
(LAssociation canadienne des musiciens ducateurs) from 2007 to 2014.
Contact: Faculty of Education, Queens University, 511 Union Street, Kingston
ON, Canada, K7M 5R7.
E-mail: ben.bolden@queensu.ca
Web address: benbolden.ca

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Dr James Nahachewsky is an Assistant Professor in Curriculum and Instruction

at the University of Victoria. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses
in secondary language and literacy, multiliteracies across the curriculum and
curriculum theory. His research interests on the impact of changing texts
and communication technologies, such as e-readers and iPads, on pedagogy
and learning emerges from his years as a middle years and secondary class-
room language and literacy teacher in Saskatchewan.
Contact: Faculty of Education, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC,
Victoria, BC, Canada, V8W 2Y2.
E-mail: jnahache@uvic.ca

Benjamin Bolden and James Nahachewsky have asserted their right under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors of
this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

*.(

JMTE_8.3_Bolden_243-260.indd 260 4/7/16 8:27:09 AM

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