The training of music teachers in Colombia: A descriptive analysis

Abstract

This study is an evaluative analysis of 13 Music Education programs in Colombia that provide training for secondary school music teachers for 6th to 11th grade in the Colombian education system. The study utilized an analysis matrix from the International Research Project ALFA II-0448-A, which developed a similar study with Latin American and European countries, subsidized by the General Direction for Education and Culture of the European Union between 2004 and 2007. The information from each of the 13 programs was first collected from administrative staff of the 13 university institutions, and then catalogued in two main ways: (1) information about the institution and the program— career—(program name, contact dates, academic unit, student numbers, graduate numbers and program start date); and (2) the main description of the program (program history, distribution of subjects and credits, mission, vision, aims, access qualifications, graduate profile, student assessment, the requirements for graduation, and curriculum assessment procedures). This analysis showed that the relative newness of these programs was a key factor, as were the differences between programs in Faculties of Education on the one hand and Arts on the other.